After a good night's sleep, tsk under the blankies, and a successful preparation of coffee and breakfast,

it was time to head out on the bikes. A mostly sunny, but cold and breezy day when we started off.

Leaving tsk in the comfort of the RV with sunpuddles coming in the windows we rode off to parts unknown (ok, we did look on a map before we left).

Destinations were West Dry Creek, East Dry Creek, Alexander Valley, Geyserville, back to Cloverdale.

All in all a 53.5 mile ride. That's a big ride for the middle of winter! 

There was a stop at the Dry Creek General Store for a yummy panini, and thanks to another Twitter connection, Alexander Valley Vineyards (home of Sin Zin) for a wee bit of wine tasting
(thanks, Harry!).

Dry Creek vineyards

Jim riding along one of the many scenic roads

Alexander Valley

 

A place Jim would like to park his bike often

Inside the cave at AVV, for barrel tasting

On the way back to tsk and the RV we saw this sign... there are slow pixies here?!?!

We have had a good shakedown trip and have enjoyed our time here. There is some weather coming so we will head back home tomorrow. Not quite ready to tackle driving the RV in the rain.

Shakedown

Well, we did it. Bought our own Motorhome.

And today we took it on a shakedown trip, it's maiden voyage with us.

We wanted a trip not too far from home, and just for a few days so we can make a list of what we need or want to change, test it out with the bikes and the kitty.

Well.... I have to say so far so good. We managed to put gas in, drive on the freeway, get parked, leveled, hooked up, all with no trouble. Even got a bike ride in! And had a lovely dinner afterwards, cooking in our new home on wheels.

Here are some photos of our day:

We are loaded up and ready to go!

TSK in his favorite spot, a sunpuddle on the dash

Out on a bike ride.... an old church in Old Cloverdale

This place seems to be full of lumber yards and vineyards...

 

 

 

vineyards....

Jim out on our ride

Our spot at the campground, view of vineyards in distance

The view from the bedroom window

TSK checking things out.

 

TSK gives it his paw of approval.

If the weather holds out we will go for another bike ride tomorrow.  With more pix, of course.

Stay tuned.....

Opening Day at TDXC

Better late than never! Continuing the odd winter thus far, we had a few waves of snow storms come through over the weekend. Enough snow so that the small downhill area, which doesn't have snow making equipement, and the nordic area were able to open today....albeit with limited terrain.

So it's time to get the skinny skis out. But before you can ski, you must wax.

Wax on.....Wax off.....

melting the wax, rubbing on the ski

Iron the wax into the ski

once wax has cooled, scrape off the wax

 

 

brush with hard and soft brushes, then ready to go....

oh wait....only one down, three to go... And the contents of my wax kit.

tsk wants to ski too!! (or doesn't want us to go...)

Jim on the trail, showing good form as always.

Dana on the trail

All in all a good first day nordic skate skiing. Hard as always, but a good workout. They need more snow, but the forecast for the next week has nary a flake, and warming temps.

It this it? All we get?

A Trip to Trout Creek...

.....gym that is.

After a few days in Sacramento for a birthday dinner for my dad with the family we decided we better get back up the hill and beat the storm. It has been a very dry winter here in the Sierra Nevada mountains, very little snow so far. This time last year we were well on our way to being buried by snow above our windows. So far the winter has not included any snow sports. No alpine or nordic skiing, no snowshoeing, no snowboarding. Just very cold trail runs and mountain biking.

But snow is on the way! It's snowing as I type this...

But until there is enough to ski on we might be spending more time at the Trout Creek gym. And it gave me a good chance to test out my new @Gripads. website here  I have always worn weight lifting gloves at the gym for two reasons: the dumbbells and barbells are rough so they don't slip and i have small hands and the gloves help with grip. So the Gripads looked like a good way to go and thought I would try them.

Here are some photos of our time at the gym.

The Gripads

first a little cardio..

Jim rowing

Grrrr........

Gripads in action, worked well!

Weight and Cardio rooms

Trout Creek Rec Center. The snow was starting to fall when we left.....

Hopefully our next post will include some snowy sporty pix!

Super Soup

On these cold winter days there is nothing better than having something warm and tasty after a long days activities. Be it skiing, running, mountain biking, etc.

So when I received the latest email post (subscription) from @VictoriaTwead that also contained a soup recipe I just had to try it!

Here is the recipe:

Sopa de tomates asados
~Starter~Veg~
Serves 4
~ 5 minutes preparation ~
~ 70 to 110 minutes cooking ~

Ingredients:
6 large, ripe, vine tomatoes
2 large red peppers
2 large onions
1 litre (33.8 fl oz chicken stock)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to season

Method:
1) Preheat your oven to 160C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
2) Slice the tomatoes in half, de-seed the peppers and slice into 4 pieces. Peel and slice the onion in half.
3) Lightly grease a large oven proof dish with olive oil and place the vegetables on the tray in one layer: tomatoes - skin side up, peppers - skin side down.
4) Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
5) Cook in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half until the vegetables are soft. (Don’t worry if they blacken slightly – it all adds to the flavour!)
6) While the vegetables are cooking, warm up the stock (fresh made is best but prepared cubes are fine).
7) Once the vegetables are done, remove from the tray and place in a food processor, scraping off any bits stuck to the tray.  Blend until you get a nice, thick sauce.
8) Place the tomato mixture into a pan and add the chicken stock.
9) Cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes to thicken slightly.
10) Serve with lots of fresh bread.

Vegetables roasting in the oven.... smells good!

Soup, warm cheesy bread, wine. A perfect dinner

Thanks to Ms. Twead for a great simple and tasty recipe as well as for her enjoyable books which you can find here, very fun reading!

Also, we finally got around to putting our photos from the trip to Thailand and Nepal online. 

You can see them here or they have been added to the side bar list.

WARNING.... there are lots of them! enjoy!