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!

A Holiday Gathering

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah and we spent the evening with friends and family.

We were all hosted by Dana's sister Jill for latkes and fun.

It was quite the gathering; Dana's father and his wife Mary, sister Jill and her husband Will, brother Jess and his wife Judy, their good friend (and ours) Paul who is visiting from England, and Julie, Jill's best friend.

Dreidles at the ready

Paul, Jim, Julie, Jill, Mary, Dad, Will, Judy, Dana, Jess

The menorrah lit for the first night

Ready to play!!

TSK says Happy Hanukkah to all!

To view the full album of the nights festivities:  Hanukkah Album 

What ever your holiday is, we hope it finds you happy and healthy!

Highway 395 to home..

We spent a very chilly night at Topaz Lake after a long but lovey drive up highway 395.

We thought about spending another night there but after the hose froze (connecting the RV site water to the RV) overnight and then broke we thought it best to just get back home.

Continuing down 395 through the Carson Valley was lovely as well.

Topaz Lake

Topaz Lake

tsk snoozing on the dash

Carson Valley

Bikes back on the car... ready to head home.

We had a really good time on this trip. We like the Class A RV better than the Class C. But next time we do this it will be in warm weather. The recurring theme of this trip was 'Closed for the Season'. There wasn't much snow on the ground anywhere but it was cold, and freezing overnight. 

We had a lovely time meeting our friends Les, Ody, Cindy, Bruce, Pierre, And Laci.

To view all the photos from the trip 

Album

TweetUp

Lumbering thru the lakes

Today we left Death Valley behind. After breakfast at the Panamint Springs Cafe (no beer) we broke camp and headed towards Hwy 395. Heading towards a list of RV parks that we would stop at depending on our arrival time. Want to be there before dark.

So on our travels out of the park, and up 395 we saw quite a number of lakes, with varying water levels.

Owens Lake, a dry lake bed

Crowley Lake

June Lake

Ice falls near June Lake (ok, not a lake but still water!)

Grant Lake

Mono Lake, with the tufas visible.

Topaz Lake

We are spending the night at Topaz Lake. It is the only other lake (beside lake Tahoe) that is in both California and Nevada. It is very cold here, darn. Was hoping for a mountain bike ride tomorrow. But we'll see what the weather brings..... till then...