California’s Central Valley

January 12, 2022January 19, 2022 — Travel — 1 min read

Since leaving the Sacramento area we have been driving through California’s Central Valley which produces more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States. Miles and miles of orchards and vineyards border the highway, interspersed with a number of small towns and some bigger cities. It’s winter and the trees and vines are dormant. But for the enormous irrigation projects undertaken in the past to capture the runoff from the melting snow and releasing that water during the growing seasons, the valley would be a dry desert area.

Tea Time

January 11, 2022January 12, 2022 — Food, Gadgets — 1 min read

My wife is a life long coffee drinker, while I prefer a wide variety of loose leaf teas. My usual method of brewing those delectable young leaves and leaf buds of Camellia sinensis is to weigh the tea out and steep them with a Chatsford mug infuser basket. The image below shows one sitting on the lid that comes with it.

In a few days we will be be “boondocking” which is camping without any hookups, i.e. no external electric, water or sewer. Or put another way, we will be relying only on the capacity of of our fresh water and waste water tanks. By using tea bags instead of the infuser I can save the water I would normally use to rinse out the leaves in the infuser. But not one of the many brands and types tea in bags one can buy in the grocery store. Instead I fill my own bags with teas of my choosing. Not as good as using the infuser, but vastly better than any prefilled tea bag I’ve ever tried.

A Taste of Africa

January 10, 2022January 12, 2022 — Family, Food, Travel — 1 min read

Three years ago we traveled throughout southern Africa. A pleasant memory was the evening we drank Amarula while watching wildlife walking across an area filled with red rocks between us and the setting sun. Thanks to a going away gift of a bottle of Amarula from our daughter, we relived those memories tonight. There were a few times when she was growing up that we wondered about her. Now we always marvel at how awesome she is.

On the Road Again

January 9, 2022January 10, 2022 — Travel — 1 min read

All good things must come to an end and the wonderful time we have had with our family came to and end today as we resumed traveling in our RV. It is not very large by American standards, and unlike most who drive a small RV, we have what is known as a “toad”, a Jeep Cherokee that we tow behind it. It is truly a life we enjoy, though it is certainly not for most people. So many adventures to have and so little time to experience them. Life: Love, Laugh, Live.

First World Problem

January 8, 2022January 10, 2022 — Eclectic — 1 min read

I took this photo because I thought it is funny how the extension cord typically used to power the icicle lights hanging from the gutters at at Christmas time gets wrapped around the downspout in order to keep it in place. The problem comes when it is time to take the lights down and it is necessary to untangle the mess. Looking at my images to select one for todays post I realized this may be a problem in some countries/cultures it is incomprehensible to much of the world. To quote the Scottish poet Robert Burns “Oh would some power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as others see us.”