TD2 2021 Adventure - Week 8 - "The Final Push!"

Hello again friends,

Here's your tenth -- and final -- installment of Thistle Dew Too's (TD2) 2021 Adventure.  This is Week 8, and we made it up into Michigan's Northern Peninsula on 7/20, only to learn that Canada would *not* be opening their border on 7/21.  Had they done so, we could have taken a short-cut to New England on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, and hey, Tim Horton's Timbits would have been in play 🤣.  (Turns out, Trudeau delayed opening the border until 8/9, and we were home by then.)  

We decided to turn south and follow along the Great Lakes to the extent that would prove to be a scenic drive.  It was for a while, but then you've got to get around the congestion of the major cities.  So we reluctantly tried another approach -- interstate highways.  At some point in all of our trips, once we feel like getting home, we just want to put the pedal to the metal!  Except, around Chicago, it got painfully crowded, with too much construction and delays, and we literally could not take it.  

So we opted to take State roads that seemed to parallel the interstates but we could skirt around the cities.  RT 20, for example, proved to be quite useful and enjoyable for us.  Along the way, the weather and still some residual smoke impacted the skies and made picture taking a little less ... well, picturesque.  So in this installment you see just a couple of places where we stopped and took some pictures.  

One funny story -- for our last night on the road, we couldn't find a suitable campground (it was a Saturday night) and instead opted for a roadside pullout where someone online said they had stayed.  Only to wake up and find two patrol cars parked behind us!  Were they going to roust us?  Turns out they did not, but that did get our attention!  Never a dull moment boondocking on this side of the Mississippi -- always easier out west.

And then, after zipping through a total of nine states in less than a week ... we made it home!  To our cottage that's been in our family since 1964 (when I was 7 years old, and still have my name in the dried cement to prove it ;-).  And do you know the name of our cottage?  Well, let's just say the reason we named our RV "Thistle Dew Too", is because my late Mom named our cottage "Thistle Dew".  It reflects the fact that both of these living spaces are a little small, tired, and rustic, but with the right attitude, adequate for our needs.

You will actually see more pictures from around the small pond that our cottage shares with about 50 other families.  It's a wonderful community, and having sold our Amherst, NH home in 2019, it is now our snow-bird summer home.  We've got lots of work to do to it, but like all the houses we've ever owned, we tell ourselves, it's got "lots o' potential" 🤣.

So without further ado, here are some preview shots from the Week 8 finale:

Back to the Future in 1937?

Walking on water and fisher of men?

Back home and floating on a cloud

The high-bush wild blueberry thief has been identified ;-)

Please click this link to access the full set of photos for Week 8 ("The Final Push!") of our TD2 2021 adventure.  As you move your cursor over each photo, you will see a descriptive caption, and if needed, place the cursor on the caption itself to read the whole thing, or just double-click the photo.  

I still owe you all a couple more recipes which will be posted to this blog within a week.  And I really thank you for following along with our TD2 2021 Adventure.  It's been a blast seeing the sights, visiting with people, taking pictures and sharing them with you, and ... as always ... just following our noses!

Steven and Carol Crisp wish you all the best, and hope in your own way, you can benefit from Thistle Dew Too's motto:  

 

TD2 2021 Adventure - Week 7 - "Almost Home"

Hello friends,

Here's your ninth (and penultimate) installment of Thistle Dew Too's (TD2) 2021 Adventure.  This is Week 7, and we've continued northward heading toward the Canadian Border for a possible "short cut" home.  Plus we've never been to Eastern Wyoming, North Dakota or Minnesota.  

Our first adventure this week was the "good" mis-fortune was trying to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park.  Once again, I didn't bother to check to see if they too were using a reservation system to enter the park.  Had I done so, I could have learned that if we got there before 8:30AM, we could enter without a reservation.  But alas, our only option was to circumvent the park.  

The "good" part of this mis-fortune was that we headed more northerly, and eventually found ourselves on the quite beautiful Snowy Range Scenic Byway that crosses the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming.  There we also met up with fellow Lazy Daze travelers, and got to check out their brand-new 2021 Rear-Bath model -- very nice and very tempting.  But don't worry Thistle Dew Too, we still love you!

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we found the fantastic Picnic Springs Campground in the Custer National Forest of Wyoming (and it was free).  This is not a place you will stumble upon -- you have to drive a bit to get there, and there is virtually no road signage to help.  But man, what an interesting camping spot.  You'll see a number of videos from this location -- some interesting geological features, and Steven's version of Running with the Bulls (ok ... cows ;-)

After getting into North Dakota, the temps were really warming up, so we decided to drive through the very lightly used North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We checked out their campground, but it didn't have electric hookups, which would have been nice during the heatwave.  They did have some very interesting geological features.

And we end this week in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, otherwise known as Minnesota ;-).  We camped at the aptly-named Leech Lake (first named by the Ojibwe people as "Ozagaskwaajimekaag-zaaga'igan," which translates to "lake abundant with bloodsuckers!").  This is the 3rd largest lake in MN after a dam was installed that raised the water level of the surrounding area by 2 feet, thereby combining 6 different lakes into one.

Turns out forest fires from out west delivered smoke haze to the skies this week, making it often monotone and featureless -- not great for landscape photos (some extra post-processing was needed to draw out whatever features I could).  So this week you get a few less photos, but to hopefully compensate, nine(!) videos.  In any case, here are a few preview shots of Week 7:

Lake Marie backed by Snowy Range

Carol looking cool during a heat-wave

Steven checks out his meditation cave

Cruising and fishing the channels at Leech Lake

Please click this link to access the full set of photos for Week 7 ("Almost Home") of our TD2 2021 adventure.  As you move your cursor over each photo, you will see a descriptive caption, and if needed, place the cursor on the caption itself to read the whole thing, or just double-click the photo.  

Next up, we'll be racing around the Great Lakes on our final stretch home (news flash - they did not open the border on 7/21 as I had hoped).

So until our next (and final) installment ... Steven and Carol Crisp are wishing you all the best and hoping Life is treating you well! 

 

TD2 2021 Adventure -- Week 6 -- "Brakes are Important"

Hello everybody,

Here's your eighth installment of Thistle Dew Too's (TD2) 2021 Adventure.  This is Week 6, and we've now turned northward.  It's been getting a bit warm where we were last week, and we want to head through Colorado and get a little Rocky Mountain High -- that should cool us off!

So we headed up toward Taos, following a Madrid, NM shop lady's recommendation to take the scenic "High Road to Taos" to get there.  We camped along the Enchanted Circle scenic byway, but only spent a few brief moments driving through Taos itself, as this quaint old town's roads (and tourists) were not so conducive to RV navigation.  

From there we took RT 64 through Chama and into Colorado.  What an amazing road -- quite scenic and remote, with no cell service and little traffic for many miles!  And it's up over 10,000 ft, but with modest grades the whole way.  Drive it if you get the opportunity!

Once in Colorado we had an interesting experience.  There is road work on RT 50 (continuing into 2022) that periodically closes the road for extended periods.  Indeed, my phone GPS re-routed me away from it due to the road being closed.  But later, my phone re-routed me back (I guess the road had re-opened), so we doubled-back, only to see a flashing sign that said it would close again for the night in about 45 minutes.  Could we make it?  We weren't even sure how far it was to the construction area, and there were quite a few steep inclines along the way that slowed our progress.  But we arrived just in time for the last group of vehicles that was led through the construction area.  Phew!

As we were going through the construction zone, I had started to hear my brakes making some noise.  We pulled into to a campground on the Blue Mesa Reservoir -- the largest reservoir in all of Colorado.  And when my neighbor at the campground mentioned the noise to me, I knew I had a problem.  Metal-on-metal sound with my front brakes.  Not good in the high passes and steep grades of the Rocky Mountains.  

The next day as we drove through Gunnison, CO, we stopped at a visitor center so I could post a message on the Lazy Daze forum to see if anyone knew a good mechanic nearby.  And then we went into the visitor center, and I asked the lady there if she had any recommendations.  She gave me a couple, and sure enough one of them had great reviews online, so I called (this is now Friday at 11:30AM, and they're closed on Saturday) to see if they could take a look.  Brian, the owner, said come on by and they'd check it out and *might* be able to take us that day!  Well, it all worked out, and while they were replacing our front brakes, we got to walk and dine and shop in their lovely town.  Couldn't ask for a happier resolution to this problem; we felt quite lucky.  Oh, and we tested it later that evening, as we went over Monarch Crest at 11,312' with quite steep grades on the other side!  

Certainly some excitement during this week.  Of course those aren't things easily photographed, so that means we had to take more scenery pictures -- and here are a few preview shots:

Looking rather ominous, perhaps time to leave the centerline

"I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky" -- John Denver

Is this pose good for you?

Blue on blue on blue at the Blue Mesa Reservoir

Please click this link to access the full set of photos for Week 6 ("Brakes are Important") of our TD2 2021 adventure.  As you move your cursor over each photo, you will see a descriptive caption, and if needed, place the cursor on the caption itself to read the whole thing, or just double-click the photo.  

Next up, we'll be heading north while meandering eastward to position ourselves near the Canadian border for a shortcut home (if they open the border on 7/21) in Week 7.

So until next time ... Steven and Carol Crisp are wishing you all the best and hoping you are having fun! 

 

TD2 2021 Adventure - Recipes - Steven's "Good to Go" Salad

 Here's another of the promised recipes.  This time it's for a salad ... but this is more than a salad.  It's become a go-to favorite of our family, and gives us lots and lots of nutrients that our bodies need.  Indeed this was inspired by Dr. Joel Furhman, who calls himself a Nutritarian (trying to maximize nutrient density of the food you eat).  He also advocates having the salad as your main course of any meal, and eat smaller portions (or side dishes) of what would have been considered the main course.

The only issue we initially had was the length of time to make up the salad for each meal.  So that's where the idea of making up a large salad that can (and will) last a week in the fridge.  Now you only need to make up each individual serving, and add a few ready toppings, and you are "good to go!"

Here's a couple of pictures of the salad, in my case almost always the largest portion of the meal:

Carol's "Ramen on the Road"
and Steven's "Good to Go" Salad

Dinner and a view, this time large Salads with Corn on the cob

Salad as a main course; quick and easy!

And here is the recipe, again from our Paprika app.  Just click the photo and you should be able to read it (perhaps depending on your device).  Please let me know if you need me to cut and paste it into the blog.

Click on the recipe to make it larger and readable

I really hope you enjoy the recipes and give them a try.  See ya on down the road, I hope!

TD2 2021 Adventure - Recipes - Carol's "Ramen on the Road"

Hello to any of you RV cooks or those that might be curious how we eat a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet on the road.  I'm finally getting around to publishing the first of those promised recipes.

This is for Carol's "Ramen on the Road", which is actually pretty similar to what she makes at home.  She simplified it some by using soy curls instead of grilled and seasoned tofu cubes.  There are still lots of yummy veggies, so you'll want to stop by a good grocery store if you want to find all the ingredients.

Here are a few pictures of the ramen before and after it was served.  We're no slaves to dining etiquette, so the plastic rubbermaid bowls worked out great for us ... and they are light-weight and quiet in the RV ... and big enough for a full bowl of ramen or a large salad.

Carol's "Ramen on the Road" is ready to be served

It looks like fine dining to me, despite the plastic bowls

Someone or something looks smokin' hot!

And here is the recipe.  We use an app called Paprika to store all of our recipes, and this is a screenshot of it.  I'm hoping once you click on the recipe image, you can read it OK.  If not, I can cut and paste it below.  Just let me know if that's needed.

Please click to enlarge the recipe

TD2 2021 Adventure -- Week 5 -- "Finally Heading East!"

Howdy folks,

Here's your seventh installment of Thistle Dew Too's (TD2) 2021 Adventure.  This is Week 5, and it's hard to believe that we are only now beginning the long journey home!  But we've been able to already see so many amazing sights, who knows, perhaps this part of the journey will go a bit faster.  Indeed this week, we travelled through parts of CA, NV, UT, AZ, and NM -- phew!

The overall plan was to head toward Santa Fe, NM simply because it's a location we've never checked out and we thought it might be interesting.  Plus I'd recently read a book ("One Blade of Grass") by Henry Shukman, a Zen teacher at Mountain Cloud Zen Center and thought it might be cool to check that out as well.  Strange the things that motivate my route selection.  Well, that and my trusty 2007 Rand McNally Atlas, which identifies "scenic roads".  That has guided most of this year's rather circuitous route selections.

So this week we'll have our first encounter with less-than-perfect weather, some extraterrestrial fun in Rachel, NV, a last-minute decision to drive through Zion National Park, travel through some Hopi lands, a nice visit to artsy Madrid, a little Zen serenity, a quick visit to Santa Fe, and then head off into the sunset ... rainbow?  Oh well, you'll just have to check out the pictures -- and here are some preview shots:

Gotta admit that's an unexpected mural to find out in the desert

Loving the contrasting colors and textures in Zion NP

And really loving the late afternoon shadow patterns

Maybe I just have a thing for adobe structures

Please click this link to access the full set of photos for Week 5 ("Finally Heading East") of our TD2 2021 adventure.  As you move your cursor over each photo, you will see a descriptive caption, and if needed, place the cursor on the caption itself to read the whole thing, or just double-click the photo.  

Next up, we'll be turning North and looking to gain some altitude to try and avoid the heat, in Week 6 (Heading North).

So until next time ... wishing you all the best and hoping you are having fun!