Pasta, Myzithra, and Chanterelles, Oh My!

Last week my friend Dan told me that the Chanterelle mushroom season was just starting and wanted to know if I wanted to go out checking his “secret patches”* for the woodland delicacy. I like mushrooms, but frankly didn’t know anything about Chanterelles other than everybody around here always looked forward to the season’s start in late October. Sounded like an interesting adventure and all my potential excuses involved working in the yard or in the house...hmmmm???, sunny morning hike in the woods or work...tough decision. 😉 So, early one morning last week, Dan picked me up and we drove Hwy 138E up the North Umpqua river and then up Little River Drive to several different spots in the mossy, forested land of Douglas County. (*Dan was in no way secretive about these Chanterelle hunting areas he’d found over the years...I just thought it sounded better in the opening.)

This picture shows the beautiful color of a
chanterelle mushroom and its common size.

Apparently, the mushrooms can be quite abundant and are normally just peeking out from under the heavy, rich duff of the forest floor. Dan handed me a 5 gallon bucket and offered me a long knife with a brush taped to the handle. The bucket was just in case we hit peak season, the knife to cut the Chanterelle off at the base, and the brush was helpful to clean off fir needles and forest floor debris that was normally on the mushroom cap or stuck to the base. Although it turned out that we weren’t yet in peak season, we each got enough Chanterelles for several meals. 

Dan told me he had several ways that he enjoyed the mushrooms...#1 seemed to be in an omelet (sorry, I kind of blanked out as I envisioned the omelet...didn’t catch the other options...FYI, I’d skipped breakfast this morning so I’m claiming that my stomach had launched a mutiny and my short term memory was currently under attack). I decided that I’d follow that omelet wisdom and try my first batch of our booty that way. I caramelized the cleaned & chopped mushrooms in butter & a touch of oil, then added beaten eggs for an omelet. It was good, but tasted just like any store bought mushroom in an omelet. I was a little disappointed, but I did get a little “hunter’s rush” from having seized these mushrooms from the primal forest duff.

The next day, my dinner thoughts turned to making the mushrooms more of the star of the dish (thanks go to Bobby Flay & the Food Network for that sound bite phrase). When I was going to the U of Washington in Seattle, to a young man, going out to dinner meant going to an inexpensive restaurant that was known for its large plate loads of food...i.e., high on the list, The Old Spaghetti Factory. One of my favorite dishes there was the Brown Butter & Myzithra cheese pasta...I bet you wondered when I was going to make a connection to the title line for this post. So, I thought I’d recreate that dish and add caramelized Chanterelles on top of my version. 

I cleaned, chopped, and caramelized Chanterelles in butter and set them aside. In the same heavy pot, I added more butter and slowly cooked it down until it foamed, reduced down a bit, and browned. 

During the early stages of butter browning, I got out a wedge of Greek Myzithra and grated a good quantity (about a shy cup) of the hard, white, sheep milk cheese into a mis en place dish. While watching the butter browning process closely, I then started a batch of pasta cooking in well salted water. (I like any of the smaller, twisted, extruded pastas because to my mind they all hold a sauce really well.) 

I put a little of the final brown butter sauce
in a white cup to show off the lovely color.

Once the butter had browned, I used a kitchen spider (not the large attic spider watching me suspiciously from the corner above the refrigerator) to lift out, drain briefly, and transfer the al dente pasta to the brown butter pot with the grated Myzithra cheese. 

I tossed it all together, plated it with a nice side of broccoli, and gave the whole plate another once over with grated Myzithra, finally, I topped the pasta with the caramelized Chanterelles. (I'm actually kind of shocked I was able to stop, put down my fork, and take a photo.)

I’m really sure I upgraded The Old Spaghetti Factory’s version (at least my memory of it from...oh my goodness...a memory from over 45 years ago!) In all fairness, the Chanterelles were very good this way...better than in an omelet in my humble opinion. But, I’m not sure if some good (very market available) Cremini mushrooms wouldn’t be equally as good. Still, there is that “I foraged it in the wilds” thought floating around in my psyche that should account for something. (FYI: In case you ever wondered, the white button, common white, Cremini, and the Portobello are just different stages of the same mushroom (species Agaricus bisporus). The Portobello is considered by most experts to be the best tasting and most “meaty” mushroom...which stands to reason because it’s the fully ripe one...duh!

I also think that using a good Parmesan, Pecorino, or Asiago cheese would be delightful with Brown butter sauce & pasta...sounds like a good winter project for my taste buds (and potential challenge for the elastic material in my pant’s waistband 😎).

I'm not left handed, but since the fork was failing
to pick up anything else with my right hand...

P.S. It seems that I could save some digits (should that be on a T-shirt? Save the Digits) and just use the same end of meal, finished, empty plate picture for all my blog’s food oriented posts...and looking at the picture has made me realize why I never think about doing a pre-rinse on my plates for the dishwasher.

Dust In The Wind (On the Home Stretch)

Of course I had failed to download the maps for South Dakota before I left Barb & Jerry’s, so I stopped and got some fries (and free WiFi) at a McDonald's as I entered S.D. I not only got some pretty good fries and a free map download for SD, but a nice walk along a path along a country road nearby. I'd say that stop was pretty much a win-win!

I felt sorry for the owner of the corn field I walked by...obviously there was no way his (or her) corn was going to be knee high by the 4th of July (in the next three days)...so sad. 😉






I stopped along the way in Watertown, S.D. just to get some gas and then wandered around the energizing 30 acre conservation park around the Redlin Art Center for about an hour. That was an amazing hour well spent!





Got checked into my motel in Pierre and with the help of Google maps (although I was still suspicious of taking directions from my phone) found Kari’s place with no problem...well, one slight problem, the phone took me to the back side of the apartment building. Well, on reflection, maybe that’s where all cars with out-of-state license plates are sent.

Kari and Sage met me in the parking lot. Sage is a really good dog & I think we bonded pretty well when I played a little fetch with her. Kari fixed me dinner and we got caught up on all sorts of family and job gossip as well as bread baking topics before I headed back to the motel. The next day we planned a bake and went for a touring walk of the river front promenade in Pierre, and the State Capitol grounds as well as finding a great place to have an ice cream!


Incidentally, it’s not pronounced like a Frenchman’s name (Pee-Air), it’s pronounced like an ocean Pier. I got back to my room and shortly thereafter the town was “treated” to quite the electrical storm. I’d forgotten how loud and violent those can be in the mid-West. I suspect that many people with constipation are “helped out” when they are quietly reading and suddenly get a big flash-boom outside their house at night.



Our bread bake on my third day in South Dakota was successful and I’d like to think I gave her some helpful hints to make her dough mixing and baking routines easier. I have decided that having a peel to deliver bread to a pizza stone in your oven is definitely “essential equipment” and that all pizza stones should be rectangular. This was because I took some of Kari’s bread dough and shaped it into a baguette...things were going well until I tried to deliver it (without a peel) onto the round pizza stone in the oven and ended up with a tragically twisted, life-like, side-winding, bread snake. Well, at least it tasted good and gave us a hearty chuckle.

Pierre’s Capitol grounds are much more extensive than I remembered. I suspect, like everything else I’ve experienced on this trip, a lot has changed in the past few years. I say a few years, but looking up the records of the Capitol Pee, I see that we last came through here in August of 2002. It doesn’t really matter cause my poor, ‘ol brain cells have been charged with a lot of memories to retain and I can’t blame them if they missed “just another beautiful park”.

Another thing I enjoyed while visiting Kari, is that her apartment is about 10 minutes away from a Menards “super store”...I’m sure without a guide or enforcer, I’d simply would’ve ended up wandering around for days through all the aisles of various things for sale. I ended up with some dragonfly solar lights for home and got Kari a pizza peel...no more bread snakes...and completed my daily walking goals with an 18,968 step (9.5 miles) day. At one point during one of my walks, I thought I had come across an isolated, extremely local hail & ice storm cell...but it turned out to be where the local ice company had just cleaned out some equipment...my version would have been much more entertaining. At least the guy in the mask didn't laugh at me...although, I'm not sure if it was because he was a statue or because I couldn't see through the mask. 😎

I left Pierre, Kari, & Sage and headed to Miles City in Montana next morning after another walk by the river. Along the way to Montana, I killed 2-3 hundred thousand grasshoppers with my radiator grill. (No, I didn’t count them, but I’m sure that’s an accurate number...remember, I’m a bug guy.) The little varmints must’ve been just sitting on the highway road surface thumbing for a ride. I didn’t really notice the carnage until I got to my motel and after checking in, I noticed a swarm of yellow jackets around the front of the car. I had apparently brought them an enormous (and tenderized) buffet of grasshoppers. Looks like the design of the Prius is perfect for funneling grasshoppers into the radiation. The picture really doesn't do the grasshopper slaughter volume justice... but keeping yellow jackets occupied & away from my dinner was a good thing and well, each to their own - Bon Appetite.


I stopped in Sturgis for a brief walk and to look for any interesting beers...found a South Dakota beer named Pile O’ Dirt Porter by Crow Peak brewing...and took a six pack back to the car with me on my last road segment before Helena and my stay in the Montana Capital city.

I had forgotten how lonely it can be off the major highways in South Dakota and Eastern Montana. At times it seemed like the prairie was truly endless and roads stretched far, far away to the horizon and the edge of the flat earth. 😉



I walked to the Capitol building after I arrived in Helena and chose a spot to place one of Susan’s disks. It’s a lovely little grassy, knoll just between a large flower bed and the prominent horseman statue (Thomas Francis Meagher, a former governor of the Montana). It was a wonderful location to set a disk marking the start of Susan’s Capitol Pee quest.

Here's a better shot with the red dot indicating where I placed Susan' memorial glass disk.

Nearing the last portion of my journey home, I stopped in Coeur d’Alene to walk around the spectacular shore line of Pend d’Oreille Lake. It’s one of my favorite walks in this part of the country. Not a lot of social distancing and very few masks...but then I’m not sure if any visitors here are really concerned about COVID-19 when there’s a sunny day, lush park, beach sands, and a pristine lake at hand.

Back on the road. Stayed overnight just outside of Spokane and then after a short walk in the morning I headed back to Oregon.




It was terrific starting the road down the Columbia River Gorge just after seeing the Welcome to Oregon sign. Although a hot day, seeing that large, familiar river at my side kept me feeling pretty cool. I did get a couple showers coming through the western end of the gorge and actually enjoyed the crisp smell of the light showers that I passed through. Traffic was minimal and it was an easy drive for me.







My last night in a motel was spent just outside of Portland. I had a few shopping items on my list for one of the shopping malls just south of the city, so a stop here made things pretty convenient and a relatively short drive to Sable Springs and the Dragonfly Den.

Got home in the afternoon of July 8th and answered a call from my neighbor Diane. She’d fixed a coffee-rubbed lamb roast with mint peas for her dinner and wanted to know if I’d like to come up for dinner...no brainer! It was a great dinner to end a wonderful trip and to top it all off, there were two last blooms on the Susan Forever lily.

Everyone knows I keep way too many stats and I’m sure are extremely excited to see the final trip numbers, your wait is over...here they are:

Prius: 4,684 miles, 49.1 mpg, 13 States, and average speed for the entire trip = 58 mph (Oh yes, and 1 radiator full of grasshopper carcasses).

Personal: 192 miles walking, 22 days away from home, 3 State Capitols, and 2 tired butt cheeks (Oh yes, and 1 half-gallon container of ice for my cooler still in Mark & Lee Ann’s freezer in Burlington, Wisconsin...well actually, I suspect it has left the premises by now.)

Dust In the Wind (Heading Back West)

Leaving Madison on a sunny morning made me feel pretty good about the visit. I was anxious to get up to Shell Lake to visit Gene & Mary and possibly see some of the grand kids. Wisconsin is beautiful this time of year, but it can also pop you in the head with humidity in a flash. Fortunately, the rain storm the day before had brought the humidity and temperature down into the very pleasant range. Next stop, Susan’s sister Mary & husband Gene.

Arrived at Mary & Gene’s place with no more odd side-roads “suggestions” from the Google Maps gremlin. I was glad to find that Gene & Mary like to take nice long walks, so getting steps was no problem when I arrived. What I noticed was that Shell Lake is interesting in that it has changed a lot, while looking much the same. The lake frontage was where I saw the most visual difference from the last time I was in town, namely lots of RV’s parked along the water’s edge in a fairly large commercial “campground”. Gene told me that a lot of the folks sign up for the entire summer parked by the water. It was a great walk catching up on what had been happening in their lives these past years. When we settled back at their house, I passed on some of Susan’s jewelry to Mary and gave them one of the photo collage on metal I’d had done in Desert Springs this winter. I also left them one of Susan’s memorial glass disks, so part of her would always be with them and in her home town of Shell Lake, Wisconsin.



The family showed up en mas for a fish fry on Sunday. Gene had caught all the fish and it was a fabulous meal. (A little concern was evident when the cooking was done and it had to be decided how to “hide” the cooking pot of hot oil from a couple of the more inquisitive little kids.) Mary had set out of container of pickled fish she’d done and it was hard to stop eating it. I was full from a great fish fry with lots of other side dishes and yet I kept finding my fork headed for the dish of pickled delights! With my tummy at full capacity, I was suckered into playing the Cornhole game. The fact that Gene & I chosen a shady spot under a tree and were reluctant (or unable) to move, lead us to the seated, Gentleman's version of the game. I actually got one of the bean bags into the Cornhole, but my display of excitement remained fairly low key as you can see.

The next day for lunch, Gene & Mary took Tony & his family out to a local dairy farm that had been converted into a winery - Clover Meadow Winery - and a distillery - White Wolf Distillery. (You gotta love the transition here-from methane to ethanol...with a variety of fabulous afternoon cocktail offerings and terrific food options from The Café.) Tony's twin brother Andy had to leave earlier that morning and his wife was working, so you just have to imagine another person (not in a red shirt...that looks a lot like Tony in the red shirt, and another lovely mid-West girl that we wished could have been with us at lunch!) That was one fine day...at least what I remember of it!


Gene took me out on the lake my last evening with them and showed me where he’d caught the fish for the fish fry (and pickled delicacies) as well as giving me a tour of the homes along the water...some of them quite prestigious. I suspect I couldn’t afford to pay for one day’s upkeep on a couple of the “summer homes”. It’s been a great stay & I really enjoyed meeting the grand kids that came in for the fish fry and hopefully maybe even to see their wild eyed, bald uncle from the far, far, West.

First thing I needed to do after I left Gene & Mary’s place was to visit the Clam River Cemetery where Susan’s parents were laid to rest. I easily found their graves and sprinkled some of Susan’s ashes around their headstones. It was a beautiful site looking out over the Wisconsin farm lands and forests. After some time reflecting on our lives together, I got back in the Prius and headed down to Minnetonka, Minnesota to see Susan’s older brother Jerry and his wife Barb.

I was suspicious once more at the ease with which I was guided to their house in the Minneapolis suburb by Google maps. It may just be paranoia, but it does make for a more exciting travel day. The town was pretty much in lockdown for the CORONA-19 virus, but we had a pretty good visit and as usual, Jerry & I were able to whittle down his stock of beer while Barb kept bringing tasty meals & dessert treats to the table. Did a lot of walking in the area with the two of them and had a very relaxing stay. Like Barb said...It’s like (Bill Murray’s) Groundhog Day around here ...every day.




Jerry and his brother Mark have developed quite the woodworking talents. Mark had handcrafted a beautiful canoe that was fully functional and really a piece of float-capable art. He’d also just completed a stunning easy chair made with rope & wooden slats. It looked like a rigid “regular” wooden rocker, but when you sat in it, the rope & slats moved to cradle you like a glove. Really a special piece. Jerry on the other hand has developed incredible techniques making laminated fishing nets. Originally he was just making a couple for his fly fishing expeditions, but then started turning them into pieces of exquisite beauty & design. One of my favorites is shaped more like a little guitar than a fishing net with inlays of striking wood patterns. Recently he’s started creating the netting frame that instead of holding a net, becomes a picture frame.

(And when I get home, I just hope to nail some replacement boards sorta lined up correctly in my deck...sheese!)


I pulled out the Susan Collection of Jewelry for Barb and she picked out several pieces for  keepsakes of Susan. Later, I loaded up the car & cooler for my next stop...Pierre, South Dakota (once again trusting the ethos, my phone’s GPS connection, and Google maps). Kari was expecting me for some baking “lessons” and shared experiences with the process. I was really interested in how she was baking so many beautiful loaves in her apartment’s electric oven. So look out South Dakota, I'm headed your way next!

Dust In the Wind (Making the Corner)

 It looked to be a relatively short drive to Mark & LeeAnn’s home and the rest areas in Iowa are the best in the nation. I stopped at the Grant Wood rest area on the I-80 and was entranced by the art and beauty displayed there. I am putting a link to an article on the Interstate Art rest areas of Iowa...do yourself a favor and put them on your midWest bucket list.

Iowa Interstate Art






Most of the covered outdoor tables at the Grant Wood rest area had a quote tastefully done in cutout metal sheets, hanging at one end of the partial picnic table enclosure...I found this one from Tennessee Williams particularly appropriate for my trip.







So, I’m pretty sure some AI embedded within either Google Maps or my phone noted that I was about as far away from home as possible on this trip and it was time to have a little fun with the human. Since traveling time is the most effective time to “have some fun” with the Traveling Loafer, I’m pretty sure that I was directed on a multitude of County roads & bypasses (and I sure a couple driveways) taking me through whatever wilderness still existed in Southern Wisconsin as I blazed the trail (literally in some cases) to Burlington. (I do hope that farmer’s wife wasn’t really attached to that huge petunia plant spreading out into the road.) In all fairness, it was a beautiful day, I had no real time schedule other than reaching Burlington before dark, and it was quite a scenic drive...so, no worries...😎

I arrived at Mark & LeeAnn’s with plenty of daylight left to spare. LeeAnn had fixed a great dinner for us and Mark had Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark beer in the refrigerator...yes, it was a fabulous day! We had a lot of fun catching up with each other and talked pretty far into the night. The next morning we had a good walk around Honey Lake and then went into Waukesha for some pottery clay (LeeAnn is quite an artistic potter of unique and wonderfully quirky pieces!). My old classic iPod had finally bitten the dust on this trip, so we also hit Best Buy so I could pick up an MP3 player of some sort. I’m not really sure the young salesperson knew what I was talking about (Oh My God! I am a Dinosaur!). Finally did find an older sales rep that showed me to their little museum section of music “devices”. I’m pretty happy with my SanDisk Clip Sport Plus, 16 GB MP3 player except it’s so damn small, I’m afraid I’ll lose it in my shirt pocket.

After drinking nearly all their beer and enjoying lots of tasty foods, I needed to head up to Madison to spend a couple days reliving my memories there with Susan. After a couple of good hugs from Mark & LeeAnn, I fired up DOC* and turned the tires Northwest to Madison, Wisconsin.
*(Prius Hybrid Drive...PhD...DOC  - pretty easy to see the naming logic here and we’d had a lot of hours riding in the car with nothing else to do...)

Pretty short driving day and there was a very nice walkway system from my motel into the capital city. It was early afternoon when checked in and since it was a very pleasant day, I walked into town. Immediately went to the Capitol building and was only able to walk around it. Madison had been having quite a few active marches (Black Lives Matter) and as usual (unfortunately), some people had decided breaking windows and damaging store fronts was part of the protest march concept. The result was that when I arrived in town, most of the shops had been boarded up and the Capitol building was closed to visitors. On a good note, most of the sheets of plywood had been painted with wonderful murals and dedications. Although saddened by the visible damage and obvious recent strife in the city, while walking around the area, I wandered by the Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company...and it was open and I was thirsty. Masks were required to enter and you were allowed to remove them once you had been seated. It has a really wonderful classic pub “feel” and I chose to sit at the bar. I was able to taste a few beers and finally selected their Black Earth Porter to quench my thirst. The bartender and another employee were very friendly and since I was the only person at the bar...very attentive. They asked what brought me into town and I told them about meeting Susan here, our travels, the Capitol Pee, and that I was bringing one of Susan’s glass memorial disks to place on the campus grounds. As I was getting ready to leave, Sean, the bartender, told me he’d comped my beer and was touched by my story. I was really impressed by the people and the Great Dane Pub. It was a no brainer to choose to stop by again tomorrow and have lunch (and another beer).

I walked by the Zoe Bayliss CO-OP where I met Susan in the fall of 1969. It hadn’t changed a bit while the main U of Wisconsin campus was much, much different than I remembered. Lots of newer & bigger buildings and halls...memories were all I had of a lot of the campus from the two years I spent here. Susan was on a scholarship to the U of W and was living at the all girls scholarship dorm Zoe Bayliss.
A bit of trivial, yet important history...The girls of Zoe Bayliss had decided that the beginning of the semester needed a party and in order to have a party, they needed to get a keg of beer and drum up some college boys. Drinking age for beer in Wisconsin was 18, so getting the keg was no problem...the boys however needed to be lured in. They chose several girls in the house for the task that were quite attractive and not shy. Out into the neighborhood they went, asking any unattached boys they met to join them for a beer at Zoe Bayliss. I was staying a block away in the YMCA and followed a cute little blond back to ZB. She immediately disappeared (off to gather more males I later found out) and I was left sitting alone in the main room. As I was sitting there, yes, still alone and thirsty, Susan appeared and asked if I’d like a beer...instead I got a bolt of lightning through my heart...and the start of nearly 50 years of being constantly with the love of my life.

Walking home my first afternoon back in the Capital city since 2009, I passed the Madison Ice Arena...a huge building enclosing an immense public ice skating arena and ice hockey rink. At the time, the line of cars wasn’t related to a sporting event, it was a lineup for Covid-19 testing...the stark sign of change in our daily 2020 lives.

Back into town the next day, I stopped in at the Great Dane Pub for lunch (Brat & Bacon Pretzel Burger with fabulous fries to die for!). Having another awesome, hand pulled, Black Earth Porter to sip & enjoy really capped off a memorable lunch in a memorable pub, in a memorable town.  Yummmm!

Note, that even though air conditioned at the Great Dane
Pub, my beer was rapidly evaporating...Thank goodness for taps!

Also found out how to store wood for a WFO pizza place in a large city.

After lunch, I walked up State Street from the Capitol building and found an appropriate place to put one of Susan’s memorial glass disks.

One of Susan's glass disks was placed below the shrubbery
(by my umbrella at the little circle marked SHS).

I buried the disk and then sat there for a while looking down a grassy slope towards the Capitol...the Perfect spot...placed on the campus where our journey began, looking at one of our most meaningful stops on the almost incomprehensible Capitol Pee quest. I'm sure there will be a future post on that particular adventure that was begun/dreamed up in August of 2000, then coordinated, and completed by Susan in March of 2011...with me as the official photographer documenting each visit...of course outside the ladies restroom. 😉


On my way back to the motel, the clouds opened up and I found shelter under a building overhang (along Lake Monona's North side) for almost an hour watching an awesome thunderstorm light up (and drench) Madison. I sat & thought about my wonderful days here in 1969-1971 as well as the new memories I'd gathered in these few short days. As the rains came down, I remembered an old Hawaiian saying that noted Rain was Mother Earth's mixed tears of sorrow seeing you leave the islands and tears of joy for knowing you.
I know I was experiencing tears of joy & sorrow from the heavens to have a part of Susan returned to Wisconsin. I also shed a few tears of joy reflecting on the nearly 50 years we shared and how we truly lived our lives fully entwined in our love & deep friendship for each other.

Lake Monona, looking across to the Capitol building, colorful murals on plywood window
covers, Zoe Bayliss where we met, and fabulous fare at The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co.

I am one lucky man to have had Susan Helen Stansbury in my life for all those wonderful years.

Dust in the Wind (East bound)

Even with the COVID-19 issues this summer, I felt I needed to take some of Susan’s ashes to her parent’s graves in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. I also had some of her personal items to distribute to family members. (Besides, road trips are always better than staying at home to contemplate which chores are best ignored.) I planned to connect to I-80 Eastbound and come back on I-90 to give myself a little driving venue variety, expecting 3-4 weeks on the road. My only regret for the timing of this trip was that the six Forever Susan lilies I’d gotten were apparently going to start blooming after I left home (and would probably be just stems by the time I returned).

I decided the first night would be spent in Bend, since it was a relatively short drive (and I knew I’d be late starting). I also wanted to do a bit of walking around Diamond Lake on the way to appreciate the sheer majesty of the area. Amazingly, one of the lilies opened up the morning I was leaving...really made me happy and I took it as a sign that Susan was endorsing the trip. As I expected, I did get a late start but it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and with the “picture” of the Forever Susan lily happily stored both digitally and in my memory, I soaked in the sights walking the lake trail.

Cold, limited breakfast service the next day in Bend, which I had expected...so I had a loaf of my Apricot-Whole Wheat + a big jar of peanut butter ready in the travel cooler. Needless to say, my stomach was not growling as I headed for Jerome, Idaho. My Google Maps route indicated this would be my longest driving day at +8 hrs...but the scenery along Hwy 20 & I-84 through Eastern Oregon & Idaho was true eye candy at times.

Speed limits in Idaho were 75, so even with some construction zones, the drive went pretty well. The Comfort Inn where I stayed in Jerome was a very nice facility...it just had the feel of being dropped into a field with a couple other businesses. I especially found the intermittent sidewalks (or lack thereof) somewhat entertaining...reminded me a little of a Christo art project or a Stephen King novel...I walked briskly, looking behind me frequently...and didn’t stop too long in any one spot to take a picture.




The next morning I completed a good portion of my daily steps before heading for Rock Springs, Wyoming (via I-80 & the Wasatch Mountain range pass of Utah). Rock Springs was pretty nice, but I really enjoyed the painted/decorated plywood cows displayed throughout the city. Turned out, the Boy Scouts of Troop 4 distribute and install between 150-160 plywood cows to advertise/promote the National High School Finals Rodeo held in mid-July at Rock Springs. The scouts set up the cows in front of participating local businesses (for a donation) and then the businesses decorate them however they’d like.

Proceeds from the businesses are used to support camping, equipment, and summer camp for the scouts. Certainly spurred me on my walking “just a little bit farther” to see how the next wooden bovine had been gussied up.


Leaving Wyoming, I headed for Ogallala, Nebraska (as I have discovered, I just love writing/typing or just attempting to say Ogallala...come on, we all have our little quirks). The weather forecast for Ogallala that day was for no rain...however, that forecast DID NOT include the drive TO Ogallala. I went through a very intense Thunderstorm with an awesome lightning display that was mostly hidden by the incredibly heavy downpour...wow! I don’t miss those kind of storms at all. Amazing to me that some people apparently can see clearly in zero visibility...at least I'm pretty sure I was being passed occasionally by other vehicles (and trucks)...I couldn't see them well enough as they passed me by at 75 mph. 😲  Weather cleared for the last half of the drive, but I spent the rest of the day looking over my shoulder for another storm front. Arriving in Ogallala, I realized that I’d stayed here before on a previous trip to Wisconsin with Susan. Somehow it’s always a little comforting to recognize the place where you’re spending the night. And, oh crap, looked like another thunder head headed toward town Ogallala...OK, six times for typing Ogallala in one paragraph is enough--wait, that's seven!

I added a couple of pictures along I-80 of the Nebraska landscape just so
you could appreciate how flat a lot of the middle part of the USA really is...

The next morning I missed the hot breakfast, cooked to order...(apparently, 9 am in Nebraska means 8:30...must be a local time thing). But I still had plenty of bread & peanut butter to go with my coffee and carton of milk (and the thunder head missed Ogallala) so I had plenty of energy to get in my morning walk. Lots of freight train traffic heading west that day (and I suspect, most days). As I was walking across the screened bridge over tracks, I noticed several big dragonflies that were pacing me a couple feet away. I know it was because of the screening, but while I walked with “my friends”, I thought of the little sign my niece Kari had given me after Susan passed away.



It’s been quite a while since I’ve cried while remembering Susan, but that moment brought the tears back, but along with lots of good memories...I have been a very lucky man.

Off for Des Moines, I enjoyed the relatively few cars & trucks on the road for about the first five minutes...trucker coffee break? From then on, I experienced impressive streams of loaded trucks headed West on I-80. At one point (traffic confined to a single lane each way by construction), I counted 24 semi-trucks with a couple of cars literally squeezed in between them...no social distancing being practiced there at all! (Reminded me of the Jerry Reed song East Bound and Down (although it seemed mostly West Bound). I have been impressed with the Nebraska and Iowa rest areas on this trip. Fairly big, with nice walking paths around well maintained grassy areas. Certainly has helped to break up my driving day. I have also figured out how to use Google Maps on my cell phone (remember, I’m old...so to me, this was an impressive feat). Haven't really needed it yet, but I suspect going into Minnesota, it's going to be extremely handy without a navigator. I arrived in West Des Moines in the late afternoon to experience a somewhat unusual Sleep Inn location. It's really a nice motel, but the access is just awful. There is a tight, tree lined, 90 degree sharp turn coming into the parking lot that must be a challenge for even the most experienced truck drivers. Just to make it even more challenging, two trucks decided to park in the opposite approaches to the turn AND someone left their little white POS sedan (sans back wheel) at the corner...even in the Prius it seemed a formidable test of maneuverability. I wondered later if I’d accidentally wandered into some sort of competition that included a trucker’s obstacle course.

Now, imagine a semi-truck parked at the curb on each approach to this corner
...a Smart Car or Mini Cooper would've been useful here.

Tomorrow, I’ll place my navigational trust totally on my phone & Google Maps as I turn a bit North into Wisconsin to visit Susan’s brother Mark and his wife Lee Ann.

p.s. It would be nice if you've assumed I haven't posted for a while because I was traveling...but mostly I was just honing my procrastination skills (and quite well I might add!) 😎

A New Decade Starts in California (Part 2 of 2)

As I mentioned in the previous post, my last full day in Carlsbad involved quite a journey up the coast. I wanted to get to that Oceanside pier and it didn’t look all that far. I mention this, because on the way walking back “home”, I got a text from Layne wondering what my schedule/arrival time would be for the Newport Coast Villas where they had just checked in. I sent back that I wasn’t really sure yet, and I was just now starting to walk back to my timeshare unit in Carlsbad.

Throughout the walk back down the coast, I would get updates from her, saying: “We’re waiting for the room to open up...”; “Headed down to the pool area for a wine & cheese social...”, “Good selection of beers at the social as well...”, etc. I thought at the time that she was keeping me updated on things that really didn’t matter to me since I was still walking south towards my condo unit and didn’t bother responding. When I finally got home after dark, I texted her back saying I figured I’d leave about 10 on Sunday morning and would arrive early afternoon (planning to get my steps pretty much under control before martini time). I know you may not believe that there can be stunned silence while texting, but I swear for this one it existed. Layne responded with relief, because they had expected me to arrive Saturday afternoon, not Sunday, and were getting very worried about me getting stranded on the beach or being rolled by a criminal ocean element. We laughed pretty good about it later...after Sunday martinis of course.

The weather started out cool & damp at the Marriott’s resort complex (red x marks the spot), but being reunited with my friends and being a short distance from the beaches...it was awesome. We were pretty lazy for the week and as the weather started improving we got out a little more each day. The resort provides a shuttle up to Fashion Island (a large open air mall complex in the Newport Center) and a little south to the very relaxing Crystal Cove area.

We took the shuttle up to Fashion Island one day to get some “supplies” at Whole Foods and coffee at the Nespresso shop. Just walking around the shops was fun as there are lots of water sculptures and other places to sit and just enjoy the views. Fortunately we had to wait a bit for the shuttle back after shopping and (also very fortunately) The Back Bay Tavern inside the Whole Foods store was willing to serve us adult beverages...just in time I might add! Another day we drove (up a bit farther than the shuttles would take us) to the Balboa Peninsula and wandered the beaches of the area. After walking out the Newport Pier, we watched a pod of dolphins (porpoises?) play very close to the pier. They were having a great time jumping and making a real show of being there for us. As we headed back to the car, we decided a bit of nourishment would be in order...so, at Baja Sharkeez we took the opportunity to have some nibbles & drinks before heading home.

As the weather continued to improve, on our last day we took the shuttle down to Crystal Cove and walked the beach before settling in at a table with a view at the Beachcomber Café. Jim had their special seafood laced Bloody Mary to go with his lunch, while Layne and I just watched in awe (as we dug into our lunch plates stacked with generous portions).

The Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas is certainly one of my favorite places to stay. But on Saturday we packed our bags down to the cars and headed for Marriott’s Desert Springs Villas (in Palm Desert). Layne’s brother John and his wife Jan had introduced Jim & Layne to some extremely large and tasty strawberries out in the valley. The strawberries were sold in limited quantities to customers and with three of us in the car, we came home with plenty of “red gold”. Jim fixed Layne and I fruit and a lite breakfast every morning and frankly I got pretty spoiled! We tried to avoid making huge dinners and for the most part we succeeded...but with Layne being a fabulous cook, I must admit to overeating several nights...burp, yumm, burp!

 

I even got in the act and baked some bread and then used their new Insta-Pot to make a couple cans of Boston Baked Bread...Jim had never had that in his childhood, so now that pleasure void has been filled! They brought out a game called Oh Snap! at one point and it was really fun. Apparently it is an old game that has been rebranded and slightly redesigned. (I promptly ordered one when I got home.)



Of course, Layne’s favorite dish for company (nicoise salad) came out when John & Jan joined us for dinner one night. Not only tasty, but really a beautiful presentation when she does it for us.

I loved walking around the resort both inside and outside the “compound”...got in all my steps without problem every day! Lagoons were well maintained and there was a bunch of white pelicans that roamed the various waters. (“A group of pelicans has many collective nouns, including a “brief”, “pod”, “pouch”, “scoop”, and “squadron” of pelicans.” Note: I shamelessly copied that sentence from the Internet...first site I found...and whatever happened to flock?)

 
The resort has quite a few flamingos (a flamboyance, if you care...again, I think flock or bunch would work just fine.) out near the main entrance to the JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort & Spa building...but they’re old news...

After a fabulous goodbye dinner at Sherman’s Deli & Bakery with the Malicks, I packed up my large piece of carrot cake from the deli and half a corned beef sandwich (thanks Layne!) and headed back to Roseburg.

I basically took the same route home, the first day following Highway 10, then the 395 North to Kramer Junction, West on 58 to Bakersfield. Overnight there, then I-5 North and West 580 to Petaluma. Next morning I was off to Eureka on Highway 101. Had a wonderful walk along Humbolt bay...there’s an awesome trail that’s just uplifting to walk. (I had put in some pictures along that trail in part 1 of this long winded post set.) The next day I continued up the 101 and had terrific beef sliders & garlic/Parmesan fries for lunch (and a great porter) at SeaQuake Brewing.

Really enjoyed the walk around the coastal pathways in Crescent City (to wear off my beer and settle my fries) before making the jaunt back to I-5 via the curvy, narrow, and visually exciting Highway 199. I love the road, but primarily because it was basically deserted when I was driving it and road conditions were dry with sunny skies overhead...probably a nightmare at times with truck traffic and poor weather.

Exhausted and happy, I arrived home, turned on the water, water heater, brought the heat pump online to warm up the house, turned on the propane stove, unloaded the car, stacked the pile of mail on the kitchen table, and grabbed...you guessed it...a beer!

...and look, spring flowers awaited me the next morning in my yard (well, the bearded iris-top right- were in Bakersfield, but I was still amazed to see them blooming in February!)