Road Trip - Day 7 (Land Shopping, Bats, and Storms)

Up with the sun once again! I'm telling you if that rooster keeps this up he's going in the marinade with the wings!


Well back out to find my property! I met with the realtor early in the morning and wasn't able to get to the coffee shop, which was why I'm a day behind writing the rest of Day six. We head out into the wilds of this part of Florida looking for just the right spot for Lightnin and I to settle down. I'm properly dressed to push through the think brush, forest, and jungle that I may encounter, complete with gloves this time (hey, I may be an idiot, but I'm no fool!). Here's a small sampling of some of the area that I'm looking at:







Believe it or not this is Florida.

Hey here's a palm tree, how did that get here?!

After FC arrived home that evening he noticed that a gopher (a tortoise, not the fury little pest from "Caddy Shack") was out for a stroll so I had to capture it on film.

After that he took me over to one of the nearby wildlife sanctuary's to see a bat house that was built neat the Suwanee. We arrived just before sunset, so there was a good chance we'd be able to see the mass Exodus of the flying mammals for their nightly feeding frenzy.

While we were waiting an approaching storm gave us a bit of entertainment. This is common for the afternoons/evenings here this time of year. The heat and humidity build up into an impressive crescendo, finishing with a spectacular light show displaying Nature's beautiful fury!

Back to the bats. We could hear the sounds of rustling and squeaking coming from the bat house so we knew it wouldn't be long now. First a single bat emerges and flies off, followed by another, then another. All of a sudden the entire house empties, it was like a waterfall of bats leaving the house and flying off to devour as many mosquito's as they possibly could before coming back at dawn to rest again the next day. What an impressive sight, and the price was a mere few bites by gnats and mosquito's, well worth the effort.

On the way home we were able to witness the light show that we knew was going to follow the building storm we had seen earlier. Nature provides plenty of entertainment, you just have to take time to look around!

Today I'm going to goof off a bit more and head over to Cedar Key with the top down before heading back to the PF HQ to cook my famous wings. If possible I'll post some photos of that tomorrow. Lightinin flies in this afternoon so we'll see.

And the Road Trip continues........

Road Trip - Day 6 (Goofing off Continued)

When I posted last I wasn't able to tell you how I goofed off because it hadn't happened yet, so here's the rest of that story:

After I left the coffee shop, Mrs. FC called to let me know she was taking off at noon and that I should come to where she works and we would head for Gainesville to see the Megaladon exhibit (A huge extinct, prehistoric shark), and the Butterfly Garden. I thought "OK that sounds like fun!", I'm easily entertained and that would offer not only fun but a chance to learn something too!

Well, we stopped for lunch and when we went to leave the little key fob thingy for my car wouldn't work to unlock the car and disable the alarm. So much for site seeing! We headed for the nearest GM dealer to see if they could help. They couldn't do much without both of the remote entry key fobs, and since Lightnin had the other one back in Cincy we were pretty much out of luck. So with a bummer of a feeling hanging over me we decided it would be best to head to the store to get what we needed and head back to the PF HQ before the car decided to do anything else odd.

This wasn't all bad though because Mrs. FC and I had a chance to visit again after all these years. You see I knew her before she was Mrs. FC. When I first moved to UWF, I was fortunate enough to meet up with FC, and he and I became fast friends. He graduated and moved on to make his mark in the world, I transferring from a university in Kansas, had to make up for credits that wouldn't transfer so I was still there for awhile. Well during the time that he was gone the future Mrs. FC came to school. She and I met and immediately had a strong brother/sister relationship, honestly we both seemed to feel that we had known each other all our lives and sort of helped to watch each other's backs.

Anyway FC, having had a taste of the "real world" decided to come back and complete his Masters at UWF and asked if I would be his roommate. Of course I was happy to accept, we'd had so much fun before and besides he needed to meet my new friend!

I'm a bit fuzzy on all the details, but I think there was a small get together in the common area (hey we're no dummies and stayed in the coed dorm where the boys and girls were separated by a small lobby used as sort of a DMZ). Anyway this really cute blond comes over and starts talking to me, FC's eyes were popping out of his head so I introduced my two good friends. I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight on both sides. The rest is pretty much history.

I'm just trying to figure out who owes me for connected them with the best person they could ever meet, and who I owe for sticking them with the other one! I'll let them be the judge of that! ;-) None the less I gained two good friendships that I am lucky enough to be able to reconnect with by visiting one home!

Road Trip - Day 6 (Goofing Off)

Up with the sun once again, even though I had absolutely nothing at all on the agenda today!

I sit and visit with FC, and Mrs. FC while they get ready to go to work. Just before Mrs. FC gets ready to leave I notice a slight itching on my right hand and Mrs. FC, knowing that I've been tromping around in the wilderness, immediately asks to see it. "Yep, looks like you found some Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and/or Poison Sumac. Here put this cream on it no more than three times each day, and if it gets worse we'll get something stronger and try that"! I head her professional advice, and while I'm typing this it looks like all signs of the irritation are completely gone after just the first application of the ointment. I think I'll stick with the 3 doses today though, just to make sure!

Well, not sure what I'll do with the rest of the morning, but it's actually quite comfortable right now, so I think I'll wrap this up section of the "Road Trip Journal" and drive around with the top down for awhile and soak in some of the local scenery. Mrs. FC may try to take some time off this afternoon to goof off with me, and show me some of the nearby sites that I may not be able to find easily by myself. If so it will be pretty fun, if not it will be pretty fun too and either way I'm sure I'll have something to write about tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more........

Road Trip - Day 5 (Shopping for land)

Yesterday morning was a repeat of the day before. I had every intention of sleeping in and then putsing around town, but the combination of my internal alarm clock and FC's Rooster's were there to make sure I got up with the sun.

I wasn't going to meet with the realtor until 1:00PM so I had the entire morning free. I headed into town to the coffee shop where I could get hooked up on the wireless access to blog yesterday's post (Same as I am right now). Then I washed the lime rock road spray off of the roadster before it had a chance to eat through the clear coat, and headed to "Super Wally World" to shop for the ingredients to start the marinade for my secret wings recipe. I knew that I needed to get this back to the Pure Florida HQ before FC got home, or he'd most likely put it out into cyberspace for all the world to see (this fear was confirmed by his children, although I won't reveal exactly which of them spoke up first because I depend on them for directions, etc. while FC is at work this week).

After having succeeded in my tasks, I was ready to go out shopping for land. I had an aggressive plan, to whittle down 8 perspective properties to only two in the first day so that Lightnin and I could discuss (Long Distance) and make on offer on the top contender.

With the guidance of the realtor we drove all over the countryside tromping around and checking out every property on my list. Pushing through thick undergrowth, vines, and other assorted vegetation we made it through each piece of land in amazingly quick time. I now had the arduous task of knocking 6 of these off the list. A couple of hours later I'm there, and make the call to Lightnin to have here check them out on-line to see what she thinks.

After a few minutes of discussion, and a few hours of decision making, we picked our favorite plot of land. I call the realtor back and make our offer. The tension builds as we wait for a return call. About an hour later we get the disappointing news that the current owner states his final price, but it's still too high for the property of interest.

Oh well, like I stated earlier my plan was aggressive and this is only the first day. I tell the realtor that we'll just keep looking and maybe we'll be lucky enough to find just the right spot, at the right price!

More Road Trip Ahead..........

Road Trip - Day 4 (Internal Alarm Clock)

We blogged late into the night on Saturday night and then planned to sleep in and hit the road back to the "Pure Florida HQ", home for my passenger/ballast for the road trip. Opening my eyes I see that the sun has not risen yet, however that annoying internal alarm clock had sounded off and I was wide awake. I try to be as quiet as possible, sneaking into the bathroom to shower and trying to let FC get some sleep, but when I emerge (clean and fully clothed by the way, I anticipated a snide comment from Lightnin here!) he had awaken too. We loaded up the little roadster and hit the road once again.

We decided to take the back roads rather than the interstate so we could see the scenery and possibly see some of the weird and abnormal points of interest that you can only get on the "road less traveled". We weren't disappointed witnessing both weird and abnormal, but I'm afraid that photos would not have done this story justice and we'll just leave it at that for now!

After a long 12 hr drive we pull into the drive of my good friend's home, safe but not quite sound (same condition we left in). We unpacked and were welcomed by the rest of his family, told a few of our tales from the road and went to bed. FC starts work again tomorrow, but my trip is still in motion. Hopefully I can turn off the IAC and sleep in tomorrow!

More Road Trip ahead.......

Road Trip - Day 3 (Continued)

This is the story I had meant to post, but I was a bit overcome with a flood of different emotions at the time I posted. We had been up late on Friday night, awoke early on Saturday, put the car through a demanding drive all day, and then posted late at night again on Saturday.

Also, I forgot to mention that every time you see the FC, it is a link to Pure Florida where you can get his version of the events that took place.

Here's the rest of the story:
We awoke early on Saturday morning with the buzz of anticipation about the day ahead (or was it the coffee?). We ate a reasonable breakfast, keeping in mind that we were about to drive on some of the hilliest, windiest, most exciting roads either of us had been on, in a "Go-cart on Steroids".

If you look at Saturday's post you can see the map and photos of the group of Pontiac Solstice's and Saturn Sky's lining up getting ready to go. We strategically placed ourselves in the middle of the pack to get the forward and mirror shots of the line of vehicles going through the curves.

Our route started at Deal's Gap and went south on US-129 to the Cherohola Skyway, and then finishing up on the "Tail of the Dragon". Later we would find out that luck was on our side because we placed ourselves behind won of the most flamboyant drivers of the bunch.

It was better to have her in front of us than behind us!

Here's a good view of some of the curves on the Skyway.

Here's a few of the beautiful views that FC was able to snap while we were on the road.

We took a much needed break at the crest (around 5400Ft) to allow us to savor the adrenaline rush that we were all feeling at this point, and to allow the rest of the group to catch up.

After more driving we stopped at the halfway point to grab some lunch, and then hit the road again. The lunch was fantastic, and the staff was efficient and friendly. FC, being a bit insecure of the opinion that the rest of the group might be forming of the two of us, went for the BBQ sandwich. I, being secure with my manhood, opted for the Shrimp Salad wrap with Veggie Slaw.

After lunch we jockeyed for positioning, and then completed the rest of the run. The second concluded with the famed "Tail of the Dragon" (318 turns in 11 miles). Since we had already driven this stretch 3 times the previous day it didn't hold many surprises, but because of the traffic and the nature of the road we remained steadfastly alert all the same (Did you like that one Sir Thomas?).

After the ride was over we went back for a closer look at one of the sites we had seen earlier for a short dip of the hat into the cool stream.

More Road Trip ahead............

Road Trip - Day 3 (The Official Run and Mixed Feelings)

Today was the actual official event of the Solstice/Sky weekend, Driving "The Tail of the Dragon". I'll get to that in a minute, but first I want to talk a little bit about my mixed feelings today!





FC showed a photo of me washing my car yesterday, getting it ready for today's event, but the photo didn't clearly show the shirt I was wearing. Here's a pictue of both the front and the back of that shirt.











My mixed feelings are that I'm excited about this weekend's event, but at the time both FC and I were posting last night my son was boarding a plane for his second tour of duty in the desert. He is currently answering the call of duty, and for that I am very proud! Unless you are a parent of a child that is actively serving I doubt that you can understand completely the feelings that I am currently experiencing. I'm not going to dwell on that to all of you right now, but I at least needed to get this off my chest. It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with this conflict, because no matter which conflict there is controversy will always surround it. However, you do need to understand that until there are no more differences of opinion, politics, religion, or what ever any two humans of different beliefs can possibly argue about, there will always be a need for someone to try to keep the peace, and protect those who cannot protect themselves. I'll leave you with this thought, that was provided by one of the nice folks that we've met this weekend: " Thank God we have people like your son who are willing to make that sacrifice for the rest of us"! I just want him to do a good job and return home safely!





Thanks for bearing with me, now let's get back to the event of the day. I'm going to be brief, and just share a few of the phots of the day with caption, and give more details in the next few days (along with more photos).

Here's the map of the route we took
















Lining up getting ready to go. At this point only about half of the group was here.







More folks joined the group. Lightin, don't you think my baby could use this upgrade?










Out ont he road! As the saying goes "If you're not the lead dog, the view is always the same"!



























Or is it?!









To be continued............

Road Trip - Day 2 (What The?)

Let me start by stating that I did most of the difficult driving today, and then turned the wheel over to FC so he could get some practice in with the car before we drive "The Dragon" Tomorrow.

We probably made it about 5 miles when:

"Dave, this road sure has a lot of curves in it, just imagine what the Dragon is going to be like" A worried FC states.

"Hey man we've already passed a couple of Hwy Patrol's, and that dude's taking our picture!" I said. Both in unison: "We're already on it!"

There wasn't much either of us could do at the time, so I pulled out the camera and started snapping pictures! Of course I had to stop to laugh out loud every now and then, typical SNAFU for one of our road trips! FC did a fine job of driving, considering the circumstances, and I'm pretty sure he's capable of driving my car now! ;-)

As you can see I'm a bit more calm, being able to take in the scenery while driving, having put in many more hours with her than FC had a chance to.

Having made it to the lodge, after three trips across the Dragon, we had some time for a cool drink and some scenic photos:

Pablo - I caught him filling up on Unsweetened

FC showing scale to the view from Fontana Village

Me showing "a bit of captain" at Fontana Dam

Oh, and he wasn't after me Lightnin....at least not this time!

Road Trip - Day One (still in the "natty")

Using my good friend FC as an excuse to take some time away from work, I ended the week early today to drive to Indy to pick him up from his flight to the great white north.

In an effort to show that the midwest really isn't that bad (maybe it was a feeble attempt to convince myself) I toured him around to some of my favorite spots to introduce him to the foods and sites of the area.

The photo is courtesy of my friend and soon to be passenger on yet another journey. It not only shows my ability to color coordinate with my car, but interestingly enough you can actually see a bit of the Cincinnati skyline in the background. A bit more information is that the bridge in the background is one of only two of this type remaining in use. The other being the Brooklyn Bridge.

I toured him around my town taking about every curvy and/or hilly road I could think of, just to get him prepared for what we were about to get into. I also needed to make sure he wasn't going to freak out on me in such tight spaces, after all he's used to cruising around in a Jeep in the backwoods of Florida!

We leave at dawn! Our plans are to get up and have breakfast with Lightnin and then hit the road. Hopefully you'll tag along with us for the ride and check in to see the story from two different angles!

Oh, by the way, I'm drinking a Belgian Trappist ale named "Dilerium Nocternum" while writing this so if it makes any sense at all it will be amazing!

Road Trip: Preparations - The best laid plans....

I had hoped to post a few pictures of me getting my sweet little two seater ready for a fun road trip, but you know what happens when you wash your car!

At least the weather changed before I wasted my time!

The least I can do is offer up this older photo of her when she was looking good!

She's the sexy little grey number next to the red 'Vette. That's me (in the boonie) talking to the owner/restoration-artist of the powerful full-scale version of mine.

I still remember that day............. We talked and traided compliments: "Whoa, what's that?", he asks. "A Solstice", I return. "Is that one your's?", I ask. "It's in perfect shape", I add. "Yep, restored her myself!", he proudly states. "Nice", I say and banter a bit: "Well you know your's has the muscle and mine's the toy version, but mine might have it the curves". "I bet she does", he continues, "sort of like a Go-cart on Steroids isn't it?" We both have a bit of a laugh, and decide to come in out of the heat and enjoy a cold one!

Go-cart on Steroids, hmmm, that's actually pretty accurate! I'm guessing we'll find out this weekend! The "Tail of the Dragon" is a section of US-129 in North Carolina, just across the Tennesee state line, with 318 turns in 11 miles. Oh, and it's on the side of a mountain!

Did I mention that I'm not going alone? Nope, my good buddy FC (http://www.pureflorida.blogspot.com/) is flying in tomorrow afternoon to join me on this quest for the open road.

We'll be joining up with at least 30 other Solstice or Sky owners for a get-together at the Fantana Lodge, and running the Dragon over the weekend. From there we'll head southward back to his homestead, where I'm hoping to find our (Lightnin's and mine) little slice of heaven too!

By the way FC I took the high road here and didn't post any forbidden scenes of lunacy from our misguided youth (Ok, it really wasn't that misguided!), however, the trip ain't over yet and we may see some evidence of a misguided adulthood before it's all said and done! If I can just figure out how to hide my laptop in the shoebox of a trunk that we've got I may be able to post while we're on the road, and you know you've got to sleep sometime! ;-)

To Be Continued:..............

Lobsterfest! (in Ohio?)

I wrote about The Farm in an earlier post (something about cheeseburgers and motorcycles). Well yesterday was the Lobsterfest so of course Lightnin and I couldn't miss that!

It's all about good Food, Fun, Friends, and music.

Yep, that's me displaying one of the star attractions for the day, no silly it's the 1lb lobster I'm holding. They sell tickets to the event in advance so that they can have the lobsters flown in fresh. The 1-1.5 range is actually about the best for eating. Although the 12lb brut that Chris (one of the owner's of the establishment) is holding is pretty impressive!

The mood was set by the Cajun sounds of Robin Lacy and de'zydeco. The music combined with 90F temperatures and 80% humidity, the smell of the boiling seefood, corn, potatoes, etc. almost made me feel like I was back down along the Gulf coast. I open my eyes only to realize I'm still in Ohio.

That's Kate, testing the watermellon to make sure it's ok to serve.

I was able to catch Lightnin clowning around with Chris. You have to be fast to capture her on film.

With our bellies full, a cold beer or two (ok who's counting?) under our belts, and having laughed with our friends while enjoying good music, it was now time to call it a day and roll back home.

Happy Birthday Lightnin! (belated by a few days)

Well, Lightnin has officially made it past a half century! It actually happened this past Saturday, which makes me happy because I'm now a year younger than she is!

We actually held a much bigger celebration for her a month earlier, on my birthday, by having both of her sister's come into town and going to dinner with them and several of Lightnin's friends. So this past weekend we celebrated rather quietly with just ourselves.

I cooked up a meal at her request, which consisted of Fajita's, Mango Margarita's, Mango Salsa, and Spanish rice.

Yes, in the center of the table is located a USDA Grade A Choice Flank Steak, which was expertly prepared by resting overnight in a Chipotle, Lime, and Tequila marinade. It was then grilled over a mesquite wood fire, allowed to rest for 10 min, and then thinly sliced on the bias (at an angle across the grain) for easier "chewability".

The Mango Magarita's help complement the heat from both the chipotle influence on the meat and the jalepeno in the salsa.

Those of you that know me realize that even though I prepared the meal at Lightnin's request as a special gift, the enjoyment I got out of cooking was probably equal that of her's from eating!

Again, if interested in this or any of the other recipe's that I have shown in my previous posts just let me know.

Salud!

Modern Comfort food (and a new camera)!

I love weekends because I finally get a chance to actually cook a meal, not just hurry up and get fix something to eat.

Sunday was Chicken Curry. It's sort of one of our staples around here. Kind of a modern day comfort food, as my title revealed. Well, I also thought it was a perfect way to test out our new Digital camera.

Here's all the ingredients (yep, I'm giving up one of my recipes):

Back row (L-R) - Fresh cracked black pepper, Salt, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), Chicken Stock.

Middle Row (L-R) - Coconut Milk (1 can), Garlic (1 tsp.; I was out of fresh), Curry spice (3 TBsp of my own home blended), Butter (2 TBsp. real dairy butter).

Front Row (L-R) - Finely chopped jalapeno peppers (about 6 medium sized, sans seeds), Finely chopped fresh cilantro, Finely chopped onion, chopped fresh tomato, Chicken (4 chunked no bigger than 1" cubes).

By the way that spoon used to be white, but my curry turned it yellow on the first batch many years ago. It is now referred to as "The Curry Spoon".

First - Heat your pan on about medium heat and add about 2-3 table spoons of EVOO, and the butter. When the butter starts to bubble add the Jalapeno and cook (stirring occasionally) until it looks like it is softening. Stir in the onion and cook until it starts to look clear. Then stir in the tomatoes. Salt and pepper to your liking (keep in mind that the curry spice is a bit on the spicy side). Cook this mixture, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes basically turn to mush (this is the base of a curry paste).

Second - Stir in the curry spice and cilantro. Cook, while stirring, until it's a paste like consistancy. Add the chicken, turn up the heat to about medium high, and stir until the chicken is just browned. Third - Add 2 cups of chicken stock stir and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat and place the lid on the pan cocked to one side so that moisture can evaporate. Allow to simmer for 1/2 hr stirring occasionally. (It should look like the photo below at this point)

Next - Stir in the can of coconut milk and allow to simmer for an additonal 1/2 hr, stirring occasionally.

Finally - Serve on saffron rice

We use Basmati rice and usually add carrots and peas to it for some extra veggies in the meal.

If you're interested in my curry spice blend, or the secret to perfect rice, please let me know and I'd be more than happy to share that too!

Bon appitite!

Beer Judging (Hey, at least it's not about hops!)

For those of you that don't know, I started judging beer as a novice in 1995 (ok for those of you that do know me, I was unofficially judging them for a long time before that), and have been a licensed judge since 1997. All of the competitions that I judged in the past were amateur competitions, judging home made beer for free. Well this past weekend I joined the ranks of professional judging!

It was at the Indiana State Fair Brewer's Cup competition. I was able to judge commecially brewed beers, rather than homebrew. Now don't get me wrong I enjoy tasting, comparinghome brewed delights, and part of our job is to give pointers on how they can further improve, but this is the big time!

The money wasn't enough to pay for the trip, but it's the principle. Plus the real thrill was to actually be a part of keeping commercial brewing on the right path of preserving real beer styles!

Pros't, Sante, Salud, Strochen, Skol, Cheers! No matter how you say it, enjoy!

Again with the hops?!

Yep I'm talking about the hops once again, but hey with beauties like these I can't help but show them off!

If you noticed the date stamp on the photos (accurate this time) you'll see that I took these a few weeks ago. I had every intention of posting these at the time they were taken, but life sort of got in the way.

Over the past few months alot has happened:

Our oldest Son has been accepted into the Masters program of Christie's College of Art (Sorry if that's not the correct name or spelling) in New York! I'm sure you've heard of the famous Christie's Auction House! He's scheduled to move to the big apple in August. Of course we're very proud of this, and have no doubt that he'll make it through the program with flying colors!

Our Middle Son's construction business is booming and it looks like he's going to be hiring more employees. Again, very proud parents here! And his Son, our Grandson, is of course still the cutest little guy on earth, just ask Lightnin!

And last but not least our youngest Son is still proudly serving our country and is still currently stationed over in Europe.

This is where I need to add a bit more filler. He and his long time (3+ yrs) sweetheart have sort of parted ways. The funny thing is that he realized that really wasn't the reason that he is wanting to stay on Europe once his call to duty has been fulfilled. He's actually going to try to make a go of it living abroad, while maintaining US citizenship. Not an easy task, and again we're proud of his determination.

To add a bit more intrigue to this whole story: As most of you who bother to read my dribble know I travel to Europe quite a bit, and have tried to let you follow along on my trail whenever I'm able to get connected to the web. We'll we may be taking this a step further. An opportunity presented itself about 3 weeks ago for a temporary position (3yrs), with my present employer, over in Europe.

I decided to throw my hat into the ring and go for it! What have I got to lose? I absolutely love what I'm doing right now, so if I'm not picked I'm really not out anything, but what an experience if I'm lucky enough to be the top candidate and make the move! Not to mention the potential for further upward movement in the organization.

Of course nothing's really that simple. Lightnin has a booming career going too, and the loss of her salary would be a significant hit to our bottom line! Not a trivial matter for consideration. There's also the reality that we'd be moving so far from all of our family and friends, well we would be closer to one of our Sons.

On top of all this it's currently the end of our fiscal year, and of course work is at it's peak as everyone is frantically trying to spend what is left of their departmental budgets before the end date. Oh, did I mention that it's also evaluation (ratings and rankings) time for myself and all of the folks that work for me! So, as you can guess I've had a bit on my schedule, and on my mind!

I have my first interview for the position on Monday morning. Wish me luck, I think!