Nimble as two mountain goats

Well... kinda sorta!

Steve and I went out hiking on Saturday.  This park has a bunch of trails, some in the woods, some in the meadows, and some along the craggy edges of the limestone cliffs.   The Niagara Escarpment runs through this park, so the shifting terrain has exposed layers of limestone.  Many years ago, there were limestone kilns situated along the shoreline, and the rock was baked into limestone powder.  This was used for making cement, plaster and other items.  Some of the old historic kilns are still located within the park boundaries.

The path we chose was called The Lime Kiln Trail.  It is a big loop that starts and ends right at the western edge of the campground.   The loop we chose was just about 2 miles long.  Steveio's knee is doing quite well, and he wanted to get out and explore each inch of the park as soon as possible.

THE CRAGGY LIMESTONE CLIFFS

SOME OF THE ROUGH PARTS OF THE PATHS HAVE STAIRS OR TIMBERS

 THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE TRAIL LOOP WANDERS 

ALONG THE SHORE OF LAKE WINNEBAGO

 STEVE AND I SCUTTERED AND SCURRIED ALONG THE TRAILS

IN BETWEEN TALL WALLS OF ROCKS AND SHADY TREES

THE FRESH GREEN OF THE WOODS AFTER A RAINFALL

THE NIGHT BEFORE WAS VIVID AND VIBRANT

 WE FOOLED AROUND TAKING A FEW PHOTOS. 

THE DAY WAS LOVELY AND COOL WITH TEMPS IN THE 60'S

SO SWEATSHIRTS AND LONG PANTS WERE IN ORDER.

 WE COULD FEEL A HINT OF AUTUMN IN THE AIR

AS WE WOUND ALONG THE PATHS IN THE WOODS.

5 OR 6 YEARS AGO, I COULD BARELY WALK 100 FEET,

AND NOW WE DID ABOUT 2 MILES! 

As we neared the campground up by the cliffs again, we saw a young girl, about 8-10 years old, dangerously close to the edge of a dropoff!   She was less than a foot from the edge on a narrow tall ledge of loose limestone, looking OVER the edge!  I told her to "get back away from the edge"   and "do your parents know you are out here?"  Behind her over on the other side of the tall spire of rock were her sister and her mother!   Her mother remarked something to the effect of "Oh that is fine, we are all right here"   I think they were trying to JUMP from the cliff on the left to the the spire on the right. DUH!    You CAN'T FIX STUPID!

   (of course, those are the types of parents who sue the state after their child dies, 

citing the lack of warning signs, guard rails, or fenced off areas) 

We walked back to the motorhome, enjoying the aroma of beef stew that I had simmering in the crock pot all day.  Ohhhh it smelled so good!   This is after we scooped out two bowls.

We finished up with a lazy evening in front of the TV, while I cranked socks and Steve played "Hearts" on the computer.  It was raining outside and the drizzle of drops on the roof top of the motorhome was soothing.  I felt bad for the tenters who got all set up for the weekend and just had their campfires going and enjoying their camping experience before the rains started.   Sigh.

Sunday morning is now all sunny and bright----  I baked up some Betty Crocker Streusel Muffin Mix (previously, our friend Paula made them for us, so I had to buy a box)   and sipping coffee here as I write the blog.  Today is a Packer Game Day---  FIRST game of the season!  So I guess we are not going to stray too far from the tv today.   GO PACK GO!


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One Month Vacation Countdown - and cooking stew in a pressure cooker

Yes... one month ... one month!   The countdown has begun!  As I look out our windows at the dreary snow, and feel the subzero temps blasting us, we know how much we will appreciate hopping in the rig and heading south and west to where it's WARM!  I think we just want to open up our lawn chairs in the desert, sit in the sunshine, turn our faces to the sun and relax!!!

Yesterday we drove to frozen Green Bay for some errands, and bought some New Balance hiking/walking shoes for our trip.  We plan to get in a lot of walking and the dogs will be enjoying it too.  We found some nice ones on sale from $70 down to $21 clearance!   They didn't have them in woman's size on the clearance, just men's.  But Steve found a pair for himself, and I thought what the heck, let me see if there was a men's pair that were small enough for me?  Sure Nuff!  So now we are sporting matching shoes!

We skipped going to the big Green Bay RV and Camper show this weekend.  It was held indoors and they charge $8 a person to enter the building. We know of the two local dealers, only one carries motorhomes, and he only had 2 on the lot all winter. Our friends Sharon and Fred went, and said there wasn't much to see anyhow.  Just lots of booths of private parks that we never go to anyhow. So we saved our money.



Last week I posted about using my pressure cookers in the house and in the motorhome.  I have a larger one in the house and a smaller one in the motorhome.   Note-- this is not the big canning pressure cookers with the dials and levers.   This is a smaller stove top version for cooking foods faster and seals in the flavor better than conventional cooking in a kettle.

The one in the pics below came from a tenant of mine. He was an older man who was moving to Nevada, and I helped him sell off a lot of his antique furniture and things before he left.  One of the items he gave to me was this pressure cooker, complete with the old original recipe book that was printed by the company, Presto.  I know new ones in the stores run upwards of $70-80 ... so keep an eye out at thrift shops or rummages for a more reasonable priced one.  You can get replacement gaskets and rocker weights in many hardware stores or online.   The smaller one in the rig came from a rummage sale for $2.

We use them a lot, and it makes cooking easier and faster, in my opinion.  So while I was making beef stew this week, I snapped a few pics for my blog.   I timed myself ... it took 28 minutes from beginning to end!

First, I browned up some tenderloin chunks of meat 

in the bottom of the pan with a bit of water and spices. 

While that was browning, Steveio peeled the taters and carrots. 

I gathered garlic, mushrooms (I was outta fresh so used canned) 

and 2 packets of gravy mix. You could use jars of gravy too.

That purple thing is a plastic onion holder that I just LOVE.. 

keeps half cut up onions in the fridge without them stinking up the other foods. 

Once the meat was browned, I tossed in the carrots, 

onions and shrooms and about 2 cups of water

Stick on the lid, turn the burner on Med-Hi and set the rocker weight in place

12 minutes of psssh psssh psssh rocking on top.

While that was cooking, I chunked up the potatoes 

and mixed up the gravy mixes with 2 cups of cold water

(see that small wire whisk?  World's Best Invention as far as I am concerned) 

gathered the spices and a dollop of steak sauce too.....

When the 12 minutes were up, I set the pressure cooker under cold running water in the sink....

the pressure lets out and then I can open the lid

I dumped in the gravy, the spices and the potatoes, and the dollop of steak sauce.  

Stir it up and I set it to cooking for 8 more minutes. 

(if you add the potatoes at the beginning, they get too soft and mushy)

Take it off again, cool under the water in the sink... and open up for 

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

The house smells soooooooooooooo good after making stew!   And sometimes I add to that a loaf of home baked bread from the bread machine.  Now that is a double whammy on making the house smell extra special!


Last night I made up rice in the pressure cooker, (7 minutes to fluffy perfection) and took pics but they are still in the camera... will save them for a future blog post when I have nothing else to write about.