Barking with the Spuds

Traveling in an RV ... from a cocker spaniel's point of view


This evening finds us in Natural Bridge, Virginia at the KOA. The scenery is just beautiful here in the mountains. Lots to sniff, smell, mark, etc. There's a nature trail that we drag Mom and Dad down a couple of times a day. The campground seems to have removed as few trees as possible and leveled the sites only to the minimum required, so the drive from the office to our site was "threading the needle" and the actual site is testing the limits of our leveling system according to Dad. He said next time we'll listen to our friends John and Linda when they suggested we stay elsewhere with a coach of this size.

I got to help the camp hosts put propane in our coach when we arrived. It was great fun! Then I rode in the car with Mom since they wisely detached the car before navigating to the site. Dad said it was actually easier driving the coach without me on the dashboard, barking to announce our arrival to all the other campers. If you believe him (I don't). I always slip off my seatbelt and help when we get to the campground.

As for the title of this entry, the folks went for a drive today (not sightseeing, or buying us toys and treats, but SHOPPING for themselves). On the way back they decided to see what the draw was for the "Natural Bridge" here. Supposedly one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Dad researched it and apparently that was some list some long time ago. It's just a hole under the road that some river cut out, but the locals have made quite the tourist attraction of it, and not in a good way. There are all kinds of kitschy, hokey, non-Virginia, non-historical attractions right near "the bridge", most notably a Haunted Monster Museum (aren't they all?), Dino Kingdom, Wax Museum and lots of cheap-*ss gift shops, and the Pièce de résistance something called "Foamhenge" which appears to be brought to you by the Enchanted Castle Studios. This is a full-size replica of Stonehenge made out of Styrofoam. The tourist website http://www.naturalbridgeva.com/ sadly reports that public access to Foamhenge in limited due to wind damage.

Darn! That would have been so cool to lift a leg on, wish they had used better building materials like the Druids did.

Tomorrow we leave for a week-long stay in Maryland, close to Baltimore and D.C. so we can have crab cakes, maybe we'll even get to meet Duff from Ace of Cakes (I wonder if they do pet-edible cakes?) and the folks want to tour Mount Vernon and the Smithsonian.

Later!
Bentley



What's Cooking

Pulling into the campground last night with temperatures in the 50's, soup was on the menu. We ran (ok drove) to Kroger and got the ingredients for our favorite, easy soup that tastes like you cooked all day. It's from Cooking Light and the recipe here is doubled so we have leftovers:

Italian Sausage Soup

In a large saucepan or dutch oven, brown:

1 to 1 1/4 lbs turkey Italian sausage (we like a mix of hot and sweet) Break up the sausage into smaller bits while it browns. Then add

2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings (basil, oregano, garlic, etc. - choose whatever flavor you like in the brand you prefer)
1 Box of chicken broth, preferably low-salt, low-fat
1 Cup medium shell pasta

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the pasta is done

Stir in 1 6 ounce bag of fresh or 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach and simmer until fresh spinach is wilted or frozen is fully thawed and dispersed throughout the soup.

Serve with a spoonful of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese on top. Refrigerate or freeze the leftover soup for another day.

YUM YUM YUM!

Yes, thats spanish for beans. Today we moved from the casino campground in Mississippi (aka Mississippipuppy) to the Bean Pot Campground in Crossville, Tennessee. This is just a stopover site for us, or so they tell us. That's why Mom hasn't put out the "bling" in the coach and why the car is still attached.

We had an "interesting" last day in Tunica yesterday. Mom and Dad gambled away another $20 on the slots, bringing their total losses to a bag and a half of Fromm. Geez, we hope this trend stops! After a dinner of HEB fajitas* we watched as a guy with a fancy new Beaver motorhome demonstrated his complete lack of ability on how to drive a vehicle. It took him probably 8 tries or more to back into a site that Dad only took 1 move to do. Then late in the evening Mom's "Nervous Nellie" fretting at a little wind made her bring in the awnings. Good thing - we had big thunderstorms and straight-line winds just a little bit later, the coach was a rocking. This morning we heard the winds had downed high-voltage lines up at Harrah's. That casino was without power and no one could enter or leave the complex because of the power lines.

On the drive from Tunica to Crossville, the 'rents listened to CD #1 of their learning Spanish package. Their pronunciation is atrocious! But maybe when they have finally listened to all of the lessons, they will know why, in the pre-drywall walk through, one of the studs in the house was marked "screw under raisin rat" and another had something about "nail triple mackerel" according to babelfish.

Tonight we got a bunch of linguini that was leftover when Mom made her linguini with white clam sauce. WE LOVE PASTA! bUrp!

Ree



What's Cooking

Fajitas

Thickly slice, coat in olive oil and Mexican or Fajita dry spices

2 sweet onions (preferably Texas 1015)
2 red bell peppers
2 green bell peppers

Grill on medium until softened and slightly charred. Set aside

Grill 1 package HEB beef fajitas (you can buy these at Central Market, they come in a vacuum pack) on the highest your grill will go. Slice across the grain.

Serve on tortillas (we like Central Market fat-free ones) with sour cream or Crema Agria Mexicana, guacamole, green salsa, grated cheese.


Linguini with white clam sauce

Cook 6 ounces linguini

Simmer 4-6 minced garlic cloves and
a few dashed red pepper flakes in
2 Tbsp olive oil

Add the juice from 1 can (or 2 pouches) clams (reserve clams)
Bring to a boil and add 1/4 C dry white wine and 1 Tbsp parsley flakes

Reduce sauce while pasta cooks. When pasta is done, dump reserved clams into reduced sauce. Drain pasta, stir sauce 15 seconds then remove from heat. Portion pasta into 2 bowls, split sauce between bowls, top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The folks have been playing twilight (after 2pm) golf, we think to cover their high roller gambling losses at the $0.25 slots in the casino. We can see the course from the RV, it's a nice rolling hills links style course, very green and well maintained. We watched as dad hit shots way, way far off to the right into the tall weeds, guess he likes the extra challenge. Later we took a walk along the edge of the course nearest the RV park and hunted for lost balls for him to pick up and hit into the weeds another day.




Yesterday they went to the Tunica Riverpark. There is a river cruise you can take in a "boat" that looks like what you get when you combine a decommissioned tug boat and add a house boat on top. We guess it was supposed to be reminiscent of a paddleboat but something went wrong. This fine, under-powered vessel barely had enough power to move upstream against the current according to the folks, who only watched but did not partake. The name was "Tunica Queen", but we think Tuna-can Queen sounds more appropriate (and if you say it fast, no one notices the difference).

They also went to the Museum and commented that it was nice but the exhibits weren't tied together well. Mom wondered if it must have been something the casinos were required to put in place to provide something educational. Not sure that was a compliment or not. A walk on the ecotrail at the Riverpark was on the plan, but apparently this area has experienced a 10-year flood sometime in recent weeks (based on the marks on the pillars they have to show flood heights) and the entrance to the boardwalk over the wetlands portion was completely under water.

We also went to the local Piggly Wiggly for some needed vittles. Being the closest grocery store, we didn't know quite what to expect. The fresh chicken feet and smoked pork tails in the meat case were very enticing but the prepackaged bag of pretzels and container of milk made the most sense in this very deep south grocery.






Today seems like a low-key day. We just came back in from our noontime hurry-up and it was HOT and HUMID out. Good thing we start heading north in a couple of days!

Today we moved from Hot Springs down the road a few hours to Tunica, Mississippi. Blue hid under the recliner when we were packing up because he did not want to wear his seatbelt. Once he was corralled we hit the road and if the price of gas is supposed to be keeping people off the road it was not evident. Woosh, woosh, woosh is all we kept hearing along with some incomprehensible mumbling from the driver's seat.

Once settled in Tunica at the Hollywood the folks went up to the casino for some slots, whatever that is. Came back talking about changing our food to generic and cutting back on the biscuits.

Tomorrow they are off to the links style golf course that is part of the casino. The RV park backs up to hole number 10 where we wanted to leave a new "hazard" but the folks would not let us.

Mom made quesadillas with the leftover Margarita chicken, so she doesn't have any new recipes to post tonight. She and Dad were mumbling something about how cool it was to be their own wireless wifi hotspot, whatever that is. It has something to do with their cellphone and something called the "Cradlepoint" and it lets them add to this blog even if the campground doesn't have Internet service.

They're such geeks.....

The Posse


I love the smell of honeysuckle; it's in the air everywhere. It smells almost as good as some of the spots in the dog run. Well, almost. I spent most of the day people watching and pulling on my leash since Dad walks too slow for my taste.

When no one is home I like to lay on the dinette table and watch out the window. Don't tell the folks, they don't know and I don't think I'm supposed to do this, at least that's what I think "No", "Off" and "Bad" mean.

Bentley




Why would anyone go here when they could sit with a Blue dog all day? Apparently 10 dollars for 18 holes of golf sounded better. The entire thing made me a bit sick, or maybe it was the fact I did not get a second biscuit this morning. I left a present behind the chair, or was it in the hallway? No matter, if they find it they will blame the puppy.

Blue



Whats Cooking?
Another fun grilled dinner this evening. We modded one of our favorite Cooking Light fish taco recipes and turned it into Margarita Grilled Chicken.

Take 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and butterfly (cut in half, thickness-wise). Marinate for 1-2 hours in

1/4 C Mrs. Renfro's Jalapeno salsa verde
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp tequila
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/3 Cup lime juice
2 Tbsp cooking oil

Grill, then slice into strips and turn into tasty tacos with

shredded romaine lettuce
grated cheddar cheese
roasted pepper strips

We didn't have any sour cream or crema Mexicana, so we mixed equal parts Hidden Valley light ranch dressing and Mrs. Refro's salsa to make a salsa verde ranch dressing to drizzle on the tacos. We used Central Market southwestern tortillas for the wraps for another layer of spice

Tomorrow we plan to turn the leftover chicken and salsa ranch dressing into a southwestern chicken salad similar to what's served at the Wildhorse Grill (think addition of black beans, diced tomatoes, and diced avocado with crispy southwestern tortilla strips on top).

We wanted to call this site "Run outside, bark at Tom" but Dad said it was too long and confusing.

It was a long day of sitting on the couch in the Cracker Barrel and I don't particularly like all the bumping and noise, but we made it to Hot Springs in about 5 1/2 hours. We are at J&J RV Park this year. It's a smaller park and the owners live up on the hill overlooking the RVs. Mom made beef sate for dinner but we didn't get any. There's some nice grass near the all-gravel sites here and Blue saw a squirrel.

Mom and Dad are enjoying a 1996 Chateau Montelena tonight. Tomorrow they are planning to golf at a small 9-hole course here that they will tell you about later.

That's enough for now. I'm tired.

Ree



Whats Cooking?

Tonight's dinner was a beef sate that I made using most of Steven Raichlin recipe from "How to Grill".

Marinate

1 lb of thinly-sliced flank steak in a mixture of
3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 C cooking oil
3 Tbsp lime juice

Skewer and grill on high for just a couple of minutes on each side.

We ate a few skewers each and have leftovers to cut into pieces and mix with a peanut noodle recipe for a refreshing light meal.

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