NorCal

I bailed out of the Sierras mainly because the resort where I had planned to stay was a real markdown and there were few others in the Sierras that had any openings. We had a free one year membership with a group of resorts called Thousand Trails that we had gotten when we bought the RV and their website showed resorts that looked beautiful with wooded sites, some on the coasts of Oregon and Washington, others throughout the country. I found one outside of Sacramento in a place called Nicolaus on Lake Minden.

This is an image from their website – folks – it wasn’t like this at all. When I checked in I was told by a very bossy girl I had to have proof of registration and insurance for both vehicles before they would let me in. It was about 100º outside, the RV was boiling and I had no idea where the hell Jan had put that information. So I got a little hot under the collar and after 30 minutes of digging and sweating found what I needed and went back in. Now, every other resort we have stayed at and where we had made prior reservations had a reserved  spot for us. Not always the best but a spot never the less. Not here; it’s first come first serve.They said that there were some empty spots throughout the 270 acres, some with 30 Amp service and some with 50 Amp which is what we need so that we can run our two air conditioners and cool the motorhome and us down. And – there were very few sewer sites at all on the grounds which was also a first. Horrors!!! I had learned the fundamentals of emptying and cleaning the tanks through a designated sewer dump but I had never kept grey and black water on the coach and then dumped at a dump station either on site or off. And like I wanted to learn that aspect of RV life. Jesus, as if i wasn’t hot enough, I had to search the campground mostly on foot to find a spot – put out a chair or something to say this was mine and then hoof it back to the RV and get to the site before I melted. Dusty and hot and humid – the mosquitoes in Northern California can eat a man alive and there I was on Lake Minden, a small brown patch of water with no trees and a haven for these tetradactyl mosquitoes that were feasting on me. This was it – and this bird and her family were my neighbors for the next ten days. Needless to say I didn’t do much cooking outside.

The nearest town was Yuba City to the north, and Sacramento was about the same distance to the south. I hit Sacramento a couple of times, once to fit the Mini with new tires and another time to load up on some more booze because California is good for buying alcohol if not much else and I didn’t want to be paying ridiculous prices in Oregon and Washington, which was where we were heading. Yuba City had a huge Walmart where I went several times just to get some walking in (it was cool) and to Starbucks because they had WIFI (Thousand Trails did not) and I could get some e-mails. One redeeming thing about this area was a great little golf course not far from TT with very reasonable rates and I played there once and when Jan got back we played a couple of more times. And one early morning we were awakened by a crop duster that buzzed us at least five times  and looked like he was going to hit the wires above our RV.

That was it folks. On to Oroville.

I have two sources for my spice addiction – The Spice Shop in Chicago and Savory Spice Shop which I found in Newport Beach some years ago and who have locations in a number of cities across the country. This recipe comes from Savory as does the Cambodian Lemongrass Curry. You’re gonna like this one!

cambodian-lemongrass-marinated-grilled-steak