Chocolate Milk and Quail

When I stopped in Albuquerque last week, Michael gave me four stouts.  Two of the stouts were from Michigan and made by New Holland Brewing, one of my favorite breweries.   Two of the stouts were from Albuquerque by Boxing Bear Brewing and have earned assorted awards including a 2024 Silver Medal at the American Beer Festival.  It's called Chocolate Milk Stout and actually does contain cocoa nibs added to the brewing process.  I wasn't sure that I was going to like that, but the effect is quite subtle.  The milk part is from added lactose which adds both sweetness and mouthfeel.  All in all, an excellent stout.  

Tonight, as we were eating grilled burgers and asparagus, we had visitors performing the balance beam on our rear fence.

Puerto Vallarta: Beer

From December 2021

My expectations are always low for local beer when I travel in Latin America.  Many of the beers are produced by mega-breweries and tend to be light lagers.

Negra Modelo is an exception to the predominant style, representing a dark lager with hints of caramel and nuts.

I found two brewpubs in the Zona Romantica neighborhood, but I only tried the beer at one.  Los Muertos Brewing is the better-known of the two, serves food, and was often packed with people. Instead, I went to Monzon Brewing Company, which was less glitzy and more neighborhood pub atmosphere.

All of the beers that I tried were above average.  The customers were mainly Americans and Canadians, including some long-term expats.  The beer and atmosphere were good enough that i returned a couple of more times.

Porter from Monzon

 

Fort Collins: Fermented Paradise and Laundry

This post jumps back to our late spring trip out west.  Leaving the Vedauwoo Recreation area between Laramie and Cheyenne, we backtracked and drove southeast to Fort Collins, Colorado.

We had several reasons for making Fort Collins our destination. First, Julia has an optometry school friend who resides there.  Her husband is a lawyer.    And they both like to hike and drink good beer, so lots of things to talk about after not seeing each other for a number of years. 

Second, after a week without hookups, we needed to resupply, shower, do laundry, dump tanks,  and plan our next journey into the mountains. We checked into Boyd Lake State Park for a two day mid-week stay.  

All of Colorado State Parks are expensive for camping and charge an additional $10 each day for non-residents. At Boyd Lake, sites are tight. Coin showers with out-of-order change machines.  No firewood for sale. On the plus side, the on-site laundry facilities were excellent.  Also, it was very convenient to use as a base for our trips to the mountains to the west, and reservations were available mid-week during June. There wasn't much else available where we could get stuff done.  

 

One thing that we really enjoyed here were the afternoon storms. The sky would be just like the photo above, and then dark clouds would appear from nowhere.  The winds would kick up; the lightning would flash across the sky; and then maybe it would rain a little bit or not.  It was a total tease. 

Then the blue skies would return--just in time for us to go on a brewery tour with friends. Our first stop was Odell Brewery:  excellent beer, very enjoyable outdoor space. 

 After a long winter and spring being mostly cooped up without much social interaction, it felt great to hang out with friends and laugh over beers.

Next stop:  New Belgium Brewery.  I've had their beers before in Wisconsin, but there was a wider selection of draft beers at the brewery.  I tried the Belgium-style Kriek.  Delicious.

One of the ideas discussed that night was a recommendation to hike nearby Horsetooth Rock Trail.  Deanna  and Dan were working the next day and wouldn't be able to join us.  They warned us that the trail could be "snakey" that time of year, so to keep alert.

We didn't see any snakes on the way up, and the trail was beautiful.  We hiked up early in the morning to beat the heat.

 

Julia on a Horse's Tooth

During the hike down, the temperatures started to warm up.  While we were some of the first hikers up, a long line of people were below--just beginning their ascent.  Sleepy heads.  Three young women were hiking towards us about twenty yards away when a HUGE snake slithered quickly between them and then into the tall grass.  The woman closest to the snake  jumped about four feet back and two feet high while shrieking.  It was a big, non-poisonous bull snake and made for a interesting end to the hike.  Two of the women were laughing as we crossed paths.  The one closest to the snake was still a bit shaken.

A week later, we were back at Boyd State Park for more chores before heading into some different mountains for a second week.  This time, we headed to Verboten Brewing in Loveland.  Unlike Odell and New Belgium, Verboten is a small place and the type of brewery that I most enjoy supporting.  Excellent beer and staff that loves to talk about their beer and the community.

Covered outdoor space in front

Beer List

Perfect pour of Stealth Haze

During our resupply, we picked up several Colorado beers which I haven't previously tried. Juicy Bits is made in Greely.  This is my favorite way to enjoy beer. With sandals in a mountain stream.

The next post will be about our week in the national forest near Allenspark, Colorado.

More Winter Scenes

Our early winter continues.  I traded my snowshoes for my medium-duty Dahner hiking boots.  The snow wasn’t deep enough for snowshoes. The hiking boots provided extra support for the hidden rocks and stumps lurking under the snow.

Gibraltar Rock was a winter wonderland.  No prior footsteps or paw prints in the snow meant that Callie and I found the solitude that we were looking for.



We chose the Upland Trail out of the Steinke Basin parking lot.  Trail conditions alternated between icy and windy out of the sun to soggy and warm in the sun.  We didn’t see anyone else hiking all morning

Later in the week, we celebrated Julia’s transition to half-time status at work.  On Thursday, we headed to Devil’s Lake State Park for a hike.  The ferry generally stays open into December, until the river and/or the boat becomes to icy.  The hydraulic ramps were icing up on this morning, causing delays. 

After the hike, we stopped in at the newly-opened Tumbled Rocks Brewery and Kitchen near the north entrance to the park.  The food and beer were both good.  We will return.

On Friday night, we received an unexpected call from the Campus Police Department at Justin’s college.  Almost exactly a year from the date that he broke his leg from a fall, he fell out of his wheelchair again.  Another ambulance ride, another hospital visit.  Thankfully, this time he didn’t break anything. He’s sore but still at school.

Running for the (Wisconsin) Border

Just when I started enjoying the weather, things took a turn for the worse.  You may recall me basking in the 70’s in southern Illinois.  That didn’t last long.  Callie and I enjoyed an overnight stay at Beaver Dam State Park and then headed north to Springfield.

My first thought in staying at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield was that we were going to chart a path home through the best campgrounds that central Illinois and northern Illinois had to offer.  To be honest, nothing was exciting me.  We spent some time walking around Springfield, which hangs its tourism hat on Abe Lincoln.  I drank a new beer, Stag, which tastes a lot like Pabst.  That’s not a bad thing on a hot day for $1.50 at a bar.

Then the reality of being only five hours from home, and the weather abruptly changing to freeze warnings, lead to the decision to cut the trip short and head home.  On the day that I arrived back to Wisconsin, there were freeze warnings.  That afternoon, we winterized the Brew Hut and called it the end of the 2019 season.

It seems strange going from sweltering to freezing in such a short time.  But there it is…

Future Plans

What’s next?  I’ll be home for awhile.  The firewood for this next season is ready, but the firewood for the season after that needs to be harvested and processed.  The (adult)  kids will be coming home in coming weekends, and then there will be a big gathering here for Thanksgiving.

As far as the Brew Hut goes, the old Scamp trailer will hibernate for the winter.  We’ve taken her west, south and east now. Which trip did I like best?  West, south and then east.  All of the trips were good ones, but the free camping out west and the dryer climate fits my camping style better.  There were also fewer mosquitoes.

At this point in time, I’m not sure where the next trip will take us, but I’ll have a long winter to figure that out.

Outer Banks: Saying Goodbye

We ended up staying nine nights at Oregon Inlet Campground.  Mostly through luck, we had one of the best sites; we could walk to the beach from our backyard.  The showers were solar-warm.  The bathrooms had flush toilets and running water.
Cons:  the mosquitoes were terrible when the wind dropped.  Fortunately, the wind blows hard nearly all of the time.  The sites are tight.  Generators are allowed in the areas where there is no electricity.  Because all of the electric sites fill up first, this results in some strange situations where big Class A motor homes are running generators right next to tents in the non-electric zone.
Unlike the Texas gulf coast, we were unable to find any free public camping in the Outer Banks

Food and Drink

During our last days, we got in final tastes from the area.  Barbeque from Pigman’s in Kill Devil HIlls, shrimp and grits at Blue Moon Grill, and beer from Lost Colony Brewery.

The bbq was very good; the shrimp and grits were wonderful, and the beer was possibly the worst I’ve ever had at a brewpub.  The brown ale (to the right) was very thin and overly hopped for the style.  I like brown ales. Just one man’s opinion. I tasted Julia’s IPA (to the left), and it wasn’t as bad.  That’s all I’ll say about that.

Kayaking

On one afternoon, I dropped Julia off to do some kayaking (her race is coming up in about two weeks). She had a nice paddle and saw some some glamped-up fishing shacks which have been remodeled on the inside and even feature electricity.

The Lost Colony

We also took some time to learn about the Lost Colony at Roanoke, established by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585 and eventually led by John White.  White’s grand-daughter, Virginia Dare, was the first “English” child born in America.  White left the colonists to resupply in England.  When he returned in 1590, all of traces of the colony, including Virginia Dare, were gone.  Attempts to discover what happened were unsuccessful.
There was some speculation that the local native population killed everyone off.  That would not be shocking, as the colonists (fearing the locals might kill them) attacked the tribe without provocation, killing the chief and others.  However, there was no evidence of such a massacre by the tribe against the colonists.

Heading East

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Outer Banks.  This area has been on our bucket list for a long time.

Outer Banks: Excursions

We are staying at a campground within walking distance to the beach and a few miles south of Nags Head, North Carolina. I would be content to spend the day walking, reading, and napping.  However, Julia enjoys exploring the surrounding area.  On one of our days here, we ventured south.

Wildlife Refuge

Our first stop was at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.  When we pulled in, the frog in the header photo was perched on the driver’s side mirror of the vehicle next to us.  We browsed through the Visitors’ Center.  Then wen hiked the trails leading out into the Sound between the Outer Banks and the mainikland.

We continued south and took a quick tour of the Cape Point campground.  This is  a large National Park Service facility with dry camping and permitted generator use.  Not as popular, there were only a couple of tents and trailers on a weekday.  It’s set up in a large grassy field and not within easy walking distance to anything.  I was glad we didn’t make reservations here.  If the weather was cooler and the mosquitoes more forgiving, it would probably have worked as a base to explore the southern part of the Outer Banks.

Lighthouses

My feeling is that when you’ve seen one lighthouse, you’ve pretty much seen them all, but Julia feels differently.  We purchased tickets to climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, which is the tallest brick lighthouse in the Americas and the second tallest brick lighthouse in the world.  Climbing to the top was equal to climbing a twelve story building. Yes, we climbed it.  I didn’t take pictures, because if you’ve seen one lighthouse….

One interesting thing about the lighthouse is that it needed to be moved a few years ago.  The Outer Banks is basically shifting sands, constantly moving to the west.  Over a couple of hundred years, the lighthouse was in danger of being swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean.  They simply jacked it up, put it on rails and moved west to higher ground.  Cost: about $12 million.

Seafood and Beer

With all of that sightseeing, I was ready for nourishment.  We stopped at Pop’s for some delicious seafood and beer.

Julia, who has worked in the eye care world for over 30 years, immediately found an IPA to her liking: Hoptical Illusion.

Jockey Ridge State Park

On another day, we headed just north of Nag’s Head to Jockey’s Ridge State Park.  The terrain here provided a sharp contrast to the area near our campground where the dunes are grass-covered.  At the state park, dunes are tall, mostly bare, and stretch for miles.

Lots of sand in our shoes and socks, but we had a great time.

Indiana: Cedar Creek Winery

Sacrificing scenery for speed, I made a poor choice in taking the interstate from Peoria to Indianapolis. The road was under construction for long stretches. The temporary lane was half bad shoulder.

By the time that I pulled into Cedar Creek Winery, Brewery and Distillery, I was ready for a beer or rather a flight of four samples.

I chose a dry hopped Mosaic IPA, a northeast hazy IPA, a porter, and a dry Irish Stout. My favorite was the hazy IPA ($25/growler). My least favorite was the dry hopped; it tasted thin to me without sufficient Mosaic. I suppose it’s possible that I got a “wrong pour” because I’ve never met a Mosaic-hopped beer that I didn’t like:

The porter was good and a good value ($14/growler). The Irish stout was okay. I bought a growler of the porter and headed back to the Brew Hut. Callie and I walked around the grounds, which included an outdoor stage.

Callie and I continued our walk on the country roads close to the property. Lots of big houses on country estates with lake frontage. I snuck Callie in for a quick swim despite signage declaring the amenities were for members only. No harm, no foul.

The temperatures cooled down after dark. It was a great night for sleeping. Not too much artificial light and quiet with one exception. As I started to drop off to sleep, a big black cat jumped up on the Brew Hut spare tire and meowed into the screened window next to my bed.

Callie was not amused….We are headed for Kentucky,

Wisconsin: Point Beach State Forest

Back to Wisconsin

After our trip to Montana, we settled back in to our daily lives in Wisconsin.  Julia was back at work.  I had firewood to get ready for the coming winter.  The Brew Hut needed repairs.  Specifically, I replaced my power distribution center and converter.

The old system allowed me to have AC power when plugged in and DC power off the battery.  A working converter, when connected to shore power, operates the DC system and charges the battery.  I’m not sure if the converter worked when I bought the Scamp because I knew so little about RV electrical systems.

However, I eventually figured out that the converter was completely dead.
I contacted Progressive Dynamics awhile back to ask what would be an appropriate replacement for my trailer.  They recommended the PD4135, which includes a smart charger for the battery. After watching several youtube videos, I pronounced myself as ready as I ever was going to be.  I won’t say the installation process was easy (for me), but everything is where it’s supposed to be, and works the way it’s supposed to work.

Point Beach State Forest

On Thursday night, we took the Brew Hut to Point Beach State Forest, which is just north of Two Rivers, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan.  I’m not a fan of towing in the dark, but we made it without incident.   On Friday morning, we woke up to a deserted beach.  Julia and I hiked along the beach and along the inland Ice Age Trail.

What the photos do not show are the biting flies and clouds of mosquitoes.  I’m one of those people who swell up for each mosquito bite.  Then the bite itches for several days.   The flies were much more immediately painful, taking small chunks of flesh from my bare legs.  I thought I was going to go insane until I switched out my shorts to long pants. We hiked about seven miles on the first day. That was it for the rest of the weekend as far as hiking the interior trails of the state forest.  The insects won this round!

Poor Callie received the most attention with flies covering the back of her head and ears.  When we got back to the Scamp, she begged to go inside, which is very unlike Callie.

That night, we decided to treat ourselves by going into Two Rivers, where the Rogers Street Festival and Smelt Fry was going on.  I’ve lived in Wisconsin almost all of my life and have never had smelt.  In my world travels, I’ve eaten eel, assorted raw fish and meat, along with organs and tendons of questionable origin.  Smelt look a lot like minnows or fish bait. The guts appear to have been removed, but the head and tail are intact.

Being Wisconsin, we ate the smelt with deep fried cheese curds and hard lemonade.  I declined the beer choice:  Miller Light.  My first first few bites were okay.  “A little bit fishy, but not too greasy and not too crunchy.”  After eating about half of my smelt, I wasn’t hungry anymore.  It just felt too much like eating bait.

On Saturday morning, Julia went kayaking, while I finished a book in the “Last Kingdom” series by Bernard Cornwell.  Julia reported that there were no biting flies off-shore.  In the afternoon, we drove up the coast to Algoma, which had a brewery I was interested in visiting:  Ahnapee Brewing.  As we drove into town, we saw that another summer festival was going on:  Shanty Days.  The streets were packed with people.

Ahnapee Brewing is located in a two car garage on the Von Steihl Winery property. A classic rock band was playing in the back public space along the water.  We purchased two IPA’s and headed for the lawn.  Faced with this experience or the experience of being eaten by flies in the state forest, this was an easy choice.

After finishing our beers, we took a walk on Algoma’s boardwalk.

That evening, I made steaks, yellow squash from the home garden, and sauteed mushrooms.

By this time, I forgot all about the biting flies and eating fish bait.