Long Distance, Short Journey, Part 1

Most of the travel on this blog has been of the local variety; however, that changed late last week.

My wife Julia is leaving for Arizona this next  weekend to spend two weeks with her mother who is having surgery.  That means I will have three weeks as my son’s sole caregiver.  A teen in a power wheelchair  knows how to push a parent’s buttons, so Julia offered this past weekend to travel solo as I wish in compensation.  I usually go backpacking within a four hour drive when presented with such an opportunity.  But I started playing around on the last minute travel web sites, and found a super cheap non-stop flight from Chicago to Puerto Vallarta, leaving early Friday morning and returning Sunday night.  I grabbed the last  seats on the flights both ways, and I was off to the races in planning.

Now would be a good time to discuss my individual travel style.  There are many different ways to travel; there is no right way.  Different strokes for different folks.  Some people like to stay in expensive beach hotels. Here are a few, which were five blocks from my $40 hotel.

Other people like to relax, eat and drink on a cruise ship that only stops for a partial day at the ports of call.  Below is the Grand Princess of Princess Cruise Lines, docked at the marina during my stay in Puerto Vallarta.

Still other people only dabble their toes in foreign waters, preferring to keep the same amenities found back home.  Puerto Vallarta offers such amenities.

My own travel style is a frugal one. I spend as little money as possible on the mechanism of travel and lodgings.  My preference is to experience as much as the local culture as possible, especially when it comes to coffee, beer, and food. My favorite mode of travel is walking whenever possible.

Thursday night,  March 2, 2017

On Thursday night, I drove down to Chicago, close to the airport, where I had booked an $11 room at Motel 6.  This was made possible by my son’s affinity for T-mobile Tuesday deals, which happened to be a $30 Travelocity coupon. While fitting my frugal travel style, I may have pushed the envelope.  I slept only a little. The couple above my room screamed at each other until 3 a.m. I’m pretty sure the conversation involved money, drugs, and/or prostitution. Eventually, I just got up, showered and was ready to go before my alarm went off at 4 a.m. to catch my early morning flight.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Air travel to Puerto Vallarta went off without a hitch.  Although I was booked on a full plane, the aisle seat went unoccupied.  I slid over from my middle seat and had room to stretch and sleep.  Upon landing on time after a 4 1/2 hour flight, customs and luggage pickup went quickly and without incident.  After clearing customs, arriving passengers negotiate through two rooms full of timeshare salespeople/sharks who are there to “help” you.  Having been warned by prior accounts, I refused eye contact and briskly walked my way to the airport front door, where I found warm temperatures and an outdoor bar.

It was noon and time for a Modelo Negra, a Munich dunkel style lager brewed in Mexico.  My hotel check-in wasn’t until 3 pm., so I had some time to kill.  An airport taxi would have taken me to my hotel  for 600 pesos (about $34).  Alternatively,  trip reports on the internet advised that I could walk across the pedestrian bridge in front of the airport for about a 50% discount.

Of course, I was in no rush, so I asked my bartender for directions to the even cheaper city bus.  He told me to turn left in front of the airport and take any bus marked “Centro.”  I walked about 100 yards to the bus stop and asked the bus driver in Spanish if the bus route went by the old part of the city.  He nodded yes, so I  paid my 7.5 pesos (less than 50 cents), settling in for the hour ride past the beach and downtown.

During the ride, I followed along with the maps I had printed out. When we reached the old part of the city, I exited with my suitcase.  I had to stop and ask directions from a street vendor because many streets do not have street signs.  I was directed four blocks up and soon arrived at the Hotel Belmar–still two hours before my check-in.  The desk clerk spoke better English than my Spanish and promised to watch my suitcase until the room was ready. I would recommend this hotel to any budget traveler who is not afraid of stairs.  There is no elevator, and there were five flights of stairs to my room.  Here are some views from the hallway outside my interior room.

Suitcase secured, I headed off to walk along the beach.

The Ice Age Trail: Slack Road to the Merrimac Ferry

 

Winter has returned to Wisconsin, but conditions were pretty good for late February.  There was enough soft melting snow on the trail to keep things from getting too slippery or muddy.  This trail segment is a few miles north of Lodi on Slack Road about 1/2 mile from the intersection of Slack and Hwy V.

The footpath has several ascents and descents following switchbacks that eventually lead to wonderful views of Lake Wisconsin, which is the part of the Wisconsin River between the dam in Portage and the dam in Prairie du Sac.

The current has partially broken up the lake.  The quiet bays are still full of ice today, despite the 70 degree weather last week.

Straight across the lake in the middle of the above photo, you can see Devil’s Head ski runs coming down the Baraboo Hills.

The trail comes off the bluffs back and forth along more switchbacks until reaching Hwy 113 below.  Here, the path runs between the road and the railroad tracks until emerging at the Merrimac Ferry boarding area and parking lot

The Merrimac Ferry is free for cars, bikers, and pedestrians. It’s a popular and scenic way to get to the Devil’s Lake State Park area, which is on the other side from me.  This rendition of the Ferry is called Colsac III, and has not started the 2017 season. If the weather continues the warming trend, the ferry will begin operating soon.

This trail is in and out without any loop.  The round trip is about 3 to 4 miles (guesstimate). On the way back, I stopped at my favorite bench for one last view.

Home Roasted Coffee

 

I had the privilege to own and operate one of the first coffee roasters manufactured by Diedrich Roasters, now located in Sandpoint, Idaho.  I was not the first owner of this machine.  By the time I acquired it, the old roaster had been through several fires and needed all of the tender loving care that I could give it.  I typically roasted 15 lb loads in 15 to 18 minute roasting cycles, depending upon what flavor profile I was trying to achieve with a particular bean.

Before I started roasting commercially, I tried several methods of home roasting, including stovetop poppers, hot air poppers, and a homemade bbq drum roaster for use with a propane grill. After I sold the coffeeshop/roastery, I knew that I wanted to continue roasting at home for personal use, but wanted something more dependable and versatile than previous homeroast equipment.

I was searching for new techniques on the internet when I came across the Corretto, which is a method employing a bread machine and a heat gun. I have a friend in NYC who loved roasting with a heat gun, a chopstick and a dog’s steel waterbowl. Training the heat gun on the bowl of coffee beans, he used his other hand with the chopstick to stir the beans for an even roast.  Burnt beans is a bad thing.  However, the chopstick stirring never appealed to me.  I wanted to automate that process.

Enter the Corretto.

Green coffee beans are placed in the bread machine’s loaf pan.  I typically roast with about 3 1/2 cups of raw beans.  After locking the loaf pan back into the bread machine and selecting the dough setting, starting the bread machine stirs the beans. Now I can use the heat gun (set to its highest temperature and fan setting).

The first thing you will notice in the photo above is all the chaff that is released in the roasting process.  This is not an activity that you want to try on your kitchen island (or anywhere indoors).  I’m roasting in an old pole shed with the overhead door open for ventilation.  Yes, ventilation.  That’s the second reason not to roast indoors.  There is a lot of smoke in the last couple of minutes of the roasting cycle.

During the 12-15 minute roasting time, the beans turn from green to yellow to tan to brown to dark brown.  If roasting continues, the beans will turn oily and black. I generally stop a few snaps into what’s called second crack. At first crack, the beans make a sound similar to popcorn.  At second crack, the beans make a sound similar to Rice Crispies with milk just added.

Today, I am going a little darker than normal. After the beans have finished roasting, it’s very important to cool the beans rapidly.  I use an old cardboard box with a hole in the top and on the side, a metal strainer and a shop vac.

The shop vac is in sucking mode.  Leaf blowing mode would make a big mess.  In cold winter temps, the beans cool in about 90 seconds.  During the summer, cooling can take 2-3 minutes. I’ve used that same cardboard box for several years.

The general  rule of thumb that I use for freshness in coffee is that green beans will keep fresh for a year or two, a week or two for roasted beans, and a day or two for ground beans.  Today’s coffee was sourced by Royal Coffee  and sold to me by Burman Traders.

With the coffee roastery, I could have a pallet of beans delivered to me by truck for about $75 from Cafe Imports in the Twin Cities.  Beans were between $2-4 per pound and shipped in bags up to 152 lbs.  Now I pay between $5-8 per pound for 5 lb bags that Burman lets me pick up for free at a Madison, WI pickup spot.

Please comment if you have any questions or would like to discuss this topic further.

The Ice Age Trail–Lodi Marsh Segments

First light gave every impression of another wonderful day during our recent February thaw.  However, the weather is going to change after today so I  made an early decision to hike without driving very far.  Fortunately, I live in an area with terrific day hiking possibilities.  Ten minutes after hopping into the car, I was on the Ice Age Trail-Lodi Marsh Segment.

This trail is accessed at the Robertson Parking Lot on Lodi Springfield Road just a few miles outside Lodi, Wisconsin.  The 1.5 mile loop climbs up and down ridges overlooking the Lodi Marsh.   There is a mix of prairie and woods with views looking across the scenic Lodi Valley towards the Baraboo Hills.

A short distance from the parking lot, there is a steep set of steps/trail off to the right leading down to the above spot at the edge of the marsh.

Feeding the pool is a bubbling spring.  People do fill up containers of drinking water here.  I’ve had water straight from springs before, but I’ve not sampled this one.

After completing this short hike, I cross the road to the 3.2 mile Eastern Lodi Marsh Segment.  The trail turns muddy and then icy in the shaded woods.  Later, I emerge on higher, dry ground.

Continuing across the top of the ridge, I pass a beautiful log home, and continue beyond until I reach this mileage marker sign.

Knowing that the remaining two miles into Lodi would be a muddy and icy downhill through the shaded woods, I opt for calling it a day and head back to the car, hiking about 5 miles total today.

At least two people from Lodi have thru-hiked the entire Ice Age Trail–a distance of over 1,000 miles. Much of the route is road walking, as the hiking trail part of it hasn’t been completed.  While hiking this winter, I ran into a young man attempting to be the first person to ever complete a winter thru-hike.  This was during a period of below zero weather.  He confessed to spending a few overnights indoors but was looking forward to spending the next night outside, as the forecast called for a warming trend to single digits.

The Ice Age Trail is maintained by volunteers.  When I owned my coffeeshop, the local trail organization met at my place for monthly meetings.  If you are interested in getting involved or just want to learn more, visit the  Ice Age Trail Alliance.

Choosing the Path Less Traveled

February weather in Wisconsin doesn’t get any better than this.  Temperatures in the mid 50’s F.  Blue sky and sun.  Should I go for a hike today or get back to my wood splitting pile?  As I was contemplating  plans for the day, my wife Julia told me to look out the window to see the latest development.

.Someone’s gray SUV got lost in the dark last night and plunged into the gully in front of my house. Even more interesting, the vehicle was running and still in drive–the front wheels spinning deeper and deeper into the mud without going anywhere.  Finally, someone was still behind the steering wheel, slumped over and sleeping.  This is not something that I see everyday in my quiet little part of Wisconsin (see normal first photo).

I called local law enforcement, who arrived a short time later.  The driver was awakened and asked to put the vehicle in park.  Details of the how and why were relayed to me, but I will refrain from full disclosure to protect the embarrassed.  No one was injured. Being Wisconsin, alcohol was involved.

The Journey Begins...

One step at a time...