Saying Goodbye to Kodiak

Leaving Kodiak was a real sad day,
knowing there are things we will not see, until we return at least a year from now.

The emerald green and the 5 windmills,

the fishing boats

and pleasure boats.

But most of all, the friends we leave behind.

Seems they came to wave goodbye.

And as luck would have it, even the helicopter came for one last fly-by.

But as we rounded the isle's north end,

a fog came into hide it away,

till suddenly the fog does lift,
and humpback whales are there in dozens.

 and do their flips

and flip again,

and once again

they keep on flipping

 till we leave them far behind

and head out for our next experience.

Adios, Kodiak

.

Crockpot Cooking in a Small Motorhome

Finally we are are On The Road!
So, what was our first positive experience?
Cooking!

I mentioned earlier that I was planning to try using a Crockpot for cooking in our Class B Winnebago Era.  Before beginning our excursion across Alaska and Canada, a few recipes were attempted in our safe home environment.

Another fact to remember is that only really easy recipes need apply.  With limited space and supplies, meals in the crockpot will require very few spices as well as other ingredients.  If I had to store all the spices that are kept in a regular kitchen, there would be no room for any other items.  And the refrigerator in this "small home" is only 3.8 cu.ft.  The ice chest is used for storing ice for drinks only. Usually it is best to go by a grocery store and purchase any cold items immediately before cooking.

That said, it doesn't apply to what I attempted today.  When we did the final clean-out of our refrigerator/freezer at home, lo and behold, there were 2 small packages containing roast meat hiding in the back.  I was so sure I had managed to cook all the meats and fish hiding in that frozen crevice.

Now, the moment of truth has arrived.  The roast has now thawed in the refrigerator of the motorhome and needed to be cooked today.  We planned to drive for about 3 hours and arrive in the early afternoon.

As I stated, only a few ingredients will be used.  I liberally applied Carlos' favorite, "Adobo" seasoning, meat tenderizer, and a little Accent.  That's all!  There was just a very small piece of fat on the ends of the pieces of meat so I hoped that would help with the natural juices to help keep the meat moist.

Now, on to the cooking.  We had purchased a 300 Watt inverter to use in our cigarette lighter to convert DC/AC power for the Crockpot.  This was the true test.  With all our packing, we never took the time to see if it really worked.  We're crossing fingers and toes now.

Traveling down the road, it took a while for the pot to begin heating enough to feel it through the lid.  So far, it seemed to be working.  A little longer and actual heat was evident.  We felt it might work.  I did take the lid off to check once and that was probably our mistake.  It smelled so good in the van afterwards that it was difficult to wait the entire 3 hours ..... Did you notice how the dog hangs around it?

There was an "accident" early, but we figured out how to prevent it. On one of our Alaskan bumps the entire crockpot fell over. Lucky for us the meat didn't roll out onto the floor and that there was very little juice that had cooked out. As a result, you can see that now we place the crockpot in a large plastic pan to prevent that from happening as again. And, we discovered that the heat from cooking did nothing to the plastic pan!

After 2 hours of cooking on the high temperature, the meat was basically cooked but it needed to become a little more tender.  We took it out and cut it into small slices.  It was then placed back into its own juices and let to cook on low for another hour.  Again, the smells were very distracting!

Finally, we made it to the campsite and had time to sit and have our lunch.  The sliced beef was extremely tender and made delicious sandwiches.  Carlos actually added banana peppers and cabbage for a little extra.  If we hadn't left behind the horseradish, we might have tried that as well.

Overall, I have to say that motorhome crockpot cooking was a success.  It's a good thing, since we barely had enough room to store the Crockpot as it was.  I think it would have been left at a thrift store if today had failed.

Now, I'm actually anxious to see what else will work.  Any suggestions?

Where we are starting form

We have already begun our 8,000 mile trip through Canada, Michigan, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. So, we thought it might be smart to tell you were we have started from.

Well, it's Kodiak, Alaska. We have been here 6 years. It is a wonderful place.

An island in the North Pacific, 253 air miles form Anchorage and 131 from Homer, AK. Of course there is no bridge. If you want to get here, you'll come by plane or boat/ferry. That makes it "isolated". But we have modern conveniences like a Safeway, a Walmart, a hardware and a lumber store, a sporting good store, etc., etc.

There are13,000 people in the second largest island in the USA. Only the Big Island of Hawaii is larger. But almost all of us live in the small city and borough (county) of Kodiak.

As you can see, the great majority of the island is part of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. And much the other part is State of Alaska land. That means we live close together, but with lots of wilderness to explore. And there is a lot of wildlife to see and enjoy! 3,000 Kodiak  Brown Bears, 500+ bald eagles, and lots and lots of all types of salmon.

We came here to stay 3 years as an adventure and loved it so much as to stay 6. But now family issues are calling us back to the Lower 48. In the process we hope to explore Canada and the USA.

If you're interested in seeing what it is like to live here in Kodiak, check it out on the internet or see our prior blog at:        http://lifeinkodiak.blogspot.com

This is from where we'll start our new adventure.

And here's a picture from our house, of the ferry that'll take us to Homer. From there we will begin the nearly 8,000 mile "retirement" road trip.

Feel free to come along on this blog and send us any hints of good things to see along the route we plan to take. We are looking forward to the trip.

But, if you don't hear from us for a few days, do not worry. It is a long road and we won't always have internet. Just remember we are having fun wherever we are.
.

Chasing fish

While Red Salmon are coming into Kodiak's Buskin River, it seems there are not many yet entering the Pasagshak.

Only 3 guys were trying their luck there earlier this week.

 And whenever they'd see a fish, they chased after it in the hopes of hooking him in the mouth.

Meanwhile, a little further down the mouth of the river,
an "expert" also did his best.

So,

keeping his sharp eyes focused,

he is ready to fly at the first sign of a fish.

Over again he tries.

But, those wiggling fish are fast.

Alas!
His is aim is short again!
.

Retirement Commences....Our First Outing

Retirement officially started for us Monday morning at 7 a.m. To check out how well we packed the van motor home, we planned a short overnight camping experience. We certainly hope that every day is going to show us such wonderful sights as today. But somehow we doubt it.

Anyway, out to  Pasagshak and Surfer's Beach we headed, near the end of the Kodiak road system.  It's an hour from the city limits, or about 38 miles away.

About midway there we spotted a fox walking along the road's edge. We have seen him or her before (let's just say it is a Her). And she is not shy. We drove our van right next to her and took this picture out the window with the I-Phone; she was about 4 feet away. Only when we stopped ahead of her and got out to take a picture as she approached us, did she decide it was better to head off into the woods, carrying the meal for her family in her mouth.

We continued onward. Near our final destination, we spotted a herd of buffalo that belong the a local ranch.  There were close to 40 of them,  and many had small calves with them. These two particular guys seemed to be standing guard, as others crossed the road.

When we finally stopped the van, we just sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the view.  Waves were crashing all along the coastline and the sound alone was so relaxing.

It was Surfer's Beach. Of course, there they were, practicing.  And they continued late into the evening, since at 58 degrees north, close to the longest day of the year, it is relatively bright until after 12:30 AM.  We don't know if they were surfing again by 4:30 AM as light returned; we slept till 8:30. And there they were, again, enjoying the new day. They kind of looked like seals, with their wet suits on, to help warm up the 50 degree North Pacific ocean water.

The surfers didn't seem to have much luck in finding waves to ride, till they spotted a whale close behind them.

Suddenly they caught the very next wave and came in to shore.

Amazing how that whale brought them so much luck!

We, on the other hand, wondered up and down the beach in unexpectedly warm 70 degree air temperature. It made us almost think we were indeed in the Northern-mostHawaiian Island, as Kodiak is sometimes jokingly called.

Meanwhile, two bald eagles sat on the cliff on one side of us and another one was on the other cliff,
basking Kodiak's warm setting sun, days before Summer is supposed to begin.

And every 15 minutes or so, they would fly down by the ocean shore to check for things to eat.

Well past midnight they continued their rounds,

but, we decided this was enough fun for the first day of retirement.
So, off to sleep we went.

.

.

Waking up in Retirement

Monday at 7 AM was the beginning of Retirement.

I don't think it is nice to take pictures of people waking up early in the morning.
But I think this is probably how I looked at the beginning of this new stage in my life.

That's me:

Just "chilling" after many years of working.

Finally deciding to get up.

And doing a big stretch before getting in the water!


PS
We think you probably have to have a good sense of humor to follow this blog.
Hope you enjoy it.
.

Easy and Simple Barbecue Ribs

I had to try at least a few more of these easy meals before getting in the motorhome next week.  There have been many newsletters that have been arriving in my email inbox as well as all the searches that I've done online. It seems that they all have so many ingredients required, or just stovetop preparation before going into the crockpot.

I decided to just make my own recipes and see if they worked.  Detailed, time-consuming recipes just don't work for me.  And now that I'm planning on being in a small space with few appliances, fewer spices and ingredients, and no extra space, those recipes won't work for me.

I decided that some barbecued ribs sounded like a great meal.  In determining the easiest way to cook these I realized that store-bought barbecue sauce was on the store shelves for a purpose!  Use it!  So, I took a small package of beef ribs, placed them in the crockpot, and slathered them with barbecue sauce. That's all.

I turned the heat up to "high" for about an hour and then lowered it to "low" for another 3 hours.  By the time I was ready to eat the ribs were almost falling off the bone.  They were juicy and delicious.  This recipe will work so easily during our travels.

One of the primary reasons that I am trying these new recipes is that with "retirement" comes another term that is common to many people: "limited budget".  We have been fortunate for the the past 30 years that our monthly salaries easily covered our expenses and we were able to eat our frequently.  Now, we have a much smaller set income that will certainly limit the number of our "eating out" times.

So, for now we'll just sit back and enjoy our ribs and think of more "easy to prepare" meals.  I would love to hear of other ideas people have.