AB1 Tour 2014 - Week 1 - Small Towns Texas

Dear Loyal Blog-Groupies,
     Now, let's see, where was I when we last left you last October? ... hmmm ...
     ... Oh, I got it.  As I recall, the lovely Diedre had been shanghaied and left tied to the railroad tracks by that noted St. Olaf drop-out, Snidely Whiplash, while the 7:14 Rock Island Line (a mighty fine line, I'm told) was bearing down upon her.  Meanwhile, I had problems of my own, the main one being a most unwieldy knot in my shoelace that was causing me a great deal of consternation ... wait, that doesn't seem at all right..
     OK, better yet, I'll just bring you up to date on this year's RV trek so far.
     In February, we got AB1 (stands for "Air Barty One," our RV so named in honor of Diedre's late mother, Barbara "Barty" Diederich--just a reminder for you senior folks who, like us, can remember the names of our 3rd grade teachers, but who for the life of us can't remember where we left our car keys 10 minutes ago) out of service station purgatory for a shakedown cruise to Palm Springs, CA, home of sun, fun, and yet more senior softball games.
We played at a complex called "The Field of Dreams" where each softball field was constructed to emulate a different famous major league stadium.  There was a Yankee Stadium, a Fenway Park (complete with mini-Green Monster), and a Wrigley Field.  Just our luck, we got slated to play on a diamond built to look like the sandlot field at P.S. 84 in New York City.            On April 1, the real trip started.  Having no lack of gluttony for punishment, Diedre and I have increased this year's Marco-Polo like journey from six months to seven.  Yes, that's right, we'll be on the road for a record 212 nights at 41 different campgrounds.  We'll be seeing baseball games at 10 major league ballparks, running our total to 26 out of the currently existing 30 (We'll see the last four on our west coast swing in 2015).  We'll also see whatever theatre we can find; I've heard they have a fair amount of it in New York City, so there's always that.


     The general DK&Alexx-AB1-Driving-Rules dictate that we motor no more than 300 miles in any one day, and that we attempt to stay a minimum of 2 days at any small campsite and a week at the more interesting and larger venues.  It's a very good plan ... in theory.
     The main problem with this scheme is ... Texas.
      It's one damn big state.  In order to get anywhere good, we had to do three days of driving just to get to our first week-long campground in Austin, TX.
     Anyway, off we dutifully went on April 1.  We weren't sure if our first stop might be an April Fools' joke; it was not Paris, certainly not Rome, not even Pittsburgh ... it was LORDSBURG, New Mexico.
     Do you remember the late 1960's movie, "The Last Picture Show"?  The one about the small, very dusty, very windy Texas town where nothing ever happened, except for Cybill Shepard?  Well, Lordsburg was a lot like that, only without Cybill.  Their lone claim to fame is the nearby "Shakespeare Ghost Town" (Wasn't that covered in "MacBeth"?)  The real trick was telling which one was Lordsburg and which one was the ghost town.

Lordsburg KOA RV Park - Not much in a not much town.

      Speaking of "The Last Picture Show" reminds me that that evening we watched a tape (Yes, I still use a VCR--I'm pretty much the only one who still owns one--might have something to do with our collection of 275 movies ... ALL on VHS tapes) of the previous evening's series finale of the fine sitcom "How I Met Your Mother."  We had hung with it for nine years worth of viewing; although not in the class of my two all-time favorites, "Cheers" and "Seinfeld," we had really come to enjoy the characters and the overall writing of the show.  We're going to miss those five actors.  They were, in a word ... wait for it ... AWE-SOME!      Side-bar:  we've officially joined the ranks of "trailer trash" on this day.  The large shade that covers the passenger window fell down, so instead of fixing it correctly, we DUCT-TAPED it back into place.  Next thing you know, we'll have a working TV sitting atop a TV that doesn't work.
     So on day #2, we were off traveling again.  Yes, I know I just said we always stay a minimum of two days ... but, c'mon ... Lordsburg, NM, for 2 DAYS?!  Not gonna happen.
     We made our way to Balmorhea State Park in Texas.  Their claim to fame is that they have the WORLD'S LARGEST spring-fed pool courtesy of the San Solomon Springs.  Built by the CCC from 1934-36, the springs supply 15-million gallons of water a day, enough to fill 300,000 bath tubs.  This makes it the largest swimming pool in the country unless you want to count New Jersey governor Chris Christie's hot-tub.

     That evening I did my daily three-mile walk, making it 802 consecutive days that I've accomplished said perambulations.  That's over 2,400 miles, which if put end to end, would mean that, heading east, I've walked all the way from Phoenix to somewhere out in the Atlantic Ocean, a place some lesser friends (and you know who you are) would say might be a good place for me.
     Really?
     Thursday was our 2nd resting day at Balmorhea, so of course, we got in Zippy, the red Honda 4-Door we tow behind AB1, and drove the obligatory 25 miles to Fort Davis.  At 5,050', it's the highest town in Texas.  We had decided to hike in Davis State Park, so named after that famous Civil War 2nd place finisher, Jefferson Davis.
     We had bit the bullet and purchased a $70 year-long Texas State Parks pass, hoping that we'd save money on it after trips this year to Austin, Houston, and Amarillo.  The jury's still out on that investment.
   

Montezuma's Quail Trail

 At Davis Park, we split up on hikes.  The reason needs a bit of backstory.  Several years ago while on one of our long drives to Minnesota, DK and I each created our bucket lists.  While mine included such inanities as giving a slightly overwrought white Bengal tiger a cold hip bath, the more sensible of our duo had decided she would like to hike both down and up the Grand Canyon (since doing just one of the two would leave her akimbo in a sort of no-woman's land).  And since my heart surgery two years ago (which I use as an excuse for not doing everything from carrying DK's barbells up to the attic to changing the cats' litter boxes), the Canyon fest would NOT be part of my bucket list.  So on the day we left on this most recent trek, DK was on the phone at 6 a.m. trying to get through to secure a reservation at Phantom Ranch, the cabin/restaurant at the bottom of the GC.  These reservations are harder to get than a life insurance policy for hunting with Dick Cheney.  So after hundreds of attempts, DK finally got through to the Phantom Ranch people and secured one of the last reservations available for April, 2015.  Coincidentally, it will be during the Final Four weekend of the NCAA basketball tourney, so she wouldn't be seeing me that weekend anyway.  Diedre will be ascending and descending the cliffs of the canyon with longtime work friend, Susan "The Energizer Bunny" Scott.
     In order to get into Grand Canyon shape, DK is taking on tougher daily workouts than me.  And so DK took off on the aptly named "Montezuma Quail Trail," a training hike at Davis Park that began with strenuous mountain climbing, first going almost straight uphill for a half-hour before traversing a neglected trail that was nothing but a bunch of rocks and small boulders over which she had to persevere, stumbling, tripping, even falling once on her behind, in her ever earnest attempt to get tougher, stronger, and faster before next April.
     I, on the other hand, took what I considered the more difficult, urban hike, the primitive "Dairy Queen & R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Happy Time Trail" which included me clawing my way in town through a Burger King, a skate park, the Fanny Mae Chocolate factory, and one of the most unforgiving rock gardens in the country.  There were wild animals at every turn, including one particularly officious Chihuahua.  Oh, it was treacherous!
     In the end, we called it a "tie," then ventured back to the world's largest spring fed pool (water temp always 72-76 degrees) where we both took the plunge off the high dive, my first high dive since the infamous "belly-flop" incident at the Minikahda Club pool in 1954.  (SHEESH!  You'd think I would have grown less wordy since last year's blog, and of course, ... you'd be wrong!)  Diedre and I swam the length of it, using muscles previously in hibernation since the Carter administration.
     On Friday, April 4, we made our way to Kerrville, TX; damn, this is one big state.  It'll take us three full days of driving in Texas just to make it halfway across the state, and we still have week-long stops in Austin and Houston to go.
     Kerrville was o.k., although the best thing we came away with from our stay there was that the campground had the best bathroom of the 43 we've stayed at in our short RV lifetime.  It was actually fine that we didn't have that much to do so that I could hunker down with my Diet-Cokes and pork rinds and gorge myself on NCAA basketball.  I watched Connecticut and Kentucky win, then decided I'd be cheering for the U-Conn-Huskies in the finale.  I'm not a big fan of the one-and-done.
     OK, we're off for Austin, my birthplace and the home of the Hormel Company, makers of Spam, that fine product which ... what's that, dear?  ... It's a different Austin? ... Texas, not Minnesota? ... Really? ... OK then, we're off to Austin, TEXAS, apparently NOT my birthplace.
     Talk to you next week to see if I know where I am then.
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Hi All!  Diedre here now.  Just a few pictures for this blog but more will be coming in future stops.  It's so good to be back on the road!  Hope you enjoy our travels vicariously.  Some of you have asked for an update on my cookbook!  It should definitely be finished by the end of this trek.  I have all the recipes completed and now we are doing the final test of them all on this trip.  I'm also refining the ingredients so they are simplified and easier for shopping.  I'm including a wonderful cake that we enjoy and is easy enough to make and bake in the RV.  It makes 8 slices so that's 4 nights of desserts for very little time investment on the baker's part!  It stays moist for all 4 days too!  Enjoy!

Fudgy Flourless Cake:

Ingredients:

6 ounces	dark chunked Kroger Private Selection Dark Chocolate Chunks 62% Belgian Chocolate
1/2 cup	unsalted organic Fleischmahn's Unsalted Butter
3/4 teaspoon	liquid splenda
2 packages	Sensible Sweets "Swiss Miss, No Sugar Added Cocoa Mix" Chocolate Mix
3 wholes	cage free eggs
Glaze for the cake:
4 squares	85% dark chocolate Lindt
1 tablespoon	coconut creme
1 tablespoon	Coconut Oil
1/4 teaspoon	pure organic vanilla extract
2 teaspoons	sugar free Vermont Sugar Free Low Calorie Syrup
1/2 cup	(approximately 20 halves) pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Using a 7" pie, tart, or cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and spread the paper and sides of the pan with coconut oil.
In a medium sauce pan at low heat, melt the chocolate chunks and butter stirring constantly. When completely melted, remove the pan from the heat. In a small blender mix the splenda, cocoa mix and eggs. Whisk 1/3 of the egg mixture into the chocolate until completely blended. Continue with the remaining egg mixture in 1/3 portions. The mixture will thicken as you whisk it.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cool the cake on a rack for 15 minutes and then invert it on a plate.
While the cake is cooling, make a glaze for the cake. Melt the chocolate with the other ingredients (except the pecans) in the list over low heat stirring constantly or in a microwave for 30 seconds - a minute. Let the glaze cool for 3-5 minutes. After inverting the cake, spread the glaze over the cake and top with pecan halves. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator and serve later.

You can find more of my recipes - many which will be in the cookbook at www.DiedreCooksLoCarb.blogspot.com