Karen

4-Wheeling to Point Sublime

Sunday morning FabGrandpa and I got up early, thinking we were going to get the laundry done and relax for the rest of the day. Then Mark, our neighbor, came over and asked if we wanted to go out to Point Sublime. I have been wanting to go out there since we got here last year, but it takes a 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicle to go. The road is a very rough service road, that is not maintained. The 18 mile drive takes about an hour, so the round trip of 36 miles is a pretty good half day trip.

Mark’s Jeep only seats two people, so another friend, Dennis, went too. I rode with Mark, and FabGrandpa rode with Dennis. The photo above is the beginning of the road, just past the Widforss Trail trailhead.

We drove through forest, then meadow, then thick forest again. There was a huge hawk soaring above us in the meadow, but I didn’t get a chance for a photo.

This meadow is more rocky than other ones I have seen here so far, and the road through here was very bumpy.

It was a perfect, beautiful day–about 70 degrees, a slight breeze, sunshine and big puffy white clouds. Thats Dennis’s truck up ahead of us.

We stopped at a scenic point, a narrow fin of rock jutting out into the canyon. It was a gorgeous view, but not at the end of the road yet. That is Mark and FabGrandpa out there on the fin.

Yes, of course I went out there, too. I’m not afraid of heights at all.

After a short break, we were back in the vehicles to go the rest of the way to the end of the road. The view out there really is sublime!

If you click on this photo to make it bigger, you may be able to see the water. I think it was the Colorado River, but not sure. This view is awesome–that point is covered with trees, they look like shrubs from here.

This was a view from the edge, looking back towards the road. I like this photo, the sky was so beautiful that day!

Dennis and FabGrandpa just enjoying the view. Yes, standing on the edge, again.

I know I keep saying this is gorgeous, beautiful, and awesome, but I can not think of any other way to describe it.

Point Sublime, at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

And yes, that is me, sitting on the edge of the world, at Point Sublime, while the laundry waits for another day.

And eventually, we had to leave, and head on home.

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Scenic Sunday

Karen · 7 Comments

This was taken at the entrance station to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on Friday, September 4, 2009. A thunderstorm was coming in, with lots of big, dark clouds.

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

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Fun With Bread

Karen · 9 Comments

I was feeling a little down in the dumps today. I don’t know how everyone else copes with the blues, but for me, baking has always been the answer. I have talked about before how living at a high altitude can make baking difficult, but lordy! The bread monster I produced today is beyond anything I have done in the past!

I read a few web pages about high altitude baking before I started today. For gluten free baking at high altitudes, it is recommended that you:

1. increase the heat by 25 degrees.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of flour for each 1,000 feet over 3,500 feet altitude.

3. Decrease liquid by 1 tablespoon per 1,000 feet over 3,000 feet altitude.

And so I began. I can only wonder how much this stuff would have grown if I had used the directions printed on the bag! For more on this wonder loaf, click here.

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Remember Whensday

Karen · 13 Comments

In 1992, after FabGrandpa was injured in an auto accident, we were given this puppy. We named her Newt, after Newt Gingrich. (Can you see the resemblance?) She was a just a ball of white fur when she came to live with us, but she kept FabGrandpa entertained and happy during his long recovery. She was smart, and learned lots of tricks. Whenever she heard the sound of a bottle of beer being opened, she would run to get her bowl, and would dance on her hind legs with the bowl in her mouth, begging for a sip of beer.

Her life came to a very tragic end, though, as someone poisoned her. We did not get her to the vet in time to save her life. FabGrandpa buried her in our backyard and mourned her passing for days. Although she was with us for less than a year, she will never be forgotten.

For more Remember Whensday posts, click here.

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Want To Know What I Think Of:

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The Essential Gluten Free Grocery Guide? Go here to find out!

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A Road Trip To Mesquite

Karen · 6 Comments

We usually don’t travel at night. If we leave home to go somewhere, it is usually early in the morning. So, when we decided to go on a road trip to Mesquite, Nevada on Friday after work, we knew we would be doing part of the driving for that trip in the late evening and after dark.

You can tell from the long shadows that the day was ending. We have never seen the desert of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah in this light before.

I love the bigness of the sky out here. It seems like you can see for a hundred miles. This is looking east towards the Vermillion Cliffs. It is another place where I just can’t see it enough.

This was taken on Arizona Hwy 89A going north towards Fredonia, Arizona. It is a pretty good photo, but it still does not capture all the color that was there on Friday afternoon.

Along about sunset, we were driving through Colorado City, Arizona. Colorado City is a fundamentalist Mormon settlement just to the east of the Utah border. The colors of the cliffs at sunset are gorgeous!

That sunset was awesome! Like I said, the sky just seems bigger out here.

Our destination for the weekend was the Casa Blanca Casino. We stayed two nights, and had a fun time. Besides the obvious reason for going, the restaurant there was really good, and really cheap. Can you believe a 16 oz porterhouse steak, baked potato, salad, and steamed green beans for $10.99? Or a humongous fresh fruit platter with cantaloupe, honeydew melon, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and cottage cheese, for $6.99? So much that I could not eat it all.

But OMG! Did you know it was over 110 degrees in Nevada yesterday??? I’m just glad we didn’t have to go outside for anything.

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Chicken Corn Chowder Revisited

Karen · 8 Comments

Back in 2007, I found a recipe for Chicken Corn Chowder, that I thought was pretty good. However, it was a somewhat complicated recipe, and I have never made it again.

Tonight when I came home from work, I realized I had not set anything out of the fridge for dinner, so I needed something I could throw together quickly, with things I already had on hand. One of the things I had on had was 3 ears of corn, that needed to be used today. After poking around in the cupboard, I found enough things to make a pot of Chicken Corn Chowder that is just as good as if not better than the previous one and was way easier to make. And that canned chicken made it a snap to prepare.

This version of corn chowder has these ingredients:

3 ears of corn, scraped from the cob

3 medium potatoes

1 large red pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1 12.5 oz can of chicken, with juice

2 cups 2% milk (or rice milk

2-3 tablespoons corn starch

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons olive oil

Peel, dice and cook the potatoes in a small boiler until soft, drain. IN a dutch oven, heat the olive oil, then saute the peppers, onion, and garlic until soft. Drain the chicken, but save the juice. Add the chicken to the dutch oven, and continue to saute for a few more minutes. Add milk, chicken juice, salt and pepper,potatoes, and corn to the pot. Cook on medium low heat until thickened. Add 2-3 tablespoons of corn starch if needed to thicken the soup. Serve with buttered toast or cheese toast. Mmmmm, goood!

“Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset”

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Homemade Bagels From The RV? Yes…

Karen · 6 Comments

Before I found out I have to eat a gluten free diet, I really enjoyed a good bagel with my coffee for breakfast. Now that I can’t have a “real” bagel, I really miss them. I have found some good frozen ready made ones, but since I live 85 miles from the nearest place to buy them, I don’t always have them on hand.

I decided today to try making some at home. Yes, Linda, I did burn them a bit, but you have to remember, 1. I live in an RV and the oven is quite tiny and the thermostat on it is not exact and 2. I live at an elevation of almost 9000 feet. Baking anything is trial and error. For the baking conditions I have, this first attempt at homemade bagels turned out pretty good. To see more, click here.

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