When Storage Makes Sense

Sometimes having a storage unit is a crutch. But sometimes it makes sense!

We first had a storage unit when we moved out of our California house, and started exploring Costa Rica. We sold or donated a lot, but we weren't sure where we would end up - our move might be temporary, or...

After a while, we brought a lot to Costa Rica, and my parents moved some of their excess into the emptied space.

A few years later, I got itchy feet, and started a series of contracts in Iowa - it only made sense to store the car and a few necessities in between gigs.

Well, eventually that ended, and we downsized to a small trailer, back to California. A lot of that came to New Mexico with us.

When we moved on to France, we (again) sold or donated a lot, but brought back the sentimental things to store in California 🙂.

Here we are, 5 years later - our "annual" visit was delayed due to you-know-what. My parents were getting tired of having stuff in storage, and we were ready to drastically reduce what had just been convenient to forget about. We spent a good part of the month sorting, donating, selling, and we moved into a *much* smaller unit. On one day alone, we donated 8 boxes of books, and 4 of computer parts. Other days were nearly as significant!

Hopefully we will know more about our living situation in the next few months, and our storage unit will become a fond memory 😬

Flat Enchiladas

I'm back in California, and, besides the joy (yes, really), of cooking family dinners :-), I really appreciate the OPPORTUNITY to use all the usual California spices! Long ago, multiple people contributed to my "enchilada experience" - but! I realized that I never wrote down the recipe 🙄... Since then, New Mexico influenced my technique and tastes - thus, "Flat Enchiladas" (and they're soooo much easier to make)
So, no recipe, till now...

Flat Enchiladas

Prepare one batch of red chile sauce:
http://slowtravelin.blogspot.com/2015/02/julies-red-chile-sauce_27.html

Filling:
Cook 1-2 lbs of meat (ground beef or chicken),
adding
1 chopped onion
4-8 oz chopped mushrooms

Assemble in a 9x13 pan:
Ladle a layer of sauce into the pan
Add layers
- 2-3 flour tortillas (approximately a dozen total)
- meat mixture
- cheddar cheese (approximately 1 lb, sliced)
- chopped olives and/or roasted chiles (optional)
- sauce

Repeat layers until pan is full; top with tortillas, sauce, and cheese.
Bake at 325°F for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly.

Serve with salsa, black beans, and sour cream.
Good with green salad and a bright beer.
(And family, of course!)

Need Rain?

Need rain? Just have us visit!

We left Albuquerque in the rain, drove through Arizona and Southern California in a sleet storm, and brought days and days of rain to Northern California. Then, Atlanta somehow knew we were coming - rain! We snuck up on Florida - it wasted a tornado before we got there, and we had a couple of warm, sunny days. We left in the rain :-)

And what do you suppose awaits us in France? Yep, a week of rain =-O

Adios, New Mexico!

December 30, with the car packed to the gills, we left Albuquerque. Our 3-day drive to Northern California started just before noon - whew!

At our first real pit stop, I caught this view of snowy Mt. Taylor

We crossed into Arizona for a beautiful sunset

The next day, we were in California with a storm headed our way

Moving: A Laundry Rant

Moving: A Laundry Rant

I have a long history of trying different laundry methods - in Costa Rica, it varied from sending it out, to handwashing and hanging out everything. But generally, where ever I am, I eventually have a washer and dryer of my own.

Here in New Mexico, our apartment has hook-ups as well as laundry rooms. When we moved in, we weren't sure how long we would stay, so we immediately rented the appliances. Then we bought some, which we sold last week. Bottom line, I never once had to use the laundry room - until the hell that was today.

Knowing I would likely have to do some wash before leaving, I got some quarters, and found out where the room was. This morning, I carried the laundry and ancillary items over, and filled up three machines. That's when I noticed that these machines take a card! Huh, OK, I go back to my apartment, exchange my quarters for a credit card, and go back - every single machine gives me an error, no matter which way the card goes in! Well, I see one dryer going, so I know at least one machine has to be working; must be my card. I go back, and get all my credit cards - all errors!! Yep, I'm pretty steamed - I go to the office (and I'm *really* glad I didn't try all this yesterday, when the office was closed!). Then I find out that the dratted machines don't take credit cards, but rather a specialized *laundry* card, that you have to buy and fill at the machine in the office! And that machine doesn't take credit cards OR quarters! Grrr. Back to my apartment for cash - luckily we had one $5 and one $10 bill; the thing required a $5 bill (nothing else, only that) for the card - it then said I had a whole $3 of credit on it (yep, a $2 buy-in just to wash some clothes). Not having another $5 bill, I sacrificed my $10 bill to the maw and finally had enough (waaaay too much) credit on the card to do my wash. Back to the laundry room, where everything finally started...

It took a good half-hour, and plenty of swearing to calm down. But now we have enough clean clothes for our 3-day drive to California - where I am very tempted to get over this episode by splurging at Napa valley's French Laundry** - Hah! Now *that* would really try my patience!

~~~
**
https://www.thomaskeller.com/tfl
https://www.timeout.com/usa/restaurants/toughest-restaurant-reservations-to-get-in-america

Our Weekend

Our Weekend:
Saturday, we went to our usual French conversation lunch - this was a bit different, in that a small ensemble played French baroque music for us (composer François Couperin). We also found out that another member of the group is moving to France, and even to the same general area!
That same afternoon, we worked with our atheist group at the Roadrunner food bank, distributing pallets full of food. It was wonderful to work with so many volunteers, making at least a little bit of difference! (Kudos to friend Babs, for organizing it!)
Sunday, Oh, Sunday! The Beaujolais Nouveau! The local Alliance Française arranged a fête at La Crêpe Michel to celebrate the "new wine" - plenty of sipping, delicious hors d'oeuvres, and at least a smidgeon of French with friends, both old and new :-)

Jemez Canyon and Wine

Jemez Canyon and Wine
or
Rocks, Wine, and More Rocks!

What do you do on Election Day if you voted early? Day Trip! Even better, a Day Trip with Wine!

We packed up a picnic lunch, and headed up to the Jemez area for the afternoon. Our first stop was the Ponderosa Winery, and their porch, where we ate our lunch and tasted some yummy wine!

From there, we drove up Highway 4 through the Jemez canyon, stopping to ogle the Rocks and Trees

I had checked ahead on the winery, but didn't think to see if the ruins would be open - closed Mondays and Tuesdays :-\ So I had to be satisfied with snaps over the fence...

We stopped at Soda Springs

saw this little guy on a railing post (look closely!)

And drove on

We turned around at Battleship Rock

That's the blue dot on this map:

The different sun angle showed us some brand new scenes

with a little moon-rise

and amazing reds!

We ended with a fascinating view of the Sandias in front of us all along 550 - I wish I hadn't been driving; I could have had some great pictures!

Cream of Green Chile Soup

Decades ago, our favorite lunch was Cream of Green Chile Soup and blueberry pie at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero, California. Ever since, I have tried (ohhh, so many times!) to make a version of that soup! My first really successful try used sweet red chiles (Cream of Red Chile Soup), and that was good. But not green. I tried Hatch green chiles (here's a  reasonable Stew recipe), but OMG! Too hot! Then I tried a variation on Chile Verde, but that used too many tomatillos for the soup I remembered. Now:

Cream of Green Chile Soup

Preheat oven to 400°

• Wash ~15-20 Anaheim chiles and place on a baking sheet in the top rack of the oven. Char  both sides, approximately 20-30 minutes per side. Put cooked chiles in a covered bowl and let rest 5-15 minutes. Discard seeds, stems, and peels. Put flesh in a blender. It's easier to peel them first: roll the chile between your fingers to first loosen the peel from the flesh, then break the skin and pull it off! If this doesn't work, never fear: use a knife to scrape the flesh from the peel.
• Place unpeeled garlic cloves (~ 1 head worth) on a baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Cook until soft, approximately 20 minutes. Squeeze garlic into blender.
• Start with 1/4 cup roasted and prepared Hatch green chiles* Chop 1 onion, and cook (covered) with chiles in a little chicken broth till soft (~10 minutes). Add to blender.

Blend everything till smooth, adding chicken broth as needed to facilitate, and pour into large pot.

Add:
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon ground thyme
chicken broth to total ~16 oz
Milk/cream to desired consistency

Simmer till flavors blend, ~10 minutes. Adjust flavors* - add salt, pepper, and ground cloves as needed.

Serve with warm crusty sourdough bread, lots of butter, and have warm blueberry pie for dessert!

~~~
* Since chile heat can vary, start with 1/4 cup, then increase after tasting.
If hatch chiles are not available, wash 2-3 Serrano chiles, remove seeds and ribs (remember to coat your hands in olive oil, or wear gloves!), and chop.

Singing to La Madera

Singing to La Madera

The La Madera Canyon Overlook is a drive I've been wanting to make for quite a while - today, we did it!

We left Albuquerque at noon, and headed East on I-40. We turned off to follow Route 66, and caught a bit of the Singing Highway!* I kept humming America the Beautiful through Tijeras, and up Highway 14. The turn off to 536 at San Antonito is well marked (Sandia Ski Area!), and the road itself is great! Even with my height issues, I drove it without a twinge - lots of curves, but wide (clear bike lanes on both sides), smooth, slow, and plenty of shoulder and turnouts.

We pulled into a couple to stretch our legs,

and got to the Balsa Glade Picnic Area** about 1:00. It turns out that the El Madera overlook is at the end of an easy 1/3 mile trail from the picnic grounds! We enjoyed our lunch in the brisk air and dappled sun at 8750 feet, then took to the trail

~~~
* Singing Highway Details:
- the road only sings eastbound
- take exit 170 toward Tijeras, and follow 333/66 East
- there is an easy-to-miss blue sign telling you to maintain 45 mph to hear the song (Set your cruise control immediately!)
- it is only along the right edge of the road, and a bit difficult to keep your tires exactly on it
- it is a very short stretch of road, and difficult to return to
- how's it work? See this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_road
- the blue dot shows where we stopped after the song was done

** Balsam Glade Picnic area:

- $3.00 parking fee (probably but not certainly good for all the other areas along this road) per day - bring cash or a check, put it in the envelope, fill out your car info, deposit part of the form in the box and display the other in your car.
- no running water; bring your own
- picnic tables and BBQ stands
- pit toilets; bring your own soap, wash water, purelle, etc
- flat, smooth, wide trail; a determined person in a wheelchair could make it to the overlook

Shoestring Travel

Shoestring Travel
Or is that Flip-Flop Travel?

We like to see other places and live different cultures (at least somewhat). We like to experience new things together. We have plenty of time. And we have a budget to watch (doesn't everyone?). Luckily, we've also discovered that there are a lot of aspects to luxury travel that we plain don't like. So what is worth spending money on, and what do we spend time and effort on instead?

• Flights: These can add up to half or more of the overall trip cost, so we spend a lot of effort to keep them as cheap as possible, adding in our (very much required) checked bags, and keeping layovers to a minimum. We definitely got spoiled living in the San Francisco bay area - three international airports to choose from meant most of our flights were direct, and on the less expensive side. Now in Albuquerque, we always have a jump to a hub, then onward. (At least our city *has* an airport! Those who live in the capital, Santa Fe, have to drive an hour as well!) One thing the flight cost affects is how long we stay somewhere - if we stay longer, the cost of the flight is amortized over more vacation; so... we stay!
• Housing: We aim for as many apartments (kitchens!) as possible. Next in line are hostels. Most of these charge extra for sheets and towels - if we have room, we bring our own (in our very much required checked bags ;-) ).  Hunting for what we want and need takes a *lot* of effort, and quite a bit of plan B type thinking. Apartments to let don't have the same guarantees as hotels - and you pay in advance. Not having a concierge also means we have to research activities and make our own reservations for can't-miss-this museums, etc.
• Food: Some travel advisors say to eat at least once at a multi-star restaurant to get a taste of "the best" local food. We've done that, but we have also had great luck at little bistros; we get our taste like this, at lunch, more and more often. We also swing through the central markets and farmer's markets looking for interesting picnic supplies - these are great for day trips (plus, you get fantastic conversations with the sellers)! Most often, we look for different ingredients and cook our own! My favorite questions are: "what is this?" and "how do you prepare it?" Not only is this the way we like to eat, but it is considerably easier on the bottom line...
• Transportation: Sometimes renting a car is worth it, but if we're staying in a city center, then no. Usually, buses, metro, and trains work very well. However, sometimes research does not pan out! My Sicily research said there were hourly buses to everywhere we expected to go, but it turned out the schedules were really very inconvenient (we spent 5 hours at a sunny beach due to the bus schedule - not as fun as it sounds!)
• Tours / sightseeing: Certainly we spend some here - this is a big part of being Somewhere Else. However! Do I absolutely have to cruise the canals of Venice on a gondola (100€), or will I enjoy a vaporetto (7. 50€) just fine? I don't have to go inside every interesting-looking church; plenty, especially in Europe, have extremely interesting features outside, and many are open to the public; a few are worth paying a few euro to enter the crypt (although it has to promise something spectacular enough for me to overcome my claustrophobia). If I have a limited amount of time in a town, I do some research to find the key places (for me) to see - I know I don't care for a certain type of art, so why spend any time in that type of museum? In Italy, I would love to visit the site of ancient mosaics, but it is hard to get to; it's on the maybe-but-unlikely list, and I do a virtual visit via Google maps (yes, I love researching vacations!). I have been on guided tours, and I love them! But I also really enjoy researching a place and planning my own path - so, win-win!
• Souvenirs: We have downsized enough that I don't want a lot of extra stuff cluttering up my space (and demanding a lot of cleaning). If we get a souvenir, it has to be functional as well as evocative. One of my favorites is a string bag from France - iconic, and only a couple of euro (plus, easy to pack!) at a local grocer's. Something my brother got me into is rocks! Yes! I like beachcombing as it is, and looking for a special (small) stone to take back is very gratifying :-).
• Insurance: mainly because we don't have a lot of time constraints, and we stay a while in (nearly) each place we visit, we find that travel insurance isn't worth it. Usually, if we miss a flight (for example), we would only risk a shorter stay at a destination. In the past, we used this, and were glad we had it. If we had a tight schedule, we would definitely look harder at this.

Last year, we went to France for just over a month. Our budget broke down like this:

• 33% Flights (to and from Marseille, no other French locations)

• three legs, plus a drive to get there; exhausting!

• 12% Housing (one apartment plus 3 nights hotel)

• we got an amazing deal on a small apartment on the beach!

• 14% Transportation (car rental plus a few trams, trains, buses)

• we needed a car because of where we stayed; after that, it made sense (for 2 of us) to drive to sites

• 21% Food

• no fancy dinners, a lot of picnics, and a few lunches out

• 4% Sightseeing 

• a lot of walking tours

• 10% Unexpected (car damage, replacement passport)

• ack! This really cut into our touring time (that hurt the most)

• see, now insurance would have helped, but really only to a break-even point

• 6% Misc

This year, our budget for 6 weeks of Italy (+) was:

• 49% Flights (California, Stockholm, Florence, and Sicily)

• a lot of effort, but we flew a *lot!*

• 21% Housing (two apartments, 1 night hotel, 3 nights hostel)

• also a lot of effort

• 9% Transportation (no car rental; trams, trains, buses)

• we actually did hitch rides with friends that rented a car for part of the time; we probably would have rented one in advance if we had known about the poor bus/train schedules in Sicily

• we could have trained between some places, but flew instead

• this is higher that it would normally be due to long-distance day trips from Florence

• 17% Food

• this was a pleasant effort :-) with lots of cooking and street food

• Stockholm was significantly more expensive than Sicily, and we weren't there long enough to cook our own

• 2% Sightseeing 

• we paid a bit extra to make sure we could visit Florence museums when we expected to (Uffizi and Accademia)

• 0% Unexpected (yay!)
• 2% Misc