Chuck waggin' tails - Day 5

Hello from the Chuck Wagon... He's Losing, I'm It...

Day 5!! We are both amazed that we made it thru day 5 relatively quickly and somewhat gracefully. Regardless, it's chilly and we're up and at 'em at 5:00, unpacking the van (had to pack the van due to another bear warning) and getting ready for breakfast. By the time we're done unpacking, Sabrina (Eliott) and fellow Starbuckian is asking where all the French Presses are so she can get coffee going. YIPPEE!!

Breakfast is pretty decadent as Ron (Lila) and Kelly (Lucas) are dipping and flipping French Toast. Along with the maple syrup we had the usual suspects such as yogurt, cereal and OJ all out in the beautiful outdoors...ala noisy hwy 84. Not long after breakfast, kids are loading their stuff onto the bus and saying good-bye as they move onto the next stop.

Ok...kinda of a large task today...what's for lunch? and get Fresh Apple pie. First thing first, start Googling the words Apple Pie, Bakery, and Diners in the nearby small cities. Nothing, nada and zilch. We soon learned that not only did most of the apple pies that we found have filling from a can, we also figured out that local apples out of season. For those reasons we ditched the thought... but Dave-the-pie-maker had a vision of fresh empanadas and turn-overs...but since oven facilities were lacking, that thought also dissipated as well. Maybe we can talk Dave into making us some pies at the end of the year when apples are back in season???

Next job: Lunch. So we're in poh-dunk Pendleton OR, at an ol' Albertson...looking for inspiration. After wondering the aisles, we see some fresh baked french bread just baked 2 hours ago... and a full case of cold cuts. Aha! we're gonna make 2 foot long subs....so we got 3 types of meat, with 2 types of cheese, 2 types of lettuce with real mayonnaise and mustard. In front of the Waste Manage Station (aka "the dump") we set up table and Dave puts the sandwiches together and adds a little EVOO, salt and pepper while I shoo away flies. (ahem). Anyways, we slice 8 ways. The vegetarian option is chibatta bread filled with hummus, lettuce cheese and EVOO. NICE! For dessert in the desert... we have fresh cut watermelon (no, not local) , apples & pears on ice and rice pudding. And just as quickly as the kids got off the bus and devoured lunch, they were back on the bus and headed up the the hill to see the garbage get dumped. As the Chuck Wagon pushes onto Goldendale.

Of course, it's not as interesting if you don't get lost...so we did... Instead of turning on Blalock Canyon Rd to get back to 84, we miss our turn all together and go straight onto Barnett rd...which is a dirt road that heads into oblivion...never ending road of farm land...



well...we go back to where we started...not without a few more distractions tho...and get to Goldendale. Along the way we run into Abby (Isabel) at the Stonehenge memorial. By the time we pre-check the driver in at his motel, shop for dinner tonight, the kids arrive as well...ready for some swimming... and they "smell" like they need it too.

Dinner is pretty easy, especially with all the kitchen help tonight... a nice 3 lettuce Ceasar salad as the main course, soba noodles with dipping sauce and fried tofu. To boot, the kids ate outside on the grass under the sun as they watched a HS track meet just a yards away. Soon after, they went swimming 6 blocks away.

Upon their return, Dave crafted a to-die-for caramel sauce from scratch which we used to dip cut apples on toothpicks...thank you Sarah (Gabriel) and Ron (Lila)...and also used it to coat pop corn...thanks to popcorn-machine cranker Rob (Emmet). Other popcorn toppings included butter and fresh Parmesan cheese. When kids are happy, I'm happy....

ok it's late, and I'm having a who-can-stay-up-the-latest contest with Rob...he wins. It's no-cook breakfast tomorrow. good night!
get along little doggies...