Pining for the Fjords

As you may recall from an earlier blog installment, we're growing cucumbers in the garden.  We planted two varieties, Marketmore (for eating raw) and Sumter, which are better for pickling.  We figured it might be fun to try our hand at making our own pickles; I mean, we make our own beer, so this should be cake, right? We first searched for some recipes and eventually settled on one that seemed easy enough.  The one we found called for boiling up a pickling solution of 3.5 cups water, 1.25 cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon sea/kosher salt, then pouring it into a jar that was already holding the pickles plus a mix of seasonings made up on garlic cloves, dill seed, and a few red pepper flakes. Here's our little dude, fresh from our garden! I shall call him Pedro.  Pedro Pickle. The jar (1/2 pint sized) filled with spices (bottom of the jar) and sliced cucumbers. The jar filled with fluid and ready to go in the fridge. Mmmm...Left Hand Smoke Jumper... So

Thursday, May 29 th Previous Posts:  Day1 , Day 2 , Day 3 , Day 4 , Day 5 We woke up our last morning at the Lodge and did a final sweep around the perimeter, hopefully ensuring we didn’t forget anything and restoring it to the pristine condition in which we originally discovered it.* Bye, Lodge!  We'll miss you! We ended up on the road around 8:30ish, which was enough time to take another trash run to the Padlock Ranch office and purchase some official memorabilia for Aunt Linda and Uncle Gene.  While we were at the office, we saw a side effect of the storm the night before; apparently, parts of the surrounding area recorded wind gusts up to 80mph.  A tree crashed down, taking out one of the pickup trucks parked in the area.  Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the truck was down for the count. Without further ado, we headed back to the Billings area, stopping by the airport to check Uncle Gene and Aunt Linda’s bags and print their boarding passes.  We next p

Wednesday, May 28 th Previous Posts:  Day1 , Day 2 , Day 3 , Day 4 On Day 5, we all set alarms for early in the morning, as we wanted to say goodbye to Jim and Leigh before  they started their drive back to Billings at 6am.  Risa realized she didn’t have a picture just of Dad, Jim, and I, which led to this photo: Please ignore the crazy hair and pajamas Although we all tried to go back to sleep after Jim and Leigh left, not all of us succeeded, so Chris and I worked out the sore spots from horseback riding the afternoon before in the hot tub for a little while.  After that, we spent most of the morning hanging around the Lodge, alternately napping and helping clean the facility. Aunt Linda and Uncle Gene outside the Lodge Ta da! Our group had eight people, and the day we all left, one side of Risa’s family (the Brown’s) was flying in for their time at the lodge, and they numbered 17.*  Thus, we were happy to help turn over bedding, run the washer

Tuesday, May 27 th Previous Posts:  Day1 , Day 2 , Day 3 After a night of cards and wine, we decided another big breakfast was in order, so Dad and Leigh jumped into action, putting together a delicious meal of French toast and bacon, while the rest of us tried to stay out of the way.  After lots of broken eggs* and one paper towel sacrificed to the fire gods, we were able to enjoy a hearty ranch meal. After breakfast, we packed some lunches to go, including sandwiches, watermelon, baby carrots**, chips, and – oh yeah – beer, threw everything into the Rag van, and headed off toward the Bighorn Mountains.  First, we stopped briefly at the Padlock Ranch office headquarters to drop trash, and then at Kmart to buy conditioner, Hot Tamales, Lemon Heads, and shoes for Aunt Linda.  After that excursion, we were on the road again! The Mountains and the Bighorn National Forest within the Mountains are completely gorgeous.  The areas we passed through ranged from around 3,000 f