I have not post for a few weeks now. I have taken a number of road trips with Brunnhilde taking advantage of Oregon's mild July weather this year. The sailboarding season here is in full swing and we have an incredible July in Oregon. It is the best in recent memory for those like sailing in very strong wind. For the better part of July there have been windy days in the Columbia River Gorge nearly everyday.
Never before I have used my 3.0 and 3.5 square meter sails so often. I carry only 4 sail sizes (3.0, 3.5, 3.9, and 4.5). 3.0 is my smallest and 4.5 is my largest.
driving through I-84 east bound in at dawn in early July - overcast with marine layer is always a welcoming sight
early morning and the wind is shaping up to be a 3.9 sq meter session at this point
this is one of the mellower days in july as it turned out
camping out for the night at a rather secluded view point
i discovered the supermarket in white salmon has excellent oregon lamb - i am preparing a curry lamb stew
I have never cooked with lamb before. I have been avoiding lamb and goat for most of my adult life because the one I tasted during my young adulthood was so gamey. That ruined my enjoyment of their meat until recently. I have found out all too often people avoidance of certain food is due to unfortunate negative experience. Most of the time is because of the fault of the cook instead of the ingredient or recipe.
I have been cooking a long time when I camp. When I used to camp with my VW Vanagon Camper the dish I cooked was a lot simpler due to the limitations of the much more spartan kitchen. With Brunnhilde compact but yet much better appointed kitchen and refrigerator I can cook very elaborated dishes by thinking out of the box. Recently I have been wanting to carry more spices and herbs with me. I realize it is unrealistic for me to bring a good assortment of dry spices with me for week-long trips. I decided to start by bringing only a few and yellow curry was my top pick. I picked it because it is a mixture of may spices I like.
this is just a shoulder or butt cut at just $5.99/lb - oregon lamb
i cut it into small pieces to reduce the cooking time
it was very windy out so i could not brown the lamb with my korean butane stove; the windscreen is no match of the columbia gorge wind even at dusk so i was forced to cook inside; the aluminum lid help to condense most of the oil vapor before they hit the ventilation fan
i utilized the cooking technique of creole cuisine by building up the flavors - i even brought some okras with me
my improvised recipe was a success
i saved half for breakfast for the next day - a perfect meal before the vigorous high wind sailboarding session
while i was far from running down the two coach deep cycle batteries - i wanted to find out how fast my mini honda generator restore charge; not that well but not too poorly because the limitation is the charging rate of Brunnhilde's built-in charger
i have been wanting to take some photos of using my newly converted sanitary system in brunnhilde - this is at a municipality sewer treatment plant RV dump facility in hood river, oregon
I had taken many week-long trips into the Columbia River Gorge. I used the toilet, shower, and sinks in Brunnhilde's exclusively during these trips. Never once did I camped with utility hookups. For me the new system is perfect for me. I have dump the black water content of the toilet cassette in toilet at a boat launch facility as well as RV dump facility. It work equally well at either and the process and simple, efficient, and clean. I also used the grey water discharge system I recently devised and I love it. I didn't need to use the dump hose at all. I just use the short adapter tail-pipe.
Here is my normal process at a RV dump site:
- Carefully pull up the camper so the grey water discharge port is 1 foot away from the curb and 1 foot forward of the center of the dump basin
- Perform a visual check in the bathroom that the cassette toilet gate valve is closed
- Open the rear door and pull out the toilet cassette - this takes both hands with a firm grip as there is the weight of 5 gallons
- Empty the cassette directly into the basin aiming at the intake port so not to make a mess
- Rinse the empty cassette with a couple gallons of treated waste water provided for this purpose
- Rinse the exterior of the cassette with a bit of the treated waste water
- Wipe the exterior of the cassette with a rag and re-insert the cassette into the toilet compartment
- Insert the ~18" grey water discharge extension pipe into the discharge port and tilt it down at about a 30 degree slope aiming at the dumping port
- Open the PVC ball valve fully - it takes a minute or two to discharge the entire content of the grey water storage tank; the generous rush of the grey water washes clean any lingering solid of the black water in the basin in consideration of the next user of the facility
- Once the grey tank is empty turn off the PVC ball valve and detach the ~18" extension pipe.
- Flush the extension pipe with treated waster and replace it in the sanitary storage tub
- Move the vehicle forward to the potable water supply station and fill up the fresh water tank and top up the cassette toilet flush water storage tank if needed
The entire process takes about 5 minutes and the only hose involves is the fresh water filling hose I brought with me.
discharging grey water using the ~18" extension pipe
Most night camping out at a "head land" over the Gorge the wind was very strong through the night. One night there was this incessant ticking sound and I was too tire to investigate the source. In the morning with a clear head after a cup of good coffee, I calmly pondered what might possibly the culprit. I suspected the plastic cover for adjusting the trailing roller arm of the sliding door. I went and check and sure enough it is slightly loose with about 1/16" of lateral play. I knew I can fix it when I get home.
just pop it out
a couple dabs of silicone to take up the slack - and that fixed the rattle for good
i have been wanting to get some syringes and needles which i need badly
which i need badly
Actually the syringes and needles are for many DIY fixit's I need. I need them to fix my cheapo secondary backup camera which failed in Oregon rain. I also need them for injecting epoxy resin to fix one of my sailboard fin slot. I initially assume one need a prescription to purchase them in Oregon, but it turned out I can buy them at local phamacy without a prescription. Instead of paying inflated prices online and buying more than I ever need I can pick them up for just $0.5 each set at Walgreen.
this is a re-roasted batch of espresso coffee blend which i messed up because i under-roasted it at first; instead of throwing the entire batch away i was able to re-roast it; the trick is to slowly bring up the temperature of the beans and then continue to finish off the roasting at normal roasting temperature; i am very surprise how well the recovery is
a simple fish noodle soup for breakfast for a windy day
love this spot - just nature and me alone
sunset at dusk
still more curry lamb - i had made this 4-5 times now this month camping; it is one of the most elaborate dish i'd cook camping
this evening the breeze is not so stiff that the butane stove's windscreen was somewhat effective so i browned the lamb meat outside
another delectable meal - there is enough leftover for breakfast the next morning
i eaten it with black berry concentrate i made with berry i collected at my sailboarding spot
the big bowl of black berries i harvested at the sailing site
i made them into a jam like concentrate at home - just some sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest
i added some pasta for breakfast the next morning
the black berry concentrate with some mint leave on top - delicious
the bee agrees
the aftermath
i also use the black berries for these beef tacos - been eating a lot of tacos
another curry lamb stew - this time served with cabbage
Sailing this past Sunday which was one of the windiest day this year. I have a mishap while sailing on the 3.0 sq m sail. I had a bad landing from a high jump because of unintended hook-in of the harness leading to bow first landing. I strained the inner ligament of my right knee (as it would be confirmed at the urgent clinic later) because my the rapid deceleration of my body weight caused my right kneed to bend laterally with the foot being restrained by the back foot strap. It happen very fast and when I crashed into the water I knew sometime is not right with my right knee. There was no pain but it just feel a bit loose. I decided to sail in to more carefully examine myself once on dry land.
I check the movements and feel all the spots of my right knees. The knee joint appears normal as well as the bones. There is no pain except the inner side where there is a lateral ligament feel just barely sore. Checking the knee movements in reference to the left side found the right knee feel a bit loose if I try to bend it inwards as the accidental bad landing. Because a knee injury can have long term implication I immediate ice it with two packs of frozen Oregon lamb from the refrigerator until I can go and get some ice. I packed up and head for home.
i sadly left the gorge only to see the entire windy river all the way to portland
icing my wounded knee arrived home
Immediately arriving home I made a phone call to my HMO and found out I could go to the urgent care center just a few miles from home. Being early afternoon on Sunday it took only an hour wait which is not bad considering it is a walkin. After some examination the doctor agreed that I didn't have any dire knee injury, just strained lateral ligament on the inner side of my right knee. Finding out I am a avid sailboarder he wanted to examine my ears canals for
surfer's ear. I initially was quite taken why out of the blue he wanted to do that as I was totally ignorant of this common affection affecting people who engage in cold weather sports and with long term exposure to cold wind and water. He was very surprised that both of my ears are quite normal.
It was about closing time and he asked if I have any more question. Not really concerned with my swollen right foot from two days (Friday) ago I thought I would just mention it too. It is quite sore from being caught in the foot strap from missing a jibe. I just assumed it was just superficial muscle strain.
He examined it with his hands and ask where the soreness is as he touch different spots. He then calmly says he think it is broken! I initially found it incredible but seeing he was so sure I asked him if he can run an x-ray scan for a positive check.
the x-ray scan of my foot
5 minutes later the scans arrived to his office electronically. His initial verdict was right - the outer thin bone of my right foot was broken. He referred me to an appointment with the fracture center. They gave me a shinning pair of crutches and told me not to walk on the right foot so not to push the broken bone outwards.
i came home and improvised this bandage to keep the broken segments align
My next appointment is with the fracture clinic which the doctor scheduled for me. At the meantime I am taking a vacation from the hardships of sailboarding.
Have it not because of the strained knee ligament I would be ignorant is bliss and still camping and sailing in the Gorge. My concern with the knee led to the discovery of the broken bone in the foot which I dismissed as superficial. Definitely a silver lining in the knee accident.
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