Making Friends

Living on the road fulltime does make it harder to acquire and keep friends.  Folks we meet at campgrounds are in general friendly. However, when you're only pulling in for an overnight stay, there isn't a sense of urgency in getting to know your neighbor.

In the summer of 2011, we met a couple who were staying at the same campground in Maine as us. We stopeed to speak with them as we noticed their license plates indicated they were from South Dakota also.  Michael and Glenda are fulltimers and use a differnt mail service in the state.  Their routes are in the South; family in AL, LA & TX.

Because we were the locals, we were able to share information about Maine with them.  They were very easy going folks and we frequently found ourselves visiting at their campsite as did other folks from around the campground.  Michael enjoys cooking others and we were introduced to Cajun flavors.

To our luck, Michael and Glenda stayed for several months and a friendship was formed.  We share a few other commonalities besides residency including kayaking and motorcycling. After our stays in Maine ended, we stayed in touch and tracked each others travels via social media.

In summer 2012, while Chuck & I were doing the Habitat build in eastern South Dakota, we read on FB that Michael and Glenda were leaving Wyoming and heading towards western South Dakota.  We made plans to join up with them in Sturgis (after motorcycle week) and spent time reconnecting.  Winter plans were discussed and they mentioned there was the possiblity of them coming to Florida this year.

By mid-November we knew Michael and Glenda were in the neighborhood, staying at a campground 60 miles from the one we were at.  Although it put us further away from people we knew in the region, we ended up relocating from our campground over to the one they were at.  

One of my favorite things we've been doing is going on motorcycles rides.  Generally Michael selects the destination for the ride, then shows me a simple map of the proposed route and I end up leading our band.  We participated in a charity ride with them one day, and have done several scenic rides. On one outing another couple from the campground join us on our journey to Cedar Keys FL.

Wanderlust set in quicker for Michael & Glenda and they have moved on to other campgrounds.  Chuck and I feel the need to get moving calling and are considering options on where to go and when.  But we know that someone down the road, we'll meet up with Michael & Glenda and have more fun.

Chili Bowl: Camp Run-A-Muk

Earlier this year I learned the campground we were staying at would be having a Chili Bowl contest and I decided I wanted to see how mine stacked up to others.  Two weeks ago, the sign-up sheet was put out and besides listing your name, you had to give your chili a title.  Others who were signing up mentioned that last year's winning chili was called "Take Two Tums".  Great, I thought, now I need a catchy name as well as a good recipe.

Because I put so many things into my chili, I thought of calling it "Everything But The Kitchen Sink".  I settled on the name "Camp Run-A-Muk".  That name came from a decorative sign I bought Chuck many years ago - among the activities at Camp Run-A-Muk were Snipe Hunting and Bear Wrestling, which considering Chuck's marine engineer nickname of Snipe and my working as L.L. Bear deemed the sign very appropriate for us.

Knowing how much Chuck and I personally like the chili even more than the next day, I started my recipe on Saturday. Into my 3 qt crockpot I put one can each Dark Kidney, Light Kidney and Northern Beans (drained).  I also added one can of Diced Tomato w/Garlic and a bottle of Chili Sauce.  They simmered on low for 10-12 hours before I put the pot in the fridge for the night.  Sunday morning I added sauteed onion and mushrooms to the bean mixture. Finally I browned and seasoned my hamburg (1 lb).  For seasoning the meat I used chili powder, cumin, paprika and black pepper.  That was then added to the bean pot and finally a small can of corn went in.  I allowed all these to simmer on high for about an hour, then dropped the crock pot setting to low for another, alternating temps back and forth all day.

It was also during this change in temperature that I'd taste and add more seasoning (chili powder, cumin, paprika, worcestershire sauce and of course tabasco sauce).  With 4 hours before tasting I finally let Chuck have a taste and he said it needed more heat, so more tabasco and chili powder went in.  Another hour of simmering and we decided it still needed just a hint more heat, again tabasco to the rescue. With two hours remaining before the chili contest, Chuck deemed my mixture perfect.  Just a slight hint of heat but not overbearing.

Nine other folks had signed up for the contest, but a few did not show.  Anyone in attendance could be a judge. When I saw the number of returning seasonal campers in attendance vs those of us in for a few days or a few months, realized my chili might be good but the vote might be based on popularity of the maker, not the dish.

My chili was first in the line-up and I saw that as either a good sign or bad: good that the palate would be clean and the taste would be pure, bad because they'd forget what mine tasted like as they went down the line.

No two chilies were exactly alike; "Mom's" was very soupey and just kidney bean, "Wally's Wonder" caused many to search out tissues as it was too hot and spicey.  To my taste buds, there was one other chili I liked almost as well as mine: "Buckeye Hottie".  The name insinuated heat, but I didn't find much.  "Buckeye Hottie" was the last on the table.

Not much fanfare was put in to announcing the winner. The campground's Activity Director quickly counted the votes and said "Camp Run-A-Muk" and "Buckeye Hottie" were the top two vote getters and the difference was just one vote, 10 to 9.  Buckeye was the winner.

As my circle of fans reminded me, losing by 1 vote was affirmation that mine was good. And because my chili was the first tasted and winning one the last meant mine stood out in the judges minds well enough.

I'm happy with the results and have decided to make another batch for the next potluck dinner we go to at this campground.