Redwoods

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Redwoods National Park in California

Time to hit the road, well, after taking to the skies. Today, Southwest Airlines flew us to Sacramento, California, after a short delay while they exchanged planes since the one we had boarded first was leaking fuel from the engine. Flying meant we were ill-prepared for camping, requiring us to purchase supplies. Walmart and Whole Foods were the two stops that brought us up to speed. Now, on the way, we aim for the Redwoods National Park on our way to the Oregon Coast State Parks, where we’ll be roughing it in yurts.

Harris Beach State Park in a yurt Brookings, Oregon

Those Mongolian-influenced tents come with a heater, lockable door, beds, table, light, windows, picnic table, and barbecue. The weather is beautiful, and things are looking good. Tonight, we are back at Harris Beach State Park for the third time in the past five years. As a matter of fact, we’ll be staying in yurts for five consecutive nights. This year, we got smart and decided to bring our own bedding, as sleeping under our comforter with pillows picked up locally is far better than our sleeping bags, or so we hope.

My Favorite Futon

JWise Photo of the Day

A six inch layer of latex, cotton batting, and a layer of wool are the components that were made into our new futon

Mwahaha, now I have the secrets required to build my own futon, start a nationwide chain of stores and destroy the puny competition. All thanks to Tom at Futon Favorite in Phoenix, Arizona. Actually, Futon Favorite custom-made our new futon mattress to my specifications – what a treat. We started with a six-inch layer of latex, wrapped that with multiple layers of cotton, threw on a thick layer of wool, which allows our futon to be fireproof and not have to be treated with boric acid. Finally, it was all wrapped up and sewn into a cotton cover. Tom was hundreds of dollars cheaper than anyone else I could find who was selling healthy futons. Now, a month after sleeping on our new mattress, all I can say is, WOW! We love our new bed. Ok, Tom, this was my pitch for your store – Futon Favorite at 509 E. Camelback Road with the toll-free number: 1-888-763-8866 his website is at www.futonfavorite.com – now what kind of discount are you going to give me on those Tatami Rice Mats?

Discover India

JWise Photo of the Day

Two dancers performing at Discover India in downtown Phoenix, Arizona

Official photographer – gack, what pressure. I had to make the official record of this year’s Discover India festival in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. People are not really my forte – aliens are!!! Out of all the photos I took there are 112 that made the cut, barely. I wasn’t at my best, maybe because Caroline was home under the weather. This year’s festival was a cut above previous occasions as the food was better, the entertainment was more diverse and colorful and there were more vendors. Phoenix is finally growing up to fit in its shoes as the fifth largest city in America.

Sauerkraut

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

A quart of homemade sauerkraut made with a traditional crock fermented over the past five weeks

Five weeks ago twenty-two pounds of cabbage was shredded, mixed with salt, juniper berries, apple, and placed in a large earthenware crock to ferment and turn into sauerkraut. Today it finally emerged in all its sour glory to be stored in quart jars and placed in the fridge. A gallon and a half of healthy kraut will make for good eatin’ over the next months. In January we will start another batch as during the hot months here in Arizona the temperatures are too high to be able to make sauerkraut.

Hot Thorns

JWise Photo of the Day

Macro photograph of red thorns from a cactus on our balcony during a late afternoon golden sunset

I’m waiting for FedEx to deliver a package. Every time a vehicle stops in front of our place and I hear the car door shut, I jump up, run to the door, look for my package. For the fifth or sixth time, it is someone else. The last check though I looked left and one of our cactus was aglow in the afternoon light of sunset. The thorns appeared to burn hot as though they were heating elements. As I write this another couple of car doors have slammed shut, still no package.

Limoncello Continued

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Limoncello after removing the lemon peel dripping through a coffee filter awaiting the addition of syrup before finally becoming Limoncello

After two months it was finally time to remove the lemon peel from the stewing alcohol lemon mix. At this point, the alcohol is being strained of sediments through a coffee filter producing a beautiful golden liquid. With this put to the side, we wait for the syrup we made beforehand to cool to room temperature before we add it to the bottle and wait yet a couple more weeks before this will really be limoncello.