You Be Trippin'

 

Here we are, a week out from Thanksgiving. It's an awesome time,  Thanksgiving Day. Not only is the food great, but the time spent with family tops it off like a large dollop of whipped cream on pumpkin pie. It's the best time ever. Mm. Pumpkin pie. I can taste it now ...

Terry and I have a drive to Portland on Thursday for medical reasons, leaving Mallory and the fur babies home together. Mallory has kindly offered to take on the responsibility of taming the wild beasts while we are away, which comforts us. She adores animals and I know she will take great care of them. 

Meanwhile, on the road yesterday, I spent some time in Mallory's hometown while doing a delivery. I took a few moments to capture a beautiful yet trippy sight from Sutherlin Park, which we have been to several times for concerts and relaxation. While delivering, I noticed the surrounding hills. They were white. I wanted to drop photos here to keep them in our memories. 

I took this photo from the park, looking east. It's a light dusting but still gave the hills that holiday look. I am just hoping the white stuff doesn't fall in Roseburg or come any lower than this, at least for now. 

Snow still makes me feel like a child again. I love the snow! Terry, on the other hand, does not enjoy snow, but understandably so. He is from Las Vegas originally, then moved to California. Hating snow seems fitting for him. Although he has made his peace with it, he still does not have experience driving in the slick conditions it can bring.

 When we first met a couple of years ago, it snowed in Roseburg. I called it a "light dusting," while Terry figured it was armageddon since he had to get out to wipe the six inches from his windshield. Yes, he still teases me about saying it was a dusting. Trust me here, folks. It was not like we were in the middle of a blizzard. We actually survived too.

 It was a tough one, but it all worked out. The white stuff went away a few hours into the day and disappeared from the area altogether. We had to rebuild and many folks collapsed during the walk to their homes, and some even starved during this horrid time, missing their regular visit to Starbucks and all, but we moved on. We are Roseburg strong.

If it does snow this year, I will have to remain home from deliveries solely due to the surrounding hills, not from fear of snow, but due to the height of the hills and the small width of the roads. I have found myself on hilltops all around the city to deliver a batch of fries or a burger. These are trips that allowed me to view the entire town, after traveling many a winding road to get there. While beautiful and all, this would make a horrible place to travel during a snowstorm and possible ice. I'm not into all of the adrenaline-rush activities some enjoy. I love to have my car drive on flat surfaces, without sliding toward a cliff. Want a burger? You best get to driving. This girl is staying at home baking some cookies and drinking a hot cup of tea while watching those trying to drive up the hills. 

***

While delivering in Sutherlin, I found myself sitting in the park in the freezing rain taking photos like a tourist. After snapping the pics of the beautiful snow-covered hills, I noticed the derailed train located inside a cyclone fence about 150 yards from where I was standing. It was there for looks but it was difficult to get the full scope of the engine due to the fence that confined it. Needless to say, it was pretty in a historical way. The Weyerhaeuser Engine 100 was a reminder of the good old days when Springfield, Roseburg, and other small towns worked together to log this area. 

Thanks to the Douglas County Museum, we have a photo of the engine taken by Jena Mitchell on February 23, 1988. 

Today the engine still remains in Sutherlin, displayed for all to see. 

She might be a bit rusted now but the history of logging for Weyerhaeuser back in the day remains. The engine earned every scar and every scratch as it brought wood to the Weyerhaeuser mill in Springfield, Oregon, from places such as Roseburg, Sutherlin, Klamath Falls, and others. Roseburg is known for the logging it does and did back then. 

Looking back on our history is amazing to me. With the information I gain, I imagine how it was back then compared to today's world and all the advances made. 

I'm sure this caboose is used for something other than just looking cute. Who knows? Maybe not, but in my opinion, it looks like an office or a storage unit now. Definitely repainted and were cabooses wooden back then? Or is that wood?

***

Speaking of baking, I was whipping up some raspberry-white chocolate scones on Sunday, when Hubby Mac walked into the house. He had taken a trip to the store and brought home yet another anniversary bouquet to commemorate our monthly wedding anniversary date. 

Each month he manages to surprise me with a bouquet on the 17th, the day we married back in June. And each time I am completely shocked, as if he's never done it before. You would think I would catch on after 17 months of him providing me with the flowers each month. He is also worried each month as to whether or not I will enjoy the flowers and think they are beautiful, but come on now! I keep telling him they are perfect and they are. The gesture itself is loving and kind, but the flowers and the smell remind me of his love for a couple of weeks. I'm a blessed woman. 

***

Now, back to the idea of me baking those scones before he walked in to surprise me by giving me his heart once again, the scones were something I had never baked before. I have never tasted one before this day. Yes, I know. It's strange, isn't it? 

My mother was from a farm in Iowa and my dad grew up a southern boy, so scones were not eaten in our household. We had great meals, such as homemade Southern biscuits, ham, grits, eggs, sausage, home-fried potatoes, and the like. This was a typical Sunday brunch provided by the folks, but scones were not involved. It's like everyone asking me, "What is a grit?" I could ask the same thing as a child, "What the heck is a scone, y'all?" It all depends on your perspective and your experience. I had none in the scone department. 

But, here I go anyway. Off into scone heaven, hopefully. I had to freeze the butter after shredding it first. The dough was cold and interesting. Once I had the dough mixed, I poured it onto the counter, worked it into a round, then cut it into eight pieces. I have to say the slaughtered raspberries were a bit much. So messy. 

Once the eight triangular pink pieces were on the parchment paper on the baking sheet, we were ready to put them in the refrigerator again while the oven was preheated. Now we were ready to bake once it reached the proper temperature. 

The scones smelled wonderful! With raspberries bursting through the biscuit-type dough and those lovely white chocolate chips made my Southern mouth water. I could not wait to sink my teeth into those beautiful triangles of love. 

Once out of the oven, I poured a brown vanilla glaze over the top. The issue was I had regular vanilla and not clear vanilla, thus leaving a brown glaze instead of a white glaze. Yes, thus. Note to self: clear vanilla. 

But the fresh raspberries had melded into the dough, leaving raspberry flavor throughout the pastry. I snuck a white chocolate chip before breaking into my first scone. It did what chips do in melting in my mouth, leaving me wanting so much more. Now, we have to remember Terry and I are diabetic. I had not eaten anything this sweet in a long time. We usually buy sugar-free candies and desserts or we bypass any offerings. The sweet tastebuds weren't sure how to handle the tiny chip of goodness. I could feel my mouth pucker around that delightful piece of chocolate. Or fake chocolate. I'm never quite sure if it's a bud of real chocolate or not. Something else to research.

I bit into the warm pastry, not sure what to expect. No earth-shattering sweet tastes coming through here. White chocolate chips were the sweetest ingredient in this delightful yet biscuit-like baked good. Childhood memories came floating back to me; those of sitting at the table in the dining room and of eating the large, fluffy Southern biscuits slathered in butter and honey. A little sweetness added to a lot of savory. Oh, Sweet Mama Macrae's, this was good. Really, really good. Another one for the bakery after I perfect it. 

White chocolate chips that were half melted, blended in with the remnants of fresh raspberry made this flavor combination tasty and one I would love to make again. I have to admit. All the bottoms of the pastries came out a little too brown though. I'm not sure if it was the parchment paper on the pan while baking or if I simply left them in too long. Looking at the tops, I believe I left them in too long. 

Since the brown vanilla topping didn't show up and basically melted into the pastry, I sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar onto the top of one to see if I liked it better. This made a complete mess of that pastry, but I'm learning. 

Overall, I enjoyed the scone but there is so much I would do differently. Now I have white chocolate chips left, so cookies are in order. I will return to these scones and work on them until I perfect the process. Until then, I will bake cookies to see how those turn out. White chocolate and walnut cookies, those sound so yummy. Look for the white chocolate raspberry scones coming to Sweet Mama Macrae's bakery once I get them perfect. Now I just need to find time to do all of this. My dreams are more than I have time for. But it's important to keep on dreaming, isn't it?

***

Here we are, Thursday night, sitting in a hotel room in Portland, Oregon. After a three-and-a-half-hour drive, actually closer to four, fighting semi trucks along the way, we made it. Wishing to hurry up and get here and now we are bored. Figures. As a species, we just aren't satisfied very often, are we?

Not much to look at, but it does give us a place to lay our heads tonight. It's clean, does have a microwave and a fridge, and is in very close proximity to a Thai restaurant we have our eye on for dinner. That's all it takes for us to be happy. 

After Terry takes his evening smoke, we head out for the Thai Cuisineatn Barbur Restaurant. Immediately there is a wait person who comes to us to ask what type of drink we would like. I stick with my usual water and Terry gets his Pepsi Zero. It doesn't take us long to know what we want. Pretty much the same stuff we order at Seven Thai in Roseburg. 

Not only was the meal delicious, but it was quick in coming. They had that cooked and sent out immediately. I have to say I was impressed. 

I had the house-fried rice with veggies and chicken. Very good I must say. Terry ordered the mango curry dish with white rice. He typically orders the yellow curry, but this time it was with mango. He described the flavor as "interesting," leaving me to wonder. I asked him about the curry dish because as I've said, I am not familiar with Thai cuisine, except for the three or four times we've eaten at Seven Thai in Roseburg. 

I wondered if the curry spice comes in different colors, does each color taste unique or how does it change? He explained that each of the three or four colors is served with various ingredients that differ in each dish. The curry remains the same, but what is the "soup" made from? He informs me it is coconut milk, with that yellow curry spice mixed in. That is interesting to me for whatever reason. 

The yellow color of the soup was familiar and I knew immediately it was the curry we use at home and eat in the Seven Thai restaurant. The vegetables were nice and added even more color, plus I could see the vegetables he was eating and understood he was at least getting some good nutrition from those veggies. That's a good thing. 

Not giving my husband an insult by any means. I am just as bad at not eating well and definitely not eating the things I should be. In fact, my latest A1C I had taken a couple of days ago really sucked. I'm at it again in terms of having to lower my levels by eating better, drinking more water, and exercising. Sometimes he actually eats much better than I do and a lot of times he and I eat like crap together. It's got to change. At least for me. 

Once we ate our dinner, we ordered some mango sticky rice. They were out of mango due to it being this time of year and mangos not cooperating with the deliciousness of the dish. Ugh. We headed back to the room instead. I'm telling you, I need to move to Thailand. 

Trying to watch television in a hotel room is like wanting to see a football game at an operatic event. Forget it. The fat lady might sing and continue singing all night, but you aren't going to watch your quarterback throw a beautiful pass to score any touchdown. In fact, I believe I heard the fat lady laughing at us at one point in flipping through the channels. We settled on a movie playing on the SyFy channel, but the idea of having an action film completely narrated was annoying. I'm not sure what was happening there. Terry returned to what he knew in sitting outside, smoking a cigar. I am here, writing this post and doing what I know and love. It's relaxing anyway. 

We will both remain doing what we like to do up until the time for bed. I'm exhausted after driving for about four hours to get here. It's about an hour and 20 minutes to Eugene when we go and we had to add another two hours to get into Portland. Plus, we added another 30 miles onto the trip because we forgot something at home after we reached 30 miles into the drive. But, all is well. Not a big deal. You do what you've got to do, right? 

I knew a long, hot bath was in order tonight before bed. I ran the water nice and hot. The lever was flipped to keep water in the tub but it seemed as though it just kept at one level--low. Fumbling around with the lever, I found out it was broken apparently, and was not making even the slightest attempt at keeping the hot water covering my ass. My ankle really hurts tonight so I wanted to soak it for a while, along with giving me some relief from that long ride we took today. That lever has a 'tude and I'm over it. I'll fix that. 

Folding the thick washcloth two times to make it super thick, I placed it over the drain and put my bad foot on top of it. Let's see water go through it now. This was good. Ha, ha, water flow valve. You can't beat a tired and hurting Capricorn. 

Hot water surrounds me. I feel cozy now and know I can relax. The bath was awesome even with my foot having to hold the water in the tub. After a while, I was relaxed, washed, and ready to go. Ah, now to lay in a nice comfy bed with my hubby and not have a care in the world ... life is good. 

I'm leaving this part of the "weekend" here. We have an audiologist appointment tomorrow and another appointment in the afternoon. After that, we will be heading home again. Home to our beautiful fur babies, our house, our lives. It will be good to relax again in the comfort of our own home. More on our adventures in the next post. We hope all of you are having an amazing week. Let your light shine for the world to see! You may light a dark path for someone else. 

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@psychicpoet0188