Finding all the right pieces

In order to get my 2000 Ford F150 ready for the trail, there are a few things upgrades and maintenance that needs to take place. Some of what needs to be done is simply to keep the pickup running as efficient as possible. Some of the other are purely upgrades I want to make, that is all.
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to replace my front shocks, upper control arms and ball joints, and lower ball joints.

I have to apologize, I fully intended to take some photos of what I was doing, while I was doing it. But somewhere along the way I became ultra greasy and my wife did not want me in the house until the job was complete.

Plus, let’s be honest here, I did not really know what to expect when I began and soon found out this was a job I could do, but it would take some time.

In preparation to fix the front end of my pickup, I began research online for the best parts and how to do what I wanted to do. I read countless articles on how to replace ball joints and upper control arms. I learned, or rather read, the ins and outs of ball joints and control arms, I felt at the end of the experience, I was an expert.

That was until I began to actually take the pickup apart and get to work.

But I digress; I talked with anybody who would listen and many that didn’t even care about my project. I picked the brains of people at auto part stores.

Then, I began to gather my parts. I looked at probably more than 100 places to purchase parts online, and I made a dozen phone calls to local parts stores to determine what parts I wanted and where I was going to purchase them from.

I had made up my mind and the purchase was made. Now all I had to do, was wait for the parts to arrive and install them.

As it turned out, waiting for the parts was the easy part. I seemed to get a package a day for about a week and a half, with each box being shipped from an online retailer containing only one part.
Finally the parts were here and ready to be installed …

The Next BIG "Adventure"

As I promised here is my next BIG “adventure”.

Drum roll please … We are driving the Magruder Corridor Trail.

What is that? You ask. Well it is a wilderness road that goes between the Frank Church Wilderness of No Return and the Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness Area in Idaho. The road itself is a 101-mile primitive road that starts east of Elk City, Idaho, and drops you off south of Darby, Montana.

Information I have gathered from brochures of the trail online has shown the road as a single lane that has not changed much since the 1930s, when the road was constructed.

I had a coworker who completed the road and was telling me all about it.

I think my wife got sick of me talking about it, so she told me to plan it and go and do it.

So, I did what anybody in my position would have done, I contacted a few close friends, which just happen to be family and soon we were rolling. I sent out an email to many of my brother in laws and soon the adventure had begun.

So far we have nine adults who are planning on making the drive. Most of us are bringing our sons, so we will have something like 25 people on the trip, give or take. My two sons and I will load up our pickup sometime this summer, and drive the trail.

The overall hype has subsided and the task of planning, preparing and carrying out this expedition has hit me. I am excited, but am starting to feel the stress a bit. I have made many mental checklists of what needs to be completed before we can even head out on the quest.

I have been meticulously about writing down my checklist of gear to purchase and to gather, the upkeep of my pickup is being listed out over and over again. Once I feel like it is complete, I revise the lists to meet the current demands. So far in the time I have begun preparing for this trip, one thing seems to be at the center of it all, where is this money coming from?

I am trying to get funds together and continue preparing for the trip. It is absolutely exciting and so much fun.

Next week, I will give you an inside look at what is expected to the most major of modifications to my pickup, swapping out ball joints, control arms and front shocks. I will also replace a broken side view mirror.

This is probably the first of many things that are going to take place.

Until next time … 

A fresh start

Okay, so I know it has been a long time since I last had anything published, but life has been pretty hectic.

So here are a few of the things that have happened in my life since the last time I wrote:

1.       Found out my wife is pregnant with our fifth child. She is due in March, we are all really excited.

2.       I was able to find a job, and then find a better job and move on. In the eight months I have had the opportunity to work last year; I have received three promotions at the two places I worked. I also had the opportunity to interview for another one. I did not get it, but it was really good experience.

3.       One of my vehicles has decided to nearly die on me a few times during my commute. It has not died yet, but it keeps trying. It also has gone through two tires, which needed to be replaced on New Year’s Eve, but had to wait a couple days for a place to open.

4.       All of my children have grown up more. Three are in school, and my youngest, until March, is in preschool.

5.       I have also aged to the point where it became necessary for me to get glasses, since I could not see very well any more.

I have also decided I am going to change things up just a bit for this blog. I am no longer going to focus simply on food. I am going to focus on “Adventure”.

Okay, so adventure is such a broad topic, here is how I plan on breaking it down. I am a father and husband first. I have four great children, and soon to have another. I have the best wife on the planet. I am still relatively young and in somewhat good shape, after all, round is a shape too, right? My family and I are always on the go. We frequent a cabin up in the mountains and just simply enjoy what life throws at us.

So this Blog will now be a journal of what my family and I do. Last year alone, my oldest son decided to join a few others on a fishing trip. We loaded in the car mid-day on a Friday and drove seven hours to a fishing hole. We fished all the next day to be skunked, only in time to return and return to Church and work. It was a crazy 36 hours.

I know I left a lot out, but that was a teaser as the media will say.

Look next week to see what kind of adventure I have planned for this coming year. I will keep everybody updated on the process. I will be a lot of fun.

The name of the blog will remain Indoors or Out, since not all of my adventures need to take place out of the house, after all, I do have a house full of children.

Until next time ...

Last ditch effort to hold onto summer

Now that summer is gone and done with, I began to clear out the garden. As I was removing our plants from the garden, I noticed there was still plenty of produce left on the plants. Some of what was left was zucchini. I am not a huge fan of zucchini, but I thought we might as well try to use this last bit of produce, before it is gone for a few more months.
So, just like everything else in life, it tastes better on the grill. So, with a little olive oil, and salt and pepper, this zucchini was good enough to eat.

And yes, that is corn on the cob in the background. We will share something else we have learned about corn in a little bit.
Thanks for reading.

A blast from the past

There are certain memories as a child that seem to burn in your memory forever and will always be there. One of those for me is "Rainbow Jell-O". Yes, that is right, Rainbow Jell-O.
It is actually a mix of many different flavors of gelatin desserts all mixed into one.
Also, as a tip from this, you will be able to find out just how level, or not,  the shelves in your fridge really are.

Have fun.


Aunt Bev's Rainbow Jell-O

1 pint sour cream
6 small Jell-O flavors- use in this order
Grape, blue raspberry, lime, lemon, orange, and raspberry (or any other red Jell-O)

Dissolve 1st Jell-O packet in 1 cup boiling water. Take half and mix with 1/3 cup of sour cream, pour in a 9x13 pan and let sit in fridge for 30 min.  Add 3 Tbs. Cold water to other half of Jell-O. After the first layer has set (30-40 min), add the other half and let set 30 minutes.  Repeat with other Jell-Os in the same pan.

Also works with sugar free Jell-O.
Jell-O can sit over night between layers.

Trying it out

Okay, so we tried out the barbecue sauce the other day, and here are the results:


It was delicious. We just through the chicken, with a heavy dose of sauce on the grill, and fired it up.
We paired it with some mashed potatoes and other garden veggies. It was awesome. Hope you try it out and let me know what you like it on.
Thanks.

A little saucy

I have been on the lookout for an amazing barbecue sauce for quite a while, many years in fact. I have never been able to find one that I feel like I could eat with everything. After searching, I decided to try one of my own, that could go with most anything.
So, I call it Troy's Barbecue Sauce.
Also, as a tip, my wife and children will eat it. They don't really like barbecue sauce all that much.

Troy’s Barbecue Sauce

1 medium Onion (1 cup), diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cups Ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup vinegar

1 Tablespoon Liquid Smoke

1 teaspoon mustard

 

In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, Sautee the onion and the garlic until tender in the olive oil. Once tender add the ketchup, brown sugar, water, tomato sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, liquid smoke and mustard. Mix well. Bring to a boil then turn heat down to a simmer for a couple minutes. Once the consistency you want, remove from heat and let cool.

Once cool, place in blender and blend until smooth. Chill and serve.