Finally defeated by the weather… CO. [Balsamic Chicken]

Thursday, June 4th, 2009
hwy 114  

I just don’t know, if right or wrong but this has been it. One of those days the drawer opens up and spills it all on your ground, a Monday to make matters worse which actually should not mean a thing since I do not even keep a schedule, but I did know for form that it was Monday. So why did I finally around mid day take a nap, woke up, had another cup of coffee and re-started the day fresh, as nothing happened. For one my Internet came to a crawl, then stopped. Yes, forbid this limb added to our Journey to not function properly, it is as the World suddenly came apart and yet all I needed to do is walk away from it all. I exceeded my bandwidth limit, again. But of course, instead, I spend a good three hours with India and as I already have a bit of a hard time understanding the local English, this was the icing on the cake, headache in sight and ear throbbing from to often hearing myself say “whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?”

trees  
the log  

I have to ask everyone to please not send me those huge attachments that will again this time terminate my connection. I don’t think I can handle another conversation with “technical support”. Links are great… no images as again today I received at least a dozen of them… I wrote my Friend, who by the way works for At&t, that if this continues he might himself be send to India for a permanent new job. Such is Life on the road, the commodities are just not the same. E mails are great, I read them all and get behind them all replying them… Yes, it is high volume incoming but fonts do not take up much space.

Creek near Crested Butte  

Next or while, I forgot, my 82 year old Mother, my dearly beloved main character left into my Life which I adore and Love with all my heart, calls. She made a big mistake within her bank accounts. No, she is not hysterical yet, even though probably will not sleep tonight or tomorrow night. I tried to understand what happened and as I finally did, realizing that the quality of the the connection must be through the same cable incoming from India, my Mother lives in Munich, Germany, I went on to explain with one of my alternative parallel analogy. You see, in the past, it is as you had a blue car, when you changed the color of it as you changed the kind of account, had it painted red, the engine remained the same. But now, you have a new car, new engine, a different account, and those old checks cannot be used to make it run anymore. As she had written one that was not very well received. I believe she understood to my relief. There will be many more phone calls regarding the matter, no doubt, and tomorrow we have to take a ride back to Grand Junction to physically take care of her intricate dilemma. I wanted to ride those passes anyhow, there is also that Cheese Farm in Delta, maybe we won’t find it.

flowers  

In the meantime, as I am trying to set up another photo Gallery, independent from it all with only a few of my best photos for sale with an easy one click check out and even a free “send an e-card” option, [yes, free, my humble way to thank you all], it’s software had it’s head sticking out and yelling so loudly that even my Friend/Webmaster Brian, has raised his own hands in defeat and has surrendered. Of course he is busy himself, business, Family, and his kindness to donate his time to the site often backfires as the progress crawls to a stop induced even more from this same newly released software not quite ready for the public. This morning was not the serene space that we daily navigate throughout, this morning was being caught in that electric mixer set on high speed pulse as if trying to crash these fragments of Life normally and naturally deflected away. So let it be. Calm and collected, one turn of the page at the time, this unwanted chapter finally came to rest and the fonts reading “The End”… well kind of… made their appearance.

Old Faithfull  
snow banks  

In the meantime, my buddy Spirit is staring and asking quietly at first if he is ever going to get to lift his leg and prowl his smells of the morning. He has moved closer to me, his eyes are digging deep within my guilt slowly developing trying to take care of these obstacles as darts coming in with great speed toward me. I finally hear a sigh, a few more, it is almost with his paws in their forward fashion position pushing my space and shouting “let’s go… let’s go now”. I cannot see the sun, but I know he is overdue for himself to confront his first outing. Everything has be placed on hold. I cannot remember if it was India or my mother or the Bank. There was a window of opportunity for us to realize that even with the morning’s outburst of unpleasant diversions, the World out there was still spinning as if nothing had happened, only a momentarily set back. In total reality… nothing really happened in the big scheme of our surroundings. It just felt that way still dealing with the remains of past Life programming.

Downtown Creste Butte

I am writing “defeated” by the weather, but we really are not. On the positive side we have made a couple Friends that live in the area and Crested Butte, have discovered these incredible spaces noting the start of some unpaved roads doable for us as we will come back and know we will learn of many more. We have to go, the weather is just too miserable. They are not of a couple miles long roads, they are long roads for the day and the overnights when the temperatures will be a bit more welcoming. These days have been as the first chapter of a large volume which will await for us to discover. We are slow, but thorough within the pace of this Journey, a pace now so use to it I am afraid it could slow down even more, meaning, we will feel even more, we will see much more… step by step.

Margaritas  
chrome bench  

Tomorrow we are headed to Flaming Gorge, the weather and temperatures will be better, then on to Lander, Wyoming, to catch up with my mail and a motorcycle tire, Valley of Fire to meet some Friends from London, England, and then on maybe the East Coast meaning Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia or back here to Colorado. The photos are all from the ride to Crested Butte and it’s Downtown, a center it seems for benches of all sizes, shapes and materials. The “sunny” ones are from a very short ride on 114 a bit past Gunnison going south. 

the bicycle  
snowboard benches  
Izzy's sliding snow roof

While I am cooking these days and have not had much time bringing back the older recipes into this section, which I “will” do, here is another very quick one I called “Balsamic Chicken”. I am trying to avoid much carbohydrates, and sweets also for that matter, they are just not agreeing with me and I guess with the latest medication, but again some rice or pasta would be nice with this one pan affair.

chicken a  

In the pan some olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, much coarsely chopped garlic and a few drops of hot sauce. One can also add a bit of Dijon Mustard, this is only a template. Funny as when I was doing this professionally, everything was “finely” chopped, now it is coarsely as I enjoy it even more this way, but either way is good. Heat up well, I used some chicken tenderloins that I had and after turning them once I emptied a can of green peas. Cook some more covered with an anti-splash grill, that is it! No brain surgery here… You see, this what they do in Restaurants and charge you $22 a plate!

chicken b  

Till next time…

Merchandise on Smugmug, Photos and Free “send and e-card” on my new Zen… meaning “easy to navigate one” Gallery

Your support will help us continue these endless chapters you read. It will be more than greatly appreciated.

Be well…

Ara & Spirit

Share and Enjoy:
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • RSS
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Technorati

7 Responses to “Finally defeated by the weather… CO. [Balsamic Chicken]”

  1. texascindy Says:

    Ara,
    Life certainly does get in the way at times. Frustration sometimes overwhelms. You just have to take a step back (alright, maybe 10 or more), breathe deeply, say a prayer and then try again. Dealing with problems up close and personal is hard enough. Trying to deal with things thousands of miles away must be absolutely draining. I hope your mother’s problems are corrected. I’ll be praying for you and yours.

    Just breathe.
    And travel safely,
    Cindy

  2. Zelda Says:

    Dear Ara,
    Glorious pictures, that’s all I can say. Your posts so often contain little lessons on finding opportunity hiding in life’s inconveniences. That is, when the weather goes sour, take a nap! Good medicine, and cheaper than pills. Your easy, healthy on-the-road meals always interest us, as we are looking forward to a few weeks on the road with our camper also. We will be interested in your route through Kentucky and/or Tennessee, as we are very familiar with that part of the country, Indiana, too. We might even try to catch up with you.
    Do keep taking good care of yourself as you feel better. Hugs to you & Spirit,
    Pam

  3. chessie Says:

    Ara and Spirit…
    The weather at 10K feet isn’t good at this time? OK (giggling) our mountains over here average around 3-5 K…and they feel cold enough…I’m glad not to be camping in your weather!

    I’m excited for you, so much news!

    How depressing to have to deal with India…yuck…yes, it’s hard to understand sometimes, through the thick accents….

    My fav. picture is the driftwood and rapids…I, (like most people) have a healthy attraction to rushing water…how beautiful it is. I am also quite pleased with the wood grain and it’s shapely run out into the rushing water…with you, the mundane become beautiful…

    Be well Ara…Spirit…

  4. mq01 Says:

    Ara and Spirit,
    Bad weather or not, you have again created an incredible post with beautiful pictures that have sent me off daydreaming. What a fantastic meal too!!!… I am hoping your ear improves. Be well, and ride carefully with that weather my friends.

  5. Ring Huggins Says:

    Hey Bud,

    What was the town with all the old time buildings? Things here have slowed down after a very busy spring break season for me.
    after several weeks of fairly cool weather for here if’s May hot as hell again. When you are in Wyoming if you go to Riverton take some photos there.
    I lived in an area called Broadacres when I was a teen. Watch out for those Jackalopes out in that part of the state. Be well,

    Ring

  6. Ginny Says:

    Ok, I’m caught up on everything now. I am very hopeful that you never lose your internet connection. You reach a large community of people who enjoy this site. I hope you are getting the support you need. Your poor mother…of course it’s understandable her being distraught. It’s hard being so old sometimes.

    I am so happy that you posted another dish here. I enjoy seeing what you are making. I have been terrible about keeping my blog up to date. I have so little time for the computer. I will stay in touch with you though. 🙂 The photographs are all great as usual. Do you ever get tired of me saying that? 😉

    Hugs,
    Ginny

  7. Wentzi Says:

    Awesome pictures! And the recipe…ummm, I know I will try one day SOON. If we hadn’t already eaten supper, tonight it would be on our plates. Beautiful country in your area, can’t wait to see it myself one day. Glad you are willing to help your mom so much; I’m sure she appreciates everything you do for her. Stay safe and enjoy your freedom.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.