Here at Vickers Ranch, carnivorism is a way of life and a vegan is as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue.

On Wednesday evenings, everyone gathers on Gold Hill, a breathtaking spot overlooking Lake San Cristobal and the San Juan Mountains.

Slabs of meat (mostly beef) are grilled to perfection on a cowboy-style, wood-flame grill and home-cooked potluck dishes grace the sidelines.

Since 90 percent of Lake City’s visitors consist of Texans and Oklahomans escaping the brutal summer heat, potluck dishes tend to be buttery, eggy, cheesy and fried. . . and usually damn good.

Just two days later, the Vickers family holds another weekly get-together at the Friday night burger feed. You’ll find me babysitting the lonely veggie burger on the grill. Beans with bacon, chips and a five foot table filled with tasty potluck deserts complete our Friday meals.

A vegan can’t fall farther from the wagon than when visiting a dude ranch. Last week, one couple invited us to their cabin for dinner. On the menu: freshly caught rainbow trout appetizers. The husband was so proud of his catch, and the dish really was pretty….how could I resist?

Eating any kind of beef, poultry or other living creature is off-limits for me, but I refuse to be the kind of VegaNazi who can’t be open-minded enough to let loose once and a while and eat vegetable dishes that have been co-mingled with animal products.

I tasted the best homegrown Texas black-eyed peas simmered in a bacon broth this week. Was I going to miss the opportunity to experience a local culinary treasure, home-grown and handmade by a guest? Nope, not me.

Call me a hypocrite, but I’m going out of my comfort zone and loving it. Will this make me a carnivore after 22 years of not eating meat? Never. Just open-minded enough to know a good thing when I see it.

When I last sat down to write what I thought would be one of those informative posts, we got the news about Chris. Nothing else seemed very important at the time. One thing my friend always exemplified for me was a sincere passion for life. Enjoy the things you love with those you care for and live it to the fullest.

Kudos to the Arkleys for putting out such an awesome spread at the memorial service. But as vegan-like we may try to be at home, I get passionate about a good steak once in a while. Some of the best I’ve ever had dining out have been at the AA Bar and Grill, and I didn’t get mine the last time we passed through Eureka

Considering we don’t know when we may make it back to the Lost Coast again, we headed to an old favorite for a couple gin and tonics. With a yearning for a good piece of char broiled meat, I quickly jumped at Rene’s suggestion we get something to eat. We settled for a surf and turf option with fried shrimp and “a bit of both” – onion rings and french fries.

The name alone first drew me to this dark friendly bar in the shadow of the Humboldt County jail. I just always liked the idea of getting drunk at a place called the AA.

Back in the day, it was within walking distance from home so that was a plus. But it was the steaks, service with a smile, and the fact that the AA has the only functioning shuffleboard table in town that kept me coming back.

Location and outward appearances alone may scare away some from even entering the Double A, as some prefer to call it. But where else can you get an excellent steak and a good stiff drink while enjoying a laugh with friendly locals?

I always wanted one of the AA t-shirts with a logo resembling that of Alcoholics Anonymous. Once again, however, I passed up the opportunity, unable to decide between that and their new shirt with the slogan Best Piece Of Meat in Humboldt County.

Legend has it that one could once get a free drink and half off your steak on the day they got out of jail at the Humboldt Hilton across the street. I for one don’t ever care to confirm that legend.

While enjoying our meal, Rene observed an older couple having a great time. Determined to find out their secret to happiness, she joined them briefly to ask. Turns out they were Ambrosini cousins – a name that goes way back in Humboldt Heartland, kinda like the AA.

We used to despise everything about casinos; the stinky smoke, slot machine granny zombies, throwing money at games of chance, and because the house always wins.

I always wondered why fellow frugal road trippers Sean and Louise stay and dine at casinos around the country.

Other than the large parking lots that can accommodate their magic bus, why would they actually go inside, when, like us, they’re rarely willing to pay for campsites? What could possibly lure them in?

Last year when we saw Willie Nelson at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Southern California, we understood why. Casinos not only welcome RVers, but many reward us for sticking around.

Why Try Casino Camping?

• Lots of casinos have dedicated RV parking
• Multi-night stays are often fine
• Unhitching is tolerated at many places
• Parking lots are usually well-lit and patrolled by security
• Most have restaurant discounts if you join their “Player’s Club”

We never thought we would surrender our IDs to a casino to join their stupid gambling discount club (did I tell you I hate gambling?).

But when we stopped at Morongo recently, we were hungry and didn’t feel like cooking. Eating out is a rare treat for us, but Morongo has several eateries including a good lookin’ buffet restaurant.

The normal price to eat-till-you-puke at Morongo’s buffet is $15. Join their Winner’s Club and  you can get one $10 voucher per person toward dining or gambling (guess what we chose), plus another $4 off your meal total each time you dine there. We ended up paying $6 for an all-you-can-eat orgy! Six bucks!

All casinos have some kind of discount club to keep the gambling junkies coming back for more. Although you’ll need to hand over your ID and allow them to cram your mailbox full of stupid promotions, you’re bound to get some free meals and overnight spots in return. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Casino Camping Tips

Always follow casino parking etiquette, which is similar to behaving at Wally World:

• Ask security. Find the guy on patrol and ask if it’s OK to park there, where you should park and for how long.
• No setting up camp. That means your generator stays off, your jacks remain up, your awning’s rolled in and your crap stays inside.
• Keep it neater than you found it. Don’t dump your trash there, save it for the gas station that’s ripping you off at $4.50 a gallon.
• Give them some of your cash. Gambling’s stupid in my book but it’s your choice. There are other ways to thank the casino, like dining inside or even just having a beer at the bar. Remember, join their Player’s Club to save tons!
• And if you win big because you tried casino camping as a result of this post, send some our way!

I’ll never bash casinos again, we’re hooked on casino camping! From now on, if we have a choice between a WalMart or a casino with a restaurant, guess where you’ll find us?

Enough of all that healthy food talk. Here’s to another one of the best burgers in the country!

We first frequented the Ice-Burg Drive-in when visiting Walla Walla, WA with Jerry over a dozen years ago. And before you ask, yes I spelled that right – Ice Burg as in burgers, get it?

Before I go digressing again, suffice it to say that Ice-Burg serves one of the best burgers, and many of the best shakes I have ever enjoyed – both in terms of flavor and atmosphere. And by atmosphere, I do mean the atmosphere because the only seating at Ice-Burg is a round picnic table outside the small joint with dual drive-up windows. A true burger drive-in if there ever was one.

Without a website* – at least that I can find – to research the history of the Ice-Burg Drive-in, I can tell you that it has been around a really, really long time. Plenty of web reviews for Ice-Burg hamburgers reflect on the nostalgia of the place being around in the fifties and sixties. But it was my dad who originally told us to eat there, and he left for West Point some time in the forties! (He also liked to use exclamation points.)

Ice-Burg Drive-In
616 W Birch St
Walla Walla, WA 99362
(509) 529-1793

Sadly, I am at a loss for any data I was hoping to find comparing dates of operation of Walla Walla’s Ice-Burg Drive-In to the original McDonalds or In and Out locations. So let’s just say, it’s been around longer than both. If I am wrong, screwm! (Another favorite saying of Dad’s.) The burgers, fries and shakes at Ice-Burg are still better, by far.

To enjoy the full Ice-Burg experience get there just before the dinner rush, call that dusk. Park down the street and stroll through the quaint Walla Walla neighborhood. Order a cheeseburger, fries and shake at the walk up window and sit at the picnic table. You’ll have your meal in time to watch the cars line up, out the driveway, down the alley, and out of sight.

The burgers are pure unadulterated goodness – flavorful beef cooked just right, with crisp Iceburg lettuce, fresh tomato and onion on a white bun. The fries are crisp and lightly salted. And the shakes, well, there is only one issue with those. With many fruit flavors, coffee, caramel, and other specialties to choose from, you may have a tough time deciding which one to get. Whatever your preference – I like chocolate – be sure to get a spoon. My dad loved milk shakes and malteds, but I always thought it was weird how he never used a straw. Now I know why.

This is not your trendy $9.00 gourmet burger trying to make up for flavor with a big seeded bun, Pasilla peppers and guacamole. I sincerely doubt the Ice-Burg menu has changed much over the years. Although yes, now you can get a veggie burger! The only thing I will never understand is how people will wait in line at the neighboring Jack in the Box drive-in, with such an honest home town burger across the street.

So, where was your best burger? (Home cooked doesn’t don’t count!)

*Don’t be fooled by the IceBERG website link on GoogleMaps. How dare they hijack the listing for such a small town American icon!

Dare I say it? I miss my Spirulina. Wait, let me clarify… I miss my breakfast smoothies, even the green ones.

Back at the stick house, we made fruit smoothies for breakfast just about every morning. But we don’t bring a blender with us on the road.

While I prefer my smoothies more berry in color, I got to liking the green variety we started making. I didn’t need a green smoothie challenge to acquire the taste either. All it took was one batch we made with spinach to discover there had to be a better way – better tasting at least.

Leave it to the wannabe vegan wife to come up with the Spirulina idea. But now that we are blenderless, I sure miss the smoothies – taking the stuff in a shot is like taking medicine. But I digress once again.

When looking up my Nü Hawaiin drink recipe in the NüRVers forums, I realized it was Sarah to whom I owe for turning us on to the green smoothie idea. But I will pass on the spinach and celery.  Spirulina Powder does the trick, with just a couple teaspoons.

Having operated a print shop or two, I can tell you the stuff is identical to cyan ink toner. Don’t get it wet! But when handled with care, it delivers a potent mix of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Spirulina has been found to strengthen the body’s defense mechanism. After all, it is the richest source of vegetable protein available (over 60%). Rich in beta carotene, iron, vitamin B-12 and the rare essential fatty acid GLA, it really is the super green food health nuts will lead you to believe it is.

Did I mention it tastes much better hidden in a fruit smoothie than taken in a shot glass of apple juice!? Both methods deliver the same healthy benefits, the former is just actually enjoyable.

And for the record, I prefer to add Spirulina to light colored smoothies. It tends to turn dark berry smoothies black. Here’s a suggestion for a vibrant bright green smoothie that will help you start your day feeling good about what you had for breakfast. (Shown above topped with Rene’s scrumptious homemade granola.)

Super Healthy Green Muck Smoothie

Serves two. (Not vegan, modify at will!) Blend together in blender until smooth:

• Two Ripe Bananas
• 1 Orange
• 1/4 Honeydew Melon
• 1/2 Cup Vanilla Yogurt
• 1 Cup Soy Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
• 2 Teaspoons Spirulina

Please note that I don’t “do” recipes, preferring much rather to wing it – to taste – by trial and error. Results may vary.

Going through seven Western states in less than two weeks is faster than we usually travel.

But we’re on a schedule and meeting up with West Coast Tripawds between Washington and San Francisco over the next two weeks, all before Thanksgiving.

Despite boondocking in parking lots and making do with just water and electric in other places, I’m doing my best not to abandon the healthy, semi-vegan eating habits I adopted back at Jerry’s Acres, after NuRVer Sara introduced me to the “How It All Vegan cookbook.

Adopting a vegan diet has always been something I wanted to do, because I’ve never felt completely at ease about eating fish and dairy products. But I’ve continued to eat these things to keep the peace between Carnivore Jim and I in the kitchen.

However, once one of us (who shall remain nameless) was told he had high cholesterol and potential pre-diabetes, I knew it was time to get serious about cutting the animal products and processed crap out of our diet.

Vegans have always been a side-show curiosity to me. My initial impression of them was that they always seemed to be the hippy dippy ones in the health food store who are sniffling and malnourished looking. I wondered how anyone could get by without eating some kind of animal fats and cheese.

But now I know my impressions were wrong. This awesome little cookbook has shown me that with some simple food item replacements (i.e., use apple sauce instead of eggs in baking), adopting a vegan eating habit is easier than it seems. It’s not all about tofu and flax oil either. And so far, neither Jim nor I have been sick since starting this diet. Jim’s also dropped some serious weight too.

Upsides to the vegan diet while living in an RV:

• I’ve got tons more room in the fridge and freezer, because it’s not filled with dairy products.
• Our food bill is less now that I’m not buying $4 blocks of cheese every week.
• Most meals are so easy to prepare, making cooking and cleanups while boondocking a snap.

Jim isn’t thrilled with everything I’ve made out of the cookbook, but he’s being a good sport as always, and eating what gets served when I’m in the kitchen. I know he won’t admit it, but even he feels better now that his arteries aren’t weighed down with the fatty foods. On the special occasions when we do have sweet stuff laden with sugar, it tastes twice as nice.

Here’s one of my favorite recipes from the How It All Vegan cookbook. See how simple eating vegan is? Try it while you’re on the road, it doesn’t get much easier or tastier than this.

Tanya’s Asian Creation

• buckwheat noodles (enough for 4 people)
• 2 cups cubed squash (butternut is my favorite)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. medium tofu, cubed
• 1-3 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 stalks green onions, chopped
• 4 tbsp flax oil
• Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (garnish)
• gomashio (garnish made with ground up sesame seeds, salt & kelp)

In a medium pot, boil the noodles in water on high heat. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, saute the squash in the oil on high heat for about 5 minutes, then add the tofu, pepper and salt. Continue cooking until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork. Add the onions, cover and set aside. When the noodles have finished cooking, rinse in hot water then place back into the pot and toss with the flax oil to prevent sticking. Place them into a bowl or on a plate and top with the squash mixture, then garnish with Braggs and gomashio. Makes 2-4 servings.

No big to do this year. No scary costumes, and no candy. No night on the town. Just one of the best rib eye steaks I’ve ever had, even if it was accompanied by kale and vegan pasta. Happy birthday to me.

But who could have asked for a better birthday, really? We spent our first night boondocking after hitting the road for the Winter in Comb Wash near Blanding, Utah, with nothing but peace, quiet and stars up above. And oh yeah, did I mention the steak?

My meat intake now is all about quality, not quantity. And we haven’t grilled since the BBQ back home nearly burned down the garage. (Long story.)

Since Rene has been testing every recipe in her new vegan cookbook on me, I’ll take it when I can get it, even if that means waiting for a special ocassion. But the garlic and parsley pasta really was as good as it was simple – even without loads of butter. It wasn’t even whole wheat, considering it was my birthday dinner. But we actually realized after dinner that we didn’t even put any fresh Parmesan cheese on it!

Best yet, we now know that the RVQ still works great – though I should have cleaned it before we left – and that we still got it, when it comes to finding prime boondocking spots and enjoying our life on the road. Cheers.

Some things are just kinda hard to do in a 24′ foot RV.

Like making sushi and spring rolls. Our rig just lacks the elbow room and storage space to make these tasty bite sized delights.

When we had a stick house and lived on the Pacific, we could buy fresh albacore and wild caught salmon right from the boats. So we got into sushi roll making and loved it.

Once we hit the road, we gave up making sushi. There’s just something about eating raw fish in the middle of the country that’s just scary. Plus we just didn’t have room to carry our funky Japanese dinnerware.

When we returned this year, we picked up the bamboo mat once again and started where we left off, minus the sashimi. Instead we’re going for barbecued salmon and krab meat. It’ll do us just fine until we touch the Pacific shores again.

Back to the Beach

The weather’s going well for us this year (fingers crossed). By this time last year, we had been dumped on with 3 feet of snow. This year, all we’ve had is one snow flurry, and no rain (which is pissing Jim off after digging trenches and putting up gutters!).

We’re slowly getting prepped to skeedattle on out of here. Which could happen in as little as a week or not until the end of the month. This time of year, the weather is a roll of the dice. This weekend and next we’ll be busy getting the rig ready for a fast escape.

So far, we’re betting on not leaving until the end of October, then heading out to Washington and working our way to L.A. after seeing some special three legged friends. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

I hope the weather lasts. It’s great seeing the transition to fall, especially after living in one-season California. Watching the aspens change and feeling the subtleties of the season puts you in touch with the power of nature.

We just can’t leave yet. We have far too much to do here, and I really like these sushi rolls!

Taking a break from the road means all sorts of advantages for us.

With a full-sized oven, we can make huge batches of Alton Brown’s Homemade Granola.

Revisiting favorite bric-a-brac brings back good memories.

and we eat really, really well because we have a huge fridge, freezer and pantry to store lots of good eats

All this cooking and lounging around is gonna make us fat.

Good thing there’s lot of manual labor to be done around here!

When I posted on Facebook that we were going to Houston, my Texan friend Karen said “Be sure to stop at Buc-ees!”

Thinking it was another great Texas BBQ joint, I said, “Sure! What is it?” Then she explained:

Buc-ees is a fast-growing chain of super clean, shiny gas stations in southeast Texas that people are fanatical about.

A gas station?

I gathered from the Buc-ee’s (pronounced “Bucky’s”) website that along with fuel, they sold touristy knick knacks and some Texas souvenirs. So I added this curiosity to our agenda. When we left the NuRVers Rally in Gonzales last week, we drove some 16 miles out of our way to see their flagship store in Luling.

“Bu-cees: Everything You Ever Needed, You Just Didn’t Know It”

Buc-ees is a new phenomena that’s exploding because of their crazy Texas highway billboard campaign and sparkling restrooms that rival any in the finest casinos in Vegas (and even my own RV’s bathroom!).

As we walked through the shiny doors in Luling,  I swore I heard angels singing. One look inside, and it was obvious: Buc-ees is more than a gas station.

It’s the closest thing to a religious experience I’ve ever had!

That cute little Beaver sells aisles of tasty road food, over 18 different kinds of the best fudge we’ve ever eaten, rows of homemade Texas eats like chow-chow and pickled okra, local music CDs, lawn furniture, toys, sporting goods and endless choices of Buc-ee’s propaganda.

Nothing is cheap looking or second-rate, it’s all first class and big, loud and proud, just like Texas!

And don’t think for a minute that the hook was in the gas prices, because they were cheaper than the competition.

After traveling over 35,000 in the last three years, I was practically on my knees, stricken with surprise and happiness at seeing a gas station that was so happy to see me!

My only gripe; they’re not big-rig friendly on purpose, so if you’ve got anything longer than a 40′ RV, you’ll need to park on the street. But trust me, it’s worth the effort.

Some people are afraid of Buc-ee’s cult-like following. And now that I think about it, they might be right. Maybe that sneaky little Beaver is dosing the fudge with something illicit. Because somehow before we walked out, I willingly surrendered nearly $40 on fudge, chow-chow, “Beaver Nuggets” (think: deep fried Corn Puffs) and a Beaver hat for Jim. Me, the biggest penny pincher there is, was happy to give it all up for Buc-ee’s.

Strange. Very. Very. Strange.