Greg’s Truckload Volume 11

Hello, Truckers. It’s Labor Day weekend, unofficially the last weekend of summer. I hope you are doing something fun, hitting the road, or getting together for a cookout or 2. Maybe cooking up some ribs and doing a project around the house. I’m again in the passenger seat, heading to West Virginia for some whitewater rafting. Before we left, I tore out the bulk of the summer garden. It was wrecked and full of weeds. When we return to town, I plan to turn over the soil, add some compost and till, and start some cool-season crops. Mostly lettuce and greens. Maybe some carrots and other root veggies. It’s also a good time of year to get your orders for garlic. You know, my favorite thing to grow this year is bananas. Last week, we got our first-ever banana flower, which now has at least 50 bananas. We are getting another set with the opening of each petal on the flower, which occurs each day. I bet when we get home from this trip, there will be over a hundred Nanners. Like years past with these tropicals, the challenge is what to do with them in the winter. This gets harder every year as I add to the collection. Now, we have 4 varieties of bananas. The 3 recent purchases are all dwarf varieties, at least. I’m also bringing in a bunch of cold, hardy windmill palms. They can handle temperatures of less than 10 degrees, but while they are young, I figure I won’t torture them and that bringing them in will allow them to continue growth. I have at least 6 weeks before any of this needs to be done. By the middle of October, I’ll be watching the forecast overnight lows very closely. Off the subject of bananas, now is an excellent time of year to plant many varieties of trees and is the best time to plant cool-season grass seed. When planting grass this time of year, it won’t have time to fully mature and thicken, but it’s my favorite time to plant because of the head start it will have next year. Fescue and bluegrass are cool-season grasses, and winter will not hurt them. Hot, dry weather like we are experiencing right now definitely will. The grass you plant now will have a much better root system by next year than what your neighbor plants in spring; this is life and death for grass. If you were to leave a section of lawn uncut, it would naturally set seed, probably late May to early June. That seed would ripen over summer, then dry out and fall off, probably right now or even a bit earlier. Then, that seed would germinate whenever it gets rainy. Nature is intelligent; sometimes, we can learn much by sitting back and observing. Be on the lookout for a how-to plant grass seed video by myself soon on the YouTube channel.

My dear mother has requested a video recipe for my chicken wings. What momma wants, momma, gets, so I’ll be cooking wings and some sides next weekend. I will get the charcoal grill set to about 300 degrees to do this. I like to use the whole wing, drums, and flats still connected, found in the meat department at your grocery store, not the freezer section. I make a mop sauce just like I would for a pig roast, which is seasoned vinegar. I make so many wings that I made up a gallon of it at the beginning of this grilling season and am just about to run out. For a single grilling, I’d add 2 cups distilled vinegar, 3 Tablespoons of paprika, 2 tbs salt, 2 tbs garlic powder, 1Tbs black pepper.

Incorporate these together and have a grill brush ready. Add a handful of wood chips or pellets of choice to the hot coals, put the wings on, brush the wings with sauce, and close it up. I’ll check the wings every 5 to 10 minutes, rotate around the hot spots, and reapply the mop sauce. This whole process takes about 45 minutes to an hour. Just make sure the bones get cooked; when they look done, give them another 5 minutes, break one open, and check. No one likes raw chicken. Back in the kitchen, I’ll prep the sauce. Cut up half a stick of butter into little pieces and put it into a big bowl. I use a big stainless steel that we call big silver. Then dump a cup or so of Franks hot sauce over this. No need to mix it up yet. Take the whole bowl out to the grill, and when confident wings are done, add them straight from the grill to the bowl. The hot wings will melt the butter. Toss them around vigorously to mix it all up. Since you didn’t pre-melt the butter, it keeps it creamy, and butter solids stay suspended. It’s like a spicy Bur Blanc. Fancy huh? I serve it with mac n cheese and a Caesar salad. Watch for the video.

We recently put a new pin on the wall map. Mackinaw and Traverse City, Michigan. This is a must-do trip if you haven’t been there. We made our way north in the same time slot that would normally equal our trip south to Florida. We stopped in Bay City just north of Detroit to break up the drive. Perfect to take a break from driving, get some pictures next to a retired battleship, and enjoy the multiple choice of dining establishments. The next day, it was an easy drive to Mackinaw City, so we went ahead and crossed the mighty Mak (Mackinaw Bridge) and had a fish sandwich and brew in St. Ignace, before going to Mackinaw Mill Campground where we were staying the next couple of nights. Our campsite was amazing and directly across from the full mile of beach within the campground. We had planned to go into town for dinner but decided we would rather enjoy the campsite and cook on fire. The camp store had everything we needed to assemble a meal, so we didn’t need to go back out. It was very convenient and made for a memorable evening. After dinner, we sat on a wooden swing on the beach and watched the sun go down behind the Mackinaw Bridge. The Mackinaw Bridge divides Lake Huron to the east and Lake Michigan to the west. We then enjoyed a little campfire before going to bed nice and early. It had been an eventful day, and we wanted to get up early and catch one of the 1st ferries to Mackinaw Island. We awoke before sunrise, got some quick showers and a coffee, and rolled out, skipping breakfast because we wanted to experience dining on the island. The ferry ride over was about 20 minutes or so with a nice crosswind that caused everyone on the upper deck to get soaked due to spray coming off the boat and cutting into the waves. Luckily, we brought raincoats and thought they added to the experience. Once off the boat, we went straight to the infamous pink pony for breakfast before our bike ride around the shoreline road. I forgot to mention that there are no cars at all on the island, and they are illegal. Walking bikes and horses are the only way to get around. There were so many horses it was like the olden days, poop in the streets and all. However, they did a pretty good job of constantly picking it up, so many people were employed to do just that. It was cool to see this many horses and horse-drawn buggies. The hotels brought your luggage from the ferry via buggy, and the stores and restaurants brought in their supplies by buggy. What a sight to see. Some of the privately owned buggies were very ornate and well-crafted. The paved road around the island’s perimeter has 8.2 miles of beautiful views around every corner and many spots to stop and learn about the island’s history, wildlife, and climate. They average over a hundred inches of snow per winter. Some privately owned homes were in this loop and clear on the other side of the island. Imagine getting your groceries in Mackinaw City, loading them on the ferry, then to your carriage, then to your home 4 miles down the road. I’m sure some of those homes are Air B and B, so you could have this experience. After finishing the loop, we went to the Grand Hotel and got some ice cream cones the kids had patiently waited for all day. The grand hotel is home to the largest front porch in the world, which is impressive. We then rode another 8 miles around the island’s interior with a couple of short hikes to see some cool rocks and cracks in the ground. The interior was hilly, and my legs were getting tired. I could tell my wife was feeling the same because she was cussing me for making her ride so far. We decided we were done riding, and it was time for beer and appetizers before catching the ferry back to the mainland. The radar indicated an approaching storm, so we sat in the enclosed lower deck for the ride back. Still raining when we arrived, we put on raincoats again and putzed around town on the bikes before deciding to try out a rustic Italian restaurant for some pastas and pizza. After dinner, the rain had stopped, so we returned to camp and enjoyed the campfire before hitting the hay. We were all exhausted as it was a long, eventful day. The next day, we broke camp and drove 2 hours to Traverse City and set up at Traverse City Campground, located just out of the town center and within minutes of all the amenities you would need. We cooked on fire again, and after just enough campfire time, Mother Nature said Hey, y’all need to go to bed and get ready for another busy day, and with a nudge, it started raining. Cooler and still wet, we skipped the paddle boarding plan at Torch Lake and went to Sleeping Bear Dunes to the west; passing by a farm store, we turned around and picked up some cherries and blueberries. In season and perfectly ripe and ready, we destroyed them on the way to the dunes. We were one of the first cars in the parking lot and some of the first to start the dune hike. Sara said it was described as strenuous. I was oblivious and said yea, that is a big dune, but it couldn’t be that hard, and I bet Lake Michigan is just on the other side of it. Elliot reached the top first and said, “Dad, I don’t see the lake, ” so we went down the sandy dune and climbed another one. Still no lake. The sand was so soft that you sank a half step down for every step uphill. Reminded me of walking through deep cascade mountains of snow. Finally, after 12 more dunes, we made it to the beach, and it was so worth the hike. The watercolor was almost identical to that of the Caribbean but with no salt. The wind was blowing, and the waves were nice. We rested briefly, chugged a couple of quarts of water, and hiked back over the 14 dunes to the car. The parking lot was now full. When we first arrived, I thought the size of it was a bit excessive, but nope. After dumping 10 pounds of sand out of our shoes, we decided to cruise m-22, a popular scenic highway along the shoreline of the Leelanau peninsula, visit some small towns, and ultimately find a bite to eat. We arrived 1st in Glen Arbor and were suddenly starving, so we parked the car and strolled the streets. This town was so cute and fun with its restaurants and gift shops along the very pedestrian-friendly sidewalk-lined streets. We ended up at Boondock’s, and if you find yourself there, I highly recommend the lake perch dinner. It paired perfectly with the gleeful feelings I had at the time. Of course, we had to find the ice cream shop afterward. You will find an ice cream shop in every small town in Michigan; they are never hard to find. Moving on, we landed in Leland. This very tiny fishing town was so cool. I can’t believe I didn’t run into Popeye while navigating the docks. Word on the street is that this is a great spot to catch a fishing charter, as it is also called fish town. If you are planning to visit the Manitou Islands, you should come here to take the ferry. From there, we drove on, enjoying the views, and returned to camp to freshen up and head back out and find a dinner spot. We stayed close to camp as we had to pack up in the morning and make a relatively long drive home. Google took us to the Hopscotch brick oven and taproom. Michigan is known for microbreweries, and this joint has a great selection from towns and across the state. The boys ordered pizza, and Sara and I split some jerk chicken wings. They were the best jerk-style wings I’ve ever had, even in Jamaica and the Caribbean. After dinner, we returned to camp and enjoyed the last firewood and the end of an epic discovery trip to Michigan. On the way home, we talked and laughed about how much fun this trip had been and how it would not be our last. Then we had to strategize the fact that school started in 2 days. Good stuff.

We took 1 weekend to regroup and prepare for the first wild child excursion, where we went to the Kentucky ghost ship. It’s about a 2-hour drive north of Louisville near Cincinnati. The meetup point was in Petersburg, Kentucky, at Petersburg Park, which has a crude boat ramp, which we skipped and launched 7 kayaks from the sandy shoreline. It is about a mile and a half paddle upstream on the Ohio River to get to the tributary, where the ruins of the USS Sachens rest on the muddy stream bottom. The steel ship is one hundred eighty feet long and older than the Titanic. It has a lot of history, which I won’t get into, but it’s a fun Google search. The kids got off the kayaks and climbed aboard to explore. It was cool. After some pics, we headed back downriver. Along the way, we passed another group heading up to see the ruins. We also saw a bald eagle and a blue heron that seemed to want to lead us back to the park. Everyone liked the idea of going to Rabbit Hash to get a bite to eat for lunch. Google said there was a taco stand or something like that. Have you been to Rabbit Hash? None of us had; we just knew from the map that it was set along the river and had an old store. We pulled into town and there were probably a hundred motorcycles, and the streets were packed. This must be a huge destination for riders, and we were clueless about this. The kids were like look, it’s a motorcycle gang. We parked and walked around and found out the BBQ taco stand was closed due to the 20 percent chance of light sprinkles. Well, okay, we moved down the road. We came across Weather Oar Knot, a restaurant situated at a marina. They had 50-cent wings and dollar scoops of ice cream. Perfect, we were all starving at this point. It was a great trip; if you haven’t joined the group, it’s easy; just search Kentucky Wild Childs in Facebook groups. We will soon be posting the date for the September excursion.

That’s all for now, folks. I hope you found some usefulness to this issue of Greg’s Truckload, and if so, would you forward it to someone you think might enjoy it as well? Keep on Truckin’