Chef Ralph

2010 – 2011 School Year

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:23:43 +0000

Welcome back kids…did ya have a good summer?

It’s the first day back..all is well and the sun is shinning, what could go wrong?

The dishwasher could break… yep washed 6 loads and it stopped providing water. We just had the opposite problem in May, the drain valve was corroded shut…now the supply valve is.. fast forward to day 2 of school…Ahhh spaghetti, one of their favorites…but on paper plates..yikes! I called up the repair place and told them what was wrong, and told them what “I” thought would be the fix. They know what kind of machine I have (old) so come with parts. They informed me that the trucks are supplied bu computer…hmmm ok, let’s move outside the box just this once and get a human to put that broken valve on the truck. The deal is, they troubleshoot and if they don’t have the part, they will go 24 miles back to get it, but the whole time they are on the clock at $99.00 hour.. Well the guy came and it was the supply valve and he did bring a new one with him ($165.00) and he got it installed and fixed in 59 minutes…amazing

Alaska, the wrap up..

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 22:09:13 +0000

If we wern’t driving or fishing, what were we doing. Well one day we went on a boat ride to see the Portage Bay Glacier.. I guess it’s shrinking, but not all the way..

We went gold panning..we stopped at the Crow Creek Mine and took a pan and a shovel and fought the largest bugs in Alaska and actually got gold flakes..it was amazing..they were there.

We went to a great restaurant call Jack Sprats and had a wonderful dinner (it had a moon) Now that I am headed back to work on monday, I can say that the summer of the 55′s was the best ever !

…..But, did you catch any FISH ?

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:57:38 +0000

OK…let’s get right to the point. I went to Homer Alaska to go fishing. I have wanted to do that for years. Problem was I always waited until May to make that announcement. Well this is the year of fives, and we did it. (how bout the fish) yes, I went fishing 2 days while I was there. The first day was with other rookies, and we caught mostly halibut. Fishing for salmon is way different that halibut. Salmon fishing was done trolling with outriggers and artificial bait on a longer rod. Halibut is bottom fishing in 250 feet of water. The sinker weighs 8 ounces and the bait is an 8 ounce chunk of fish on a hook that is 3 inches long. It’s hard to get the halibut to the surface. It’s slow and difficult. Salmon, love the surface…that’s where they can spit the lure back at you and live for another day.. Anyway, day two was with ‘ol timers. These 5 had been out with Captain Bryan many times. They expected more and he delivered. The first photo was day one and the 2nd photo was day two…see the difference! The 2nd day I cought those two silvers, 5 pink salmon, 3 rock fish and 4 halibut. Came home with 62 pounds of dressed fish…

Gonna need a bigger boat !

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:52:48 +0000

We made the 225 miles drive to Homer and set up in a house overlooking the spit (see photo)

The first day of fishing was good, I didn’t bring any salmon on board, but did get a few halibut. On the way in from fishing we came upon a huge pod of killer whales. 24-30 and we stopped in the middle of the pod and they were all around us. It was a great sight to see.

Alaska, the land of Boats, Boots and Beards

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:14:52 +0000

Traveling can take alot of your time. We just got back from Alaska, where we had to get up early, drive to the airport, where we parked the car for a week so we could be shuttled so that we could take off our shoes, belts, empty our pockets, just to get searched by a stranger, only to then get on a plane for over 3 hours knowing that we got to do that again in a week…Whew!

Alaska was amazing. It’s full of big mountains, and lots of water. We rented a big truck. Seemed odd to me, but it was over $100 cheaper than a car, which was over $100/day . We spent two days in Anchorage at a B&B on Sand Lake. The lake was fun, in the mornings people would row from end to end in sculls. One even had 6 people on board. Planes could take off and land on the water. Anchorage itself, well, it seems to be a tired town. Built more out of necessity than beauty. The entire city, while very easy to navigate, was in need of a face lift. We went to what they called the Farmers Market. There were no Farmers to be seen and the market was more of a cheap junk for sale. Restaurants could be good. We used a travel book based on moons..get a moon, it was a winner. Everyone must use that book. We went from place to place and everywhere we wanted to go, so did allot of other people.

Gas was surprisingly high in Alaska, from $3.38 in Anchorage to $3.68 in Homer..I guess the pipeline was broke?

So the 3 B’s…actually there were more but,

Boats, it seemed that boats were everywhere. In the water, on trailers, in yards, for sale on corners, man I’m sure that everyone had at least one boat.

Boots, the rubber type. We really looked like tourist without rubber boots on. The folks in Alaska wear those rubber all the time, I guess ya never know when you may have to dig a clam or something.

Beards, Every guy in Alaska has a beard. Not a neat trimmed beard, the 6 inch kind. Our captain of the fishing boat had a great beard..

Bowzers could be another B. Dogs all over the place. Mostly off leach (no stinking leach laws in Alaska, please) Dogs were well behaved and no pure breds. These were mutts, of every kind.

We went to Alaska to see the state and to F I S H so come back and see what I caught.

Heading North

admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:11:45 +0000

We are heading to Homer Alaska to do some halibut and salmon fishing..

Fish bakes are sure to follow. Until I’m back, enjoy some CA route 1 scenery.

Lake Tahoe

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:45:54 +0000

280 miles to the Southeast of Crater Lake is Lake Tahoe. The lake boundaries are split top to bottom between California and Nevada. Being that we were in Truckee, we went for a day picnic to Kings Beach in Tahoe Vista. This is on the California side, just 1 mile from the Nevada border on the north end. The interesting thing about Lake Tahoe compared to Crater Lake, is the elevation. While Crater Lake is 6183, Lake Tahoe is 6233. Just 50 feet difference..it’s like they are connected underground. Not a fact, just a thought. Also yesterday I told you that Crater Lake was the deepest lake in North America, well, guess who’s #2. At 1645 feet. Lake Tahoe is #2…Add that to the weird thought that they are connected somehow. When it came time to head back to Seattle, I rode the west side of Lake Tahoe before heading over toward Sacramento…

Crater Lake

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:26:25 +0000

When you turn off of hwy 97 to drive the 20 miles to Crater Lake, the first thing you notice, is that this is the longest stretch of road you have ever seen. It is 15 miles to the first bend and because it is going up you can see em all. Crater Lake is a caldera formed by a collapsed volcano and is in addition to being as much as 1900 feet deep, it’s 5 miles by 6 miles in size. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, and the park is a National Park. The rim of the lake is between 7 and 8000 feet in elevation. It may seem odd at first to drive to the middle of Oregon to look at a lake, but the pictures don’t completely tell the story of seeing the lake in person. The road is closed much of the year, and when we stayed at the lodge a few years ago in August, it got below freezing at night even then. I have made the bottom photo my current desktop and if anyone wants a full sized picture, just email me.

It was Cold, and HOT, and Cold !

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:01:00 +0000

Within an hour of leaving the house I stopped at Chinook Pass at 5440 feet. It was a bit cold…inthe 50′s..there was alot of snow!

In the next hour I was going through Yakima and Toppinish Washington and it was 105 degrees.

The tempature stayed at that 105 mark for most of the ride to Truckee except for a side trip to Crater Lake, which at 6200 feet also had some snow on it. (more on Crater Lake later)

The trip back started out mild…like 85ish and when I got to San Francisco, the bottom fell out of the tempatureIt stayed at 53 to 57 for the next 800 miles and fog, lot’s of fog. Did I mention the wind gust on the Oregan Coast..whew…it was bueutiful beyond words, but the weather could have been more equalized.

Be safe….Have a good time…but be safe !!

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:21:27 +0000

When you tell people you are going to ride your motorcycle 2000 miles..the thing that 100 percent of the people say to you is “Be Safe” What they are saying is I hope you don’t get in a wreck, because it won’t be fun. Well after doing the 2025 miles, 95 percent on back roads, the one thing I did learn (already knew) was that people on the country’s back roads are nicer and more laid back. The 30 or so miles that I road on the interstates are where the people are honking and changing lanes and swerving out of their lanes…well you see it every day! The back roads are where people drive who are not really in a hurry, they gave a friendly honk when I pulled over to let them pass in one of the many turnout lanes that I pulled over in along the way. These are the folks that waved back when I waved to them for not pulling out in front of me from a side street or a parking lot. So what about this be safe campaign…we should all be safe every day driving, it’s the everyday driving that is crazy. Now, true on a motorcycle you have to be at least twice as safe as a car driver. This trip has caused me to be even more conscious of other drivers, on 2 or 4 wheels.

Remember how people drove the week after 9-11….I think it’s OK to drive like that today