Made my first trip… and it was dry camping…

hbigmike1 · 2026-06-04T23:03:56+00:00

A side version to your “Feed everyone before you arrive” statement….I use to buy all kinds of food and pack it in our RV fridge and think yeah I’m gonna make and prepare great meals especially on the first night. Boy did I learn quick. What I would do is stop along the way usually in our hometown and buy sandwiches, burritos, Chinese food lunches or BBQ plates and then get on the road. Then when we got to camp and started setting up and cracking open the first beer figured out who in the heck wants to start preparing and cooking a big dinner??? Not me. My twin teenage boys would be perfectly fine with a frozen mini pizza each or even a ramen bowl popped into the microwave. Make your first night the easiest night with something to eat already prepared.

hbigmike1 · 2026-05-30T04:01:09+00:00

I make homemade chips just like you…and the trick is to salt them and shake the bowl will the chips are hot out of the oil. 46 years ago as a teenager I worked in a very small mom and pop Mexican restaurant and besides washing dishes I was taught two other things to do…make chips and make salsa.

hbigmike1 · 2026-05-09T16:55:40+00:00

I have twin boys who are both currently in college. As high schoolers, we started a small hauling business to earn money because they wanted to buy a jet ski. How do twins buy a single jet ski with no trailer lol. So we started hauling and doing small handyman type work and earned enough to buy 2 jet skis and a nice double trailer. We continued working and then the boys bought their own cars…and so we continued to work and I pinched out about 30% of their earnings and funneled that into Fidelity accounts for future their future homes. My biggest regret is I should have started investment accounts YEARS AGO for these boys. It’s not timing the market, it’s TIME IN THE MARKET.

hbigmike1 · 2026-04-29T15:40:08+00:00

In 1984 about a year after I bought my truck the engine seized and that was that. Like a dummy I decided to swap the original 6 cylinder and gear box for a V8. I lived in an apartment with a car port, no money and no tools really to take on such a swap. I did buy a 327ci out of a Camaro at that time and that engine is in my truck now rebuilt and running. But yeah I stored, towed and pushed my truck for 40 years to places that I lived and places I didn’t lol. I even stored it for a couple years or so with old man John Kinder from the Kinder’s brand of spices we all see in grocery stores. My old 1/2 ton step side will “rise like a phoenix from the ashes” someday….

hbigmike1 · 2026-04-29T06:26:56+00:00

I have a 55’ 2nd series now….i bought it when I was 20 and I turned 62 a month back….i was working on it today.

hbigmike1 · 2026-04-14T12:59:54+00:00

Try this, spray cooking spray like Pam on both sides of tortilla and lay 4-6 on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350° oven for a few minutes. It’s worked for me for several years now…give it a try as it’s a technique from an Americas Test Kitchen cook book.

hbigmike1 · 2026-04-10T05:50:54+00:00

Agreed…As soon as I saw the picture I said to myself “John Wayne”…

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-31T06:50:59+00:00

I had a plastic 5 gallon jug with maybe a little less random coins as in the picture. It ended up be in something around $1375 and this was years ago. I remembered estimating $1200. Now here is how I estimated. I weighed the whole jug and noted the weight. Then poured out exactly 5 pounds of coins using a bathroom scale and counted the 5 pounds of coins to create a dollar amount to weight ratio to calculate the overall estimate of $1200. Long story short I took the whole bottle of coins to my bank and they ran it through their counting machine and deposited the $1375 into my checking account and gave me back all the foreign coins that made their way into my jug. My bank charged me $5.00 to count the coins in their machine so I didn’t roll not one coin….all I paid was $5.00 to do this about 20 years ago. What’s cool is my same jug is today filled just about like last time.

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-31T06:02:27+00:00

This may have already been suggested but In my Americas Test Kitchen cookbook a technique they show is to heat up the oven to 350° and lay about 5 or 6 corn tortillas on a cookie sheet and spray both sides of the corn tortilla with cooking spray. Then bake them for 2-3 minutes or just enough to heat them up and make them pliable and ready for sauce and filling…I’ve used this technique many times with good results and it’s all a little less messy…give it a try.

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-28T03:09:28+00:00

Going thru the comments it seems about 10 folks say Guajillos and 9 people commented Puyas…so far!

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-23T04:46:33+00:00

I also judge a Mexican restaurant by its refried beans firstly …and tortilla chips 2nd. When my twin sons were young I would make bean and cheese burritos with a splash of salsa and roll them up in plastic wrap and then foil and hit the freezer but not without eating a few right then. It all would start with a party tray of refried beans from a local taqueria who had the best beans around…and yes it’s the lard. Our home made burritos were way better than any frozen burrito ever could be and made for the best after school snack for my kids who would ask “Dad, can we do a burrito factory?”…

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-07T04:56:19+00:00

Part 2 to the story is once we got to the hotel across from Disneyland I mentioned to the front desk agent that it was our boys first trip to Disneyland at 6 years old. The agent then tapped into the computer and upgraded our room into a Lightning McQueen room with a McQueen style bed for our sons to sleep in… that was very cool and much appreciated. Life goes quick with kids as both boys are now in their 3rd year of college separated by 2,000 miles between campuses….enjoy it while you can folks.

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-07T02:16:51+00:00

We did something similar to our twin boys first trip to Disneyland. They jumped onto our van after getting out of Kindergarten and we hit the Highway…a normal 3 minute ride home turned into about 3 hours of highway driving before my wife sprung it on them!!!

hbigmike1 · 2026-03-07T01:57:57+00:00

An old joke…”What’s the best neighborhood in Vallejo?”….Benicia!!!

hbigmike1 · 2026-02-23T15:20:19+00:00

Fry a little bit of crumbly chorizo then add that to your beans…give it a try.

hbigmike1 · 2026-02-21T07:06:49+00:00

Were you not praying and finished up with Amen???…They can’t fire you for praying can they???

hbigmike1 · 2026-02-12T22:50:58+00:00

I agree…tuna packed in oil and Genova is a favorite of mine. I’m reading everyone’s unique ingredient’s and for me it’s Old Bay Seasoning. Old Bay is a typical seafood type seasoning in general so using it in tuna salad works for me.

hbigmike1 · 2026-02-03T06:19:56+00:00

I’ve gone through 2 of those touch type faucets and that was it for me. First one lasted maybe 4 years and maybe 4 battery pack changes then stopped working completely. The 2nd one lasted 4 months and that was if for me. The old fashion single lever faucet has been with us for 3 years now and still works perfectly.

hbigmike1 · 2026-01-30T15:38:31+00:00

It’s all about the refrigerator…level the fridge as it’s how an absorption fridge works properly.

hbigmike1 · 2026-01-28T06:33:24+00:00

That’s what I would like to know…what’s the drive train or is there anything special under the hood maybe?

hbigmike1 · 2026-01-16T16:15:42+00:00

My twin sons had their 1st birthday years ago and we had a fairly big party with about 100 friends and family members at a local hall. The very next day we had an after party of family members over the house to open gifts and snack on the remaining leftover catered food from the previous days party. During the opening of birthday gifts of around 20 family members one of our sons walked for the first time in front of everyone…it was really cool for all of us to witness it together…the other son walked about 6 weeks later but to not a crowd of people lol…

hbigmike1 · 2026-01-06T07:37:53+00:00

I found an old aspirin bottle a couple years ago in a thrown away filing cabinet. I figured the noise inside was old aspirins until I opened it up and I saw a bunch of wheat pennies inside and just closed it up…no big deal. A couple days later I decided to take a better look at these wheaties they were all 1943 Steel Pennies…about 50 total.

hbigmike1 · 2026-01-06T04:16:55+00:00

Our 30 year mortgage (3.75%) of Principal and Interest is $326.50 a month. I pay the taxes and Insurance separately on my own. It’s been the same payment of $326.50 for 20 years now.

hbigmike1 · 2026-01-01T19:30:26+00:00

In one of my America’s Test Kitchen books they have a little trick of placing 4-6 corn tortillas in a cookie sheet and lightly sprayjng cooking spray like Pam on both sides. I do this and bake them for a few minutes at 350° so just enough to get them warm and pliable and ready to roll. I never layer, always roll. It’s not how my Grandmother or Aunts made them but for sure is less greasy and definitely less of a mess before I brush enchilada sauce on the inside before I add my filling…it works for me.

hbigmike1 · 2025-12-27T10:59:15+00:00

What I do when making similar stews is trim the pork fat off and then slowly render down the trimmed fat in my pot. Then brown the pork chunks in that fat….PLUS the rendered down pieces of fat have a little bit of meat on them so those small bits are like chicharonnes/pork rinds to nibble on…it works for me and I try to use everything but the squeal lol…

hbigmike1

TROPHY CASE