As expected, the unseasonably cool weather has ended. And it REALLY ended, we’ve been on an unfortunate stretch of triple-digit heat. I guess it was nice while it lasted, but it looks like hot is here to stay for a while.

Crummy weekend. Spent most of it working, and when I wasn’t working I was sleeping, or at least trying to. Doesn’t make for very usable content. My excitement for the entire weekend was cleaning my Weber Kettle grill Sunday night. After fifteen years of use, it was due. Wow there was a lot of crud on that thing. I got some plastic putty knives and went to town, and it looks a LOT better. Couldn’t believe how much grease and ash was built up on the sides. Not a yummy thought for something I cook on!

I don’t have any exciting events to relate, but at least I’ve got two weeks worth of pictures, guess I’ll go that route.

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We were treated to more fantastic weather over this weekend. I think it topped out in the high 70’s every day! I have a feeling that’s the last of it though, the forecast shows it getting up to the typically brutal temps through this week. Only downside is when I invited people up LAST weekend, it was miserably hot. Can’t win ’em all I guess, I’ll take it when it comes. Little closer to Fall already.

We made the most of the weather I think, getting out of the house a few times. Saturday was perfect convertible weather, so we took it out and went to a few wineries. The goal was to, gasp, actually try a few new places we hadn’t been to. Yeah, kind of wacky for us. We hit three new ones, all pretty nice. I completely failed taking pictures, so I have no evidence of this, but it really happened.

Sunday I woke up at my usual unholy hour, and for some reason I had it in my head it was Monday. Matter of fact, I was so convinced that I went through my whole weekday routine, including logging on to work. It took a rather embarrassing amount of time before I figured out what was going on. Once I did figure it out though, it was game on. Felt like a vacation day. We rolled down to some friends house and hung out there for a while, then returned to Geartooth for a few hours. Man I really like that place, and the owners, but I hope they ramp up their menu soon. I cannot survive on nachos and jalapeno poppers forever. (Those are seriously the only two items on the lunch menu.) Don’t get me wrong, they’re both great, but I need a bit more variety. After that we headed back home for a solid nap, then grilled up some bratwursts and hung out on the back porch for several hours. Back to hiding in the a/c everyday now I expect, but it was nice while it lasted.

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Happy semi-long weekend! When is a long weekend not really a long weekend? When you have to work. Sigh. We did have a little fun though, despite the rather wicked heat wave that settled in the last few days. We broke out the good ol’ Weber grill, invited a few people up, and grilled hotdogs and hamburgers. Traditional July 4 fare, in my mind anyway. I got the hotdogs (and burgers) at Kings, and they were totally worth the extra price. I’m not a real big hotdog lover, but these were actually quite good. The burgers came out really good too, so it was just a fine little picnic. Only bad part is, we’d planned to do some games and stuff outdoors, and in the 98 degree heat that just wasn’t gonna happen. Lots of games of pool, lots of sitting on the couch in front of fans. Works for me!

In other exciting news, we found a new bbq place we like! Long story short, we had a flat on one of our cars, and while it getting fixed we decided to try out the recently opened Geartooth Alewerks, which was conveniently right around the corner from the tire shop. It was great! Only bad part is, as there are only three employees, the menu is quite limited at the moment. I look forward to trying their ribs on a future visit, but they don’t serve those until 3:00. Right off the cooker! Hopefully this place sticks around a little longer than the last place I liked, and hopefully they get some help hired soon.

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Wow, we hit the weather jackpot that weekend. Some might even call it a bit chilly, but I’ll take it every time. Sure beats the triple digits that have been known to happen around this time. I feel like we made pretty good use of the great temps too. Saturday was by far the warmest, and of course we picked that day to go to the county fair. Can’t win ’em all. And it’s not like it was brutal; I think it was about 82 and there was a nice breeze blowing. Neither of us has been to a fair in a loooonnnnngggg time. Pretty good time though! Although it definitely seemed to be a little more geared towards kids/families, there was a lot to see, as well as some first-rate people watching opportunities. We even dropped in on the pig auctions for a bit. Wow, they were bringing some crazy prices too.

Sunday the temp dropped into the low 70’s, so we broke out the convertible and did some wine tasting. We started the afternoon with brunch at the recently re-opened Goldvine Bistro. I have to say, we didn’t really care for it on our first trip during the dinner hours. We always try places a few times before giving up though, and it paid off with a great brunch on the second visit. They were a little on the busy side, but kept up reasonably well and we were in no hurry anyway. I had some good chilaquiles, and Donette had a breakfast burrito; Both were very good. After that we drove around to some of the nearby wineries for a few sips, mostly just enjoying the day. For dinner we thawed out a huge tomahawk ribeye that had been eating up freezer space for too long. Threw it on the Weber grill and it came out quite tasty. I’m all in on the Weber, I think the pellet grill is going to be relegated to the garage for a while. The flavor just doesn’t compare at all. And, I consider charcoal grilling a firm #6 on the “Top 10 Life Skills” list, so I need to keep in practice. Donette baked up a few loafs of sourdough bread too, and it came out perfect this time. Third time is a charm, as they say. Got it figured out now!

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All quiet on the western front! Our weekend got all messed up, due to the ongoing… rain!?!?! So odd. Still raining off an on, haven’t seen anything like it since we moved out here. I will definitely take the associated cooler weather, but I’m not adjusting to the precipitation very well. Last week I drove down to the office in the Jeep, sans top, and it didn’t work out very well at all. Rather sloppy, uncomfortable drive home. And not only does it alter my weekend entertainment schedule, it means the grass (weeds) just keep growing too. More mowing, more weedeating. Blech.

Friday was a nice break in the weather. We went to Bones for our standard-issue end-of-week celebration, then headed back home to grill and enjoy the porch. I broke out the Weber kettle for the occasion, first time this year. I’ve gotten used to just flipping the switch on the Traeger, but it just doesn’t do as well. Nope, can’t beat the Weber. Need to use it more. We kept it simple with some grilled chicken, and made tacos, rice and beans. After that we just sat on the front porch and enjoyed the 65 degree evening.

Saturday, the rains came again. We didn’t really have anything planned, but it was annoying all the same. We did make it down to Solid Ground for some lunch, and that was about our entertainment for the day. Luckily lunch overlapped the Royals game so I didn’t feel obligated to suffer that debacle again. Sunday brought still more rain. We enjoyed our motorcycle ride last weekend, and had worked up a destination for this weekend also. Alas, the weather dictated otherwise. We had planned to ride out to Lotus and hit Gorilla Rock for some tacos. After not a whole lot of thinking, we decided the tacos were more important than the ride, so we drove the car out there. Adapt and overcome. When we got back home, Donette worked on her first batch of sourdough bread. She’s been working on the “starters” for several weeks now. A month maybe? The first batch got thrown away, but this batch was looking good so she gave it a try. Pretty solid results! A little on the “flat” side; We decided maybe the dough needed more time to rise. Look at her, all country and stuff.

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