Camping Bear Style - part 2

Camping Eating - Bear Style 
(Well, you already knew this series was about camping - didn't you?)

So I had the tent all set up and ready to go, I stuck myself nearby in a corner to make sure I wasn't spotted immediately, and then waited.... and waited... and waited.  Wow, come to think about it, there was a lot of waiting.  It felt like forever!

I kept myself distracted by watching the wacky squirrels running all over the park.  Wacky squirrels, yes sir, they were funny running all around everywhere and everything and what with the throwing of pine cones on my head!  Owie!  Okay, so I don't like squirrels much anymore.


The Buffet Arrives (Sort of)

And then I saw a blue car pull into the campsite!  YAY blue car.  SCORE!  Score one for the bear!  Yes (insert victory dance here!).  I held my breath, and the car door opened and.... AW NUTS!  It was my wrangler and some of his friends!  Stupid GPS chip in my paw.

Wait a minute, they are unloading food!  Lots and lots of yummy food!  Oh Goodie!

Where to begin....

Well after all that screaming and yelling at squirrels, I was pretty thirsty.  Now those of you that have been following along or who know me understand that this bear's favourite indulgence is coffee of the latte variety.  Now my particular bear wrangler knows that the situation would be simply unacceptable without a coffee-making thingy packed for the trip.  

Here I am with a Mocha Pot.  Now it looks like I was cooking my bum but I wasn't!  Nope, that side of the stove was turned off!  The pot on the right was full of milk in order to go with the espresso coffee.  I don't much like espresso on its own, milk makes it yummier.  As we didn't have a milk steamy thingy, my plan was to blow bubbles into the how milk through a straw.  My wrangler told me the straw would melt, so no bubbles in the the milk 8-(

Dude, where's my Lunch?

Since my wrangler was here I thought I would be well fed.  Was I ever wrong about that!  I was told politely but firmly that we were each on our own for making lunch!  How terrible!  I complained bitterly only to be handed a stuffed-bear sized BBQ and some tongs and told to "Get on with it!" or something like that.

So, I did the only reasonable thing: lit the stupid BBQ and started cooking. I think I burnt a paw, but at least the burgers were yummy if I do say so myself!


Dude, Where's my Dinner?

Just as soon as I was done cooking and eating my lunch I was starting to get hungry for dinner!  I knew watching the squirrels was out.  What to do, what to do?

I know!  I'll sneak another coffee! 

In this case the stove lid provided perfect cover.  They never knew who kept drinking all their coffee!


FINALLY it was dinner time!  and what a dinner it was.  There was Steak,  yummy, yummy steak.  Oh sooo good and tender and cooked on the BBQ just the way I like it, and (droooooooool) was it ever good!  Such good steak.  Oh, and broccoli, but I'd rather not talk about that.  

You Promised me Dessert!

Being the end of Summer, it got dark pretty early. To keep warm and let other bears know this spot was spoken for I had my wrangler and his friends set up a campfire. This was immensely clever of me because it allowed them to make me s'mores! I demanded that they put two marshmallows in my s'more instead of one. Made it gooey on the paws!

The "Morning After Breakfast"

After eating all that chocolate and marshmallow the night before, I was feeling "queasy". Good thing there was coffee!

Well, shortly after that I "perked up" and breakfast was well underway.

Nothing tastes quite like oatmeal, partly because oatmeal doesn't really taste like anything!  My wrangler suggested that I try just plain boring oatmeal without anything on it to try to settle my tummy. I went off to find some, 'cause I wasn't gonna cook it myself!

I found some!  Score again!  Just as I was digging in, who should slow up by Goldilocks.  Party Pooper.  She threw a hissy fit and demanded that I stop eating her oatmeal. *sigh*

Back at the camp, I found some scrambled eggs to eat instead. I like mine with lots of pepper. Again done myself as good waiters are difficult to come by while camping.

Well, that was pretty much how the weekend went.

It was pretty good eats!

~END PART 2~

Top Travel Moments: So-Far (so Good!)

I have traveled around a bit.  Put on a few miles (and probably pounds too!).  Ahh the memories.  Though most of them were with the constant companionship of my bear wrangler which quite frankly got annoying with the camera always on the go - like having your own papparazo,  But I digress.
On to the best moments:

Field of Dreams - Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland

We were staying in Rocky Harbour while visiting Gros Morne National Park.  The park itself is worth checking out for Fjords, interesting rock piles, and a mountain that someone will climb for you. 

We were driving around town, and someone in the group saw a lighthouse at the other end of town (think 5 km away, tops!).  So we drove there.  Walking from the parking lot to the lighthouse I started imagining things!  I started to imagine that I was walking across a field of teeny tiny berries, that were being squished by my paws.  The hallucination was so vivid, I was even smelling the berries.  Without thinking I lifted a paw and was immediately transported to home and Mom's strawberry freezer jam! The TASTE!  Oh the joy of it all!  If only it were real!

Well, it was!  I looked around and somehow I was in a meadow that was not covered in grass but covered in tiny wild strawberry plants.  As far as the eye could see!  To top it all off, they must have known I was coming because the put up this lovely "reserved" sign for me! (Dum-Dum didn't take any photographs of the berries of course!)






Lessons in Marzipan - Toledo, Spain

While traveling in Spain, the guidebook made several references to Toledo, and that it was famous for a several things. Don Quixote, Steel (swords), the Castle, the Cathedral, rip-off bistros that do not accept credit cards, and Marzipan (ears up).

I knew the Norther European version of Marzipan, which is the sugary, sticky almond paste, often sculpted and coloured into various shapes and animals or sold in "bricks".  This stuff is almond-y, sugary goodness!

Imagine my surprise and delight in learning that in Toledo, Marzipan refers to a sort of almond puff-pastry.  It is baked, goes all fluffy and is stuffed or filled with chocolate, jams, jellies, sweet!  I bought me a bag of that goodness for the train ride back to the hotel in Madrid!





Driving a Train - National Railway Museum, York, England

What young bear doesn't dream of driving a train!  They are big, go really really fast, and in Europe they almost always have a bar car or food service with yummy snacks!  BTW most train stations in Britain have counters that sell Cornish Pasties!  I recommend the Steak & Guinness ones!  They sure are filling and great to eat on the train.

So I went to the railway museum where I could get a closer look at some of my favourite things about trains!  They had all kinds of trains, including a bullet train from Japan, and several steam trains, and even one used by Queen Victoria!  They also had a replica of Stevenson's Rocket, one of the original trains.

I begged and pleaded to drive any of these trains but they said I was too small to see out the window while I was driving.  Then a nice lady (British people apparently like talking to stuffed bears) told me that there was a small train out back and that if I was really well behaved I might just get to drive it.

I have never been so well behaved in my life! (although the small train had no snacks, I got lots of free cookies on the big train going to Edinburgh)





Wineglass Bay and Peninsula Hike - Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, Australia
 
While visiting the park we stayed at a cabin connected to Freycinet Lodge, which is inside the national park,

The main attraction of the trip was Wineglass Bay Beach, which was recently listed as one of the top 10 remote beaches in the World.  While heading towards the beach, my bear wrangler got it in his head that we would first go to the Wineglass Bay Lookout (lots of stairs and uphill=BAD idea) and then hike down the the beach, cut through the peninsula to another beach, and head back to the lodge.

Well, you can see what a good idea THAT was.

It was on the return hike that we stopped for lunch, and the sun came out from behind the clouds, and except for the cool breeze and fleece sweaters required, you could swear you were in the Caribbean!  It was at the second beach that we ate the box lunch prepared by the lodge which included delicious chocolate chip walnut cookies.  By then I had forgotten about the lookout fiasco!

My Bestest pub night ever - Le Mouton Blanc - Maastricht, Netherlands


Sometimes when you are traveling in a strange place, and you don't know where to go, you leave the guidebooks behind and you opt for the pub or the bistro across the street.  In the case of Maastricht, this was easy enough to do.  Our room faced onto a pedestrian zone of sorts, and a pub / bistro that seemed to have good enough food.

The man that was serving us also showed me a traditional folk dance that I think translates to roughly: "Where's my Dessert?"

And then they appeared!  Desserts!  Yummy Desserts!  The Dance Worked!

Chocolate covered strawberries, Berry cheesecake, and Crème Brûlée!

That dance only worked once though.

So those are five of my favourite travel moments so far!  I am sure there will be more.  Stay tuned...

~Biff~