Holiday Weekend

Certain things full-time RVers have to consider in their travels. One is where to spend long weekends. Those weekends are when the most recreational RVers hit the road, filling up campgrounds. So, when we look ahead, we have to plan where we can go that won't be booked up weeks ahead (such as state parks). We also try to pick a location where there won't be campfires or large family gatherings with lots of children.

Back in early July, I made our reservations in the Denver area for September. The first consideration was to not try for either of the Colorado State Parks there over Labor Day. They were probably booked in April or May and, if we could get in, they would be full of campfires and children. So, where to spend this holiday weekend? A few days ago we decided the Ogden-Salt Lake City area would be good. It would give us 4 days to get to Denver for our Sept. 7 reservation and it probably wouldn't be full for the weekend.

Obviously, we aren't here because we have big plans for the weekend. So today was a perfectly ordinary day. In fact, though we aren't "home" yet, things are getting back to normal. After our exercise this morning, we went to WalMart for groceries. During the afternoon, John had time to work on his diamond willow hiking sticks.



I spent the time baking bread. Tomorrow we are having hamburgers. I could buy hamburger buns, but they only come in packages of 8 or 10. That means we have to use them for our sandwiches next week or freeze them for later. They are too much bread for sandwiches and I don't think they have a good texture after they are frozen. Instead, I decided to bake my own.

When our boys were young and I wasn't working, I baked all our bread, making at least 4 loaves a week. It must have rubbed off on our older son, Doug. Once during grade school, the students were asked what they thought their mothers were doing at home and he said, "baking bread." After he was married, he and Sherry bought a bread making machine and he asked for the recipe I used when he was growing up. I gave it to him, though I wasn't sure how it would work in the machine. (And, I never heard.)

Anyway, that is the bread I baked today. For several years before we went on the road full time, I owned a mixer with a bread hook. But I didn't use it very often. I really like kneading the dough. Here is the kneaded dough, waiting to go into a bowl to rise.



And here is the finished product, six hamburger buns and one loaf of bread. These buns will freeze well.