Frogs, releases, and a smoker

This past weekend, John and I went to a wine release party up in the foothills. It is the foothills of Calaveras County. I know you have heard of this place, it is the frog jumping place. They have a frog jumping contest every year, and it is serious business. so we knew we didnt want to drive home after the wine tasting, so we got a room close by. I took a bunch of pics around there, but I havent put them up here yet. Anyway, i was out taking pics and there was this creek by the hotel. So i went and took pics there. I looked down into the nasty creek water and saw the biggest dog gone polly wogs i have ever seen. They were huge. I knew they were gonna be big frogs in their next life, but I couldnt get over how big they were. They are also going to be contenders for jumpers. People catch these and let them grow and put them in the contest. They have money on these frogs. maybe i will put more about this at a later date.

So later that day, we went tot the release party. It startedd at 5 in the afternoon, which i thought was sorta strange, why so late? But I realised later that if it were any earlier, it would ahve been too hot. Anyway, he had 50 lbs of bbq'd tri tip that had marinated in red wine. OMG it was the best I had tasted in way too long, and John cooks a mean tritip. But this was good. There was also grilled asperigus. Yes, grilled. It was soaked in olive oil and salt n pepper, then grilled for a short time, placed back in the foil pans, covered and placed back on the heat to steam. I could have eaten the whole bunch. Asperigus is grown real close to here, and it is fresh as it can be. OH yum. The wine was pouring freely and it was very good. He even announced the release of a wine his friend is making. It is a Zin, but has chocolate flavors. Very tasty wine. We had to leave around 8, because I had enough to drink and so did John. Also i was so tired, I couldnt keep my eyes open. But we had a great time.

Back at the hotel, we fell into bed. this by far, was THE most uncomfortable bed i have ever layed down on. It felt like a box spring with a sheet on it. Neither of us really slept, so in the morning, we got up, got dressed and were back home by 830 am. John went back to bed to finish our Sunday morning routine, Watch Good Day Sacramento and have coffee in bed. it felt better to be home.

So yesterday we went out looking for a  smoker/bbq. There was an ad in the paper for a place in the next town over that sold the kind of smoker John wanted. We found the place and he said before we went in, "We arent going to buy anything right now, I just want to look and price these. Let me do all the talking" Ok, sure, I dont care, I just want you to get waht you want. Well, we walked in and John saw what he wanted right off the bat. He talked tot eh salesman, who by the way really didnt try to sell, he let us decide and the thing sold itself. The guy also had a model they use each week to cook stuff up for sales people or customers. He showed us how easy it is to start up and use. Well, in teh end, you know John got what he wanted. He must have taken the book to work to show off, and i cant remember the name. But it is really nice. It will be assembled and delivered on Friday morning. When it gets here i will take a few pics and post them here. This is really a very nice model. I hope it is John last smoker. He is getting a collection of them as he trys to find the right one.

I better get going here. Maybe I will put up the frog pics and wine tasting pics. OK, See ya all later.