Tag Archives: BMW

“Life Is Good”

Linda in Newsletter

We’d been on the road for nine or so hours, daylight was gradually turning into twilight, and we were only 18 miles west of Ely, Nevada, our end destination for the day. Out of nowhere on the passenger side of the car bounded a large deer, hitting us in the centre of the grill, bouncing on the hood, then catapulting off the driver’s side roof into the ditch on the far side of the road. In the flash of a second, everything changed, as do so many occurrences in life.

We gradually rolled to a stop and off the road as much as we could with steam and smoke spewing out from under the hood and parts dropping on the highway behind us. The deer was quite dead we were sure, and we were so fortunate to not have been injured. We were both belted in, our air bags did NOT deploy (thank heavens), and the deer did NOT come through the windshield or the convertible top as he easily could have. All in all, we were very fortunate.

Our beautiful little car, however, didn’t fair so well. This little white 1999 BMW 3 Series convertible is Ron’s baby – just brought down last fall from a four year vacation in California. We’d just done a bunch of work on it, including work on the stereo system, and we were enjoying listening to some great music and, at the time of the accident, a superb audio book: The Boys in the Boat.

Our Poor BMW

A passing local motorist stopped to ensure we weren’t injured and called the Highway Patrol for us. I was able to reach AAA and get a tow truck out to get us to take us back into Motel 6 in Ely. We talked about the various alternatives with the tow truck driver, John, and learned that Ely had no transportation services or car rental available. Our only option, he suggested, was to rent a U-Haul to get us to the next larger centre to pick up a car rental. Ely really is in the middle of nowhere.

We needed to get to New York within the week, so Ron got creative. He went down to the local Chrysler/Jeep dealership the next morning and did some fast negotiation on a 2006 Jeep Liberty. When he pulled up to the motel, I had to laugh because the spare tire cover on the back reads “Life is Good”. It really is. One more white vehicle to add to our fleet (we have two other white cars as well)!

Our insurance company and the towing company made arrangements to have the BMW hauled and repaired in Elko, NV. We have no idea how we’ll get it, but I’m sure we can figure something out by the time the car is ready. We don’t plan to come back west until late October or early November, but I’m sure everything will work out as it always does. Life really is good.

On The Road To San Diego

Linda in Site News

We shared a lovely dinner and stayed overnight with David and his gorgeous girlfriend, Jake, at his newly and beautifully renovated home in Santa Barbara on our way south. When we got back to David’s after a delicious dinner downtown, we found a note on our car that had been left by one of his elderly neighbors to apologize for hitting and damaging the front end of our car which we had left parked on the street. Ironically, we had just had body work done on the BMW convertible in New York and the car was in perfect condition when we started our road trip. We were leaving early the next morning for San Diego, so Ron had to get a repair estimate as quickly as he possibly could before we left the area.

David and Jake

We had picked up a new used car (a 2002 Lincoln LS sedan) in Santa Clara to drive down to ensure that my Mom would be as comfortable as possible as she’d been having recent back issues and we knew there was no way for the three of us and all our “stuff” to comfortably fit and travel in our little BMW. The Lincoln needed a new air conditioning compressor, which our friend, Stretch, had ordered and it was to be waiting for us to pick up in San Diego.

Ron and I fired up our walkie talkies and got our damaged little caravan on the road to San Diego as soon as he was able to get a repair estimate in Santa Barbara. I was really anxious to ensure we got to the airport on time as my amazing little 83 year-old Mom was making her first solo trip – flying from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to meet us in San Diego to drive the Baja to Cabo San Lucas.

Mom Matthie

We got to the airport a little late and I was panicked. Ron found parking first and went in to find her at the luggage carousel while I found my way back to the airport and eventually secured parking. Ron found her there, as calm as could be, after having made friends with the airline escort who took her by wheelchair to the carousel area and, of course, several other people. Whew!

Ron needed to pick up the part for the Lincoln, so we took Mom to a nearby park and had an impromptu picnic (with the delicious sandwiches and food that we had prepared at Ron’s Mom’s home) and Mom and I had a chance to catch up while Ron was gone. We found a well-kept and clean motel for us, the Best Western Seven Seas (http://www.bw7seas.com), that had adjoining rooms for peace of mind. We had originally planned on crossing the border that day, but Mom seemed a bit tired, so we thought it best to let her get a good rest and we’d go into Mexico the following day.

Mom wasn’t terribly hungry that night, so we got her some soup and brought it back to her room for her. Ron and I headed to Old Town in search of Italian food as both of us had been craving it for some time. We wandered around to check out the sights and settled on Jack & Giulio’s Italian Restaurant (www.jackandgiulios.com) for dinner. The meal (we split Angel Hair Mediterraneo and Scampi Alla Giulio) and the bottle of 2009 Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico were great, but the absolute stand out of the meal was the basil orange vinaigrette they used on the salad we started with: an Insalati Cuere di Palma with hearts of palm, greens, tomato, and avocado. We almost licked the plate it was so good (Ron actually ordered more bread to sop up every drop of the dressing). Here is the closest re-creation of that dressing that I have been able to come up with so far:

Basil Orange Pesto Vinaigrette

½ cup fresh basil
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ cup olive oil

Add first 7 ingredients to your blender and pulse to chop and blend. Gradually pour in olive oil from the small opening at the top of the blender lid until mixture is completely blended. Chill 2 hours in the refrigerator and serve over greens or use as a dipping sauce for seared scallops or grilled shrimp.

We were really sorry that Mom hadn’t joined us for such a great meal, but she needed her rest after her first solo trip ever and all the excitement of the day. We shared many more great meals with her in the month she spent with us, however, and made some wonderful memories with her.

Moab, Utah and Ely, Nevada

Linda in Site News

When Ron and I left Santa Fe, we drove though southern Colorado to reach Moab, Utah for the night. We wanted to get an early start so that we could explore as much of Utah’s National Parks and natural beauty as possible before heading on to Nevada and ultimately California. Stretch and Mary had warned us that there were some bad storms in the area and we here a bit concerned about how the roads would be along the way.

When we checked in to our motel for the night, we knew that we were in the right place. On the wall was a picture entitled “Fire and Ice”, which of course was the title of my first cookbook. I treat coincidences and synchronicity like this as an inspired message to confirm that I’m on the right path. My Mom thinks that I should write a book on the many situations like this that have and continue to happen in my life. Maybe I’ll just write about it here instead.

To beat the storms, we decided that we needed to get to California and over the tallest passes as quickly as possible, so only took a brief tour through Arches National Park. The formations and color of the rock in this area are truly spectacular – we were awed and amazed!

We hurried on to stay ahead of the weather and quickly passed through Ely, Nevada where we’d stopped at so many times before on our way east or west. We just nicely got about twenty miles west of Ely and it started to snow. Ron’s not used to driving in snow and neither is the BMW, but I didn’t think it was anything to be concerned with initially (being an optimistic Canadian who has always dealt with snow). We continued west and within fifteen more miles, the snow became a whiteout and we definitely decided to head back to Ely for the night.

We drove through Alpine, Nevada and had breakfast at one of our favorite little diners the next day. They’d endured storms all the day and night before and had a serious amount of snow to contend with – about eighteen inches. We were so glad that we’d headed back to Ely the night before – we never would have made it over the high summits.

Stretch and Mary

Linda in Site News

We drove through western Louisiana to see our friends, Stretch and Mary, in Lufkin, Texas. Neither of us had been in eastern Texas before and we were pleasantly surprised to see how heavily treed and beautiful this area is.

Stretch and Mary acquired land and a trailer park that they have worked relentlessly on over the past eight years and have created a high-end and high-quality home for themselves and for all the other people who live there.

Ron and Stretch have been dear friends for some thirty-odd years and have a ton of shared history and memories together. Ron adores Stretch and Mary and they mirror the same feelings of love and respect for him. As the newcomer to the foursome, they couldn’t be more gracious or make me any more welcome. I love hearing the stories of their past and of the memories they share.

We enjoyed great conversation, lots of laughs and talked until the wee hours of the morning. The Walmart in Lufkin will never be the same (who knew it was a tourist destination or that we might be considered “WalMartians”?), and our trip there resulted in the discovery of Blue Bell Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream and several other fabulous flavors! We had such a splendid visit with Stretch and Mary and didn’t want it to end, but we needed to get back on the road.

While we were there, Stretch had made an appointment for us to get the brakes fixed on the BMW and, after two nights and our car repaired and ready, it was time to go. We set off and got about thirty miles from Lufkin when a terrible sound started on the right rear wheel. Stretch came to the rescue, took a look and he and Ron determined we needed to get the car back to the mechanic to properly remedy. Our second trip to Lufkin in three days was on the back of an AAA tow truck. The return was not planned, of course, but allowed us ensure the car was safe to drive, to spend one more night with our dear friends, and to partake of Mary’s famous and delicious Manhattan style clam chowder.

It really was time to leave the next morning, and with a cup of Stretch’s great coffee to prime us, we set off once again. We had a wonderful time and look forward to making Stretch and Mary as welcome at our home in Cabo in a few months’ time.