Ok I finally pulled the trigger, we now have a new barbecue, a portable folding two burner 12,000 BTU barbecue and I must say it’s pretty nice. Our old portable was getting a little long in the tooth. It was a closest to the pin prize that I won in a golf tournament years ago, but it became our only barbecue since we hit the road. It was tough to keep lit on windy days, and only had one burner so indirect heat was impossible, while it had a great igniter it would seem to flame out on low temperatures causing some issues. So it was just time to upgrade.

So our purchase was a Napoleon 285X Pro, it has a folding X frame, has 285 square inches of cooking space, and has a higher lid to allow cooking larger items. Hoping we will be able to cook a small turkey in it as I seem to be able to control the temperature pretty accurately. It has an optional flat grill that we cooked some frozen pizzas on. Being able to hold about 400 with indirect heat. While not perfect was an improvement over the convection oven in the coach.

We have grilled vegetables, pork chops, ribs, steaks, burgers, wieners, sausages, and chicken all to perfection and with no issues. Have operated it in some windy conditions and have not had a flame out yet. Even have cooked a beer can chicken a few weekends ago, even if Laurie didn’t think it’s tall enough to be done. The dual burner makes cooking meat and grilling vegetables possible and we also have a warming rack to get things away from the heat when necessary.

The ignition system seems more like a flame thrower but has work flawlessly, the grills are cast and transfer heat well, it is quick to warm up so throwing a couple of wieners on for lunch has not been a problem. I have missed the ability to cook with the indirect heat source so hope to do some low and slow items either on the flat grill or in the Dutch oven. Will have more time for experimenting over the winter months out in the Arizona desert, where time will be plentiful and the cool nights will make soups and stews the desired comfort food.

This barbecue will definitely take up more room in the basement than the old one but I feel that the sacrifice of space is worth it, I have to rearrange the first compartment any way as the Joey bed system has never been allowed us to be properly utilize the space because of the fresh water tank location, so by removing it, I will gain some needed height for a number of items and it will also make way for a small beverage fridge which should free up some space in the main fridge plus make grabbing a beverage a little easier.

I considered doing an unboxing and assembly blog but other that putting the wheels on to came out of the box ready to go, it was already mounted to the X frame so simple and fast did spend some time seasoning the cast grills but pretty quick and simple to set up and knock down for storage, so feel free to stop by for a burger anytime you want…

Today is a special day we have friends coming to visit! Visitors are a big event in our lives, taking on the full time life has isolated us from family and friends to a large degree we switch countries every six months for starters. That has been good and bad, we have built a RV family of people that comes into our lives for a few months and leave huge holes when they leave, we have found ourselves driving hundreds of miles out of our way to reconnect with friends and share some new adventure stories. And we try to connect with as many people as possible as often as possible.

The work camping position this summer has made visiting a little more difficult, as most people are working on our days off. And weekends are our busy time at the park so planning weekend adventures or getting time off is nearly impossible, so other than a week or so this fall before we cross the boarder to warmer weather, there will not be a lot of time to visit so it is really special when visitors come to our summer home here on Ontario’s Western Shore.

Bob and I have known each other for over twenty years, we have worked together on numerous occasions and through a few career changes. And while we have had many disagreements over the years, he has always been one of those friends that you would not have to ask twice to help you with anything. I may be a few years his senior but as time has passed we have worked for and with each other. When I first met Bob he was a pain in the ass mechanic in an automotive repair shop that always felt it was his job to play devils advocate, and as much as it annoyed me, he did on the occasion make a good point, but more times than not he was that pain in the ass guy that would do what ever you asked…and is now a true friend. And as I have come to understand we only can say that about a couple of people in our lives. Many people come into our lives and leave without much fanfare but we only get to keep a couple of true friends.

So to have Bob and Irina visit for a couple of day is great, and to have them plan their time to match our days off is a testament to the friendship, the have a 28′ travel trailer that they use so we will set them up close by but I may need a holiday after this visit. They are traveling with their son Alex, and hopefully we will be able to keep him entertained as I think he is getting to that age (those teenage years) where it’s not real cool to hang around the adults but we will see.

Laurie has been looking forward to spending some time with Irina, as she is remarkable artist and has been teaching Laurie some water colour techniques, Laurie has been too busy this summer to paint but is hoping to get back to some painting during our winter in Arizona. It has always amazed me how some one can put what they see onto a canvas, hell I can’t even get what I see into a good photograph, let alone take that photo and reproduce it, Irina is amazing at bringing a picture to life and Laurie has obviously got some talent as well as she has created so great paintings as well.

And here it is Wednesday afternoon already and we are about to loose of visitors. The time has flown by and other than too much to eat and drink, nobody is the worse for wear, we had some laughs by the campfire, told some stories, talked about what’s on the horizon and in the short term to come, it has been great but it is over way to quick, we are back to work and Bob has to be back for work tomorrow as well. I can’t say I miss them yet because they have not left but it is inevitable that everyone will be missed as soon as all we can see are tail lights…..