I finally got the salmon on the smoker and it was worth the effort and the 3-day wait.

First I sliced the fillets into uniform thickness in order to help with even cooking. Then, after brining in a dry rub overnight in the fridge, that was followed by another overnight in the fridge after rinsing. This is a vital step needed to smoke salmon; it forms a film on top that the smoke adheres to better.

I tossed the pieces on the smoker on day three and it took about three hours or so to get to temperature internally. I basted every 30 minutes or so with some wild berry preserves thinned out with a little water to keep it moist.

Here’s the result:

I think that it came out very good for my first time smoking. It looks amazing. It’s a little sweet and, to me, the smaller pieces were kind of salty, but I’m hypersensitive to saltiness since I don’t salt my food. I will get a second opinion on that.

It was a great success, though. Using a thermometer to cook by temperature is really the key. I’ll probably do some chicken next and then see what else I can try that I can eat on my diet restrictions.

Another first-attempt for me was I decided to make a sheet pancake. Basically I poured pancake batter in a greased sheet pan, sprinkled mixed berries on top then tossed in the oven. After it came out I brushed just a little Kerrygold on top. It’s okay but normal pancakes are definitely better. It’s a texture thing; the sheet pan version is not light and fluffy. I found that it is like eating cake with syrup on it. I will eat what I have made but I won’t make that again. They gotta be done in a cast iron pan.

It’s always very satisfying when a new dish turns out beyond your expectations, but even when you make something that turns out mediocre at least you tried and you learned. As long as it’s still edible there’s no reason to toss it out.

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I finally made a dump run. I got a truckload hauled away and got most of the junk away from the trailer so there’s now room to work. I need to get that trailer stabilizer jack taken off and fixed so getting the junk out of the way keeps me from having to hitch up the trailer to move just a few feet for access.

I’ll get the cabinet doors in the trailer taken care of too. We have had some nice weather finally so I have been getting yard stuff done while I can. I’ll get the cabinet doors done before the other stuff since it won’t take long plus the glue will have time to dry.

Another trailer item I need to take care of is mounting the towel bar, soap dish, and TP holder. I haven’t done this yet because quite frankly I’m uneasy drilling into my brand new trailer. I really need to just put on my big boy kilt and get these things installed.

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My friends Dave and Lori are heading out later today on a two-week adventure. It’s their first big trip in their trailer and they’re going to have a good time. Makes me jealous a little; I am in need of a big adventure.

I do get to go frequently and do a lot of traveling, but lately it’s been mainly weekend or day trips. My last big trip was coming down from Washington on US20 a few years ago and stopping in Theodore Roosevelt NP amongst other places along the way. Before that it was the epic trip to/from Washington via Route 66. Of course you can search my blog to check out these posts.

Taking a long trip and staying in a new place every night or for a few days is so different than a weekender at the lake. Everything about it feels different; it feels like you are actually on vacation and not out for a quick two-day trip.

Really, this applies to any trip no matter how you are traveling around. On our Europe trips we stayed in different places sometimes nightly. Sometimes we would stay in a place for 2-3 nights to have more time to explore bigger cities like London, Amsterdam or Dublin.

Even though the title of my blog has changed a few times that has been the whole point of this blog for the past 12 years. There is so much that can happen on your way to somewhere else – hence the current title “Journey and Destination”. The “and” part is what so many people overlook; it seems like for most people it is “journey to destination”. They overlook the things that are right in front of them – the things along the way to get to their destination.

If you go back and look at my blog posts I am all in on the whole trip. I post about the things I have seen and done along the way to someplace else. I don’t focus on where I will end up; I make sure the entire trip is a highlight reel – not just the destination.

Honestly, if you think about it, the reality is that your real destination is (usually) back where you started. That makes the rest of it the “journey” so why not make it awesome from start to finish? There is so much to see and experience along the way to anywhere you really have to work at NOT seeing and experiencing things.

This actually translates directly into everyday life. Everything that happens is part of your journey to the next thing. Slow down and make the most of it. The journey that you take should be all highlights.

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As I move away from this blog in the next month I am getting ideas for how to approach and do content for my new vlog. When the time is right and I get things up & running I will pass along more details. I am waiting for my wireless microphones to get here so I can start filming some test footage to work things out. It will be a learning process to get the content to where I think it should be. I think video is a better medium to present travel content and that is what is exciting for me.

It has been interesting to watch videos about the ins and outs of getting started in content creation. They have a lot of good tips so I have been working up ideas on what I want to do but am not ready to talk about that in much detail yet. It will be similar to what I do in this blog yet in a different way. As you know, I watch a lot of travel shows and know what I like (and don’t like) so I will model what I do on that. Some of the things I have talked about here in these posts will probably show up in video form at some point.

There will be some big changes coming up and I really hope you stay with me through those changes.

That’s it for now. See you next time!

Shawn