Sooosheee Bah

Mike Harrah is Steve's boss, and he flies in from L.A. each week to get away from his work schedule over there. Well he also works a little here....he's building a restaurant out at the airport and it's nearly completed.
He arrived in his new Sikorsky on New Year's day, and immediately wanted to go out for some sushi.
We always have a blast when we go out with Mike, because he has all kinds of stories and he really lets loose.
So of course we had to try the new "911" Hot and Spicy Sushi Rolls that we spotted on the menu.
They came with red hot sauce and jalapenos on top. We managed to eat the whole roll within a few minutes, but left the jalapenos...

No amount of liquid could get rid of the awful burn we experienced after that one!
And of course my stomach let me know its appreciation. Ow.

Today we're driving in the semi truck to Winslow, Arizona, where Mike is picking up one of the monster cars that he bought. Rodney Rucker built it, and he has actually driven it in the Great American Race--from New York to San Francisco. I will be sure to post plenty of pictures.

Just Another Day

New Year's Eve is usually a quiet dinner and bedtime at 9pm. We switched gears this time.
I love experimenting with food and last night's Peruvian food was so exciting. Before Steve got home from work I began on the Ceviche. I diced the fish, soaked the shrimp in milk (it gets rid of the fishy smell) and cut up the red onion and the yellow hot peppers. As I was cleaning up that mess (peppers had to be seeded--otherwise they'd have been too hot for the dish) I failed to remember that I'd touched the peppers with my bare hands. Even though I'd washed my hands, there was still pepper stuff on them. But my eyes were watering from the red onions, and I wiped them. With my hands. Ouch.
Instantly it was as if my eyes had caught on fire. The tears started rolling, and I couldn't get it to stop!
Meanwhile, I still needed to clean up my mess on the counter so I grabbed the trash can to pull it over there. I had to feel my way around the kitchen. The trash can caught on one of the tiles and spilled all over the floor. I was on my knees, tears streaming out of my eyes still, picking up the garbage and wondering what else could happen!!
Pitiful.

The food, however, was wonderful. I finished my meal preparation with Dog The Bounty Hunter playing on the t.v. I guess Dog is my guilty pleasure. I can't help it. There was a New Year's marathon going.
The potatoes way better than expected, and I was truly shocked that the Ceviche was good. I've never tried it before and I was particularly nervous about that. Steve and his brother have had plenty of Ceviche in their lifetimes and I think that's what made me scared. Steve worked on a tuna boat back in the early 80's, as a helicopter pilot. He would take the chopper out over the ocean and identify where the fish were grouping. Then the tuna boat would head over there and cast the nets.
Being out on the ocean for weeks at a time meant there was a lot of seafood to eat. He was telling me the big kitchen on the boat had refrigerators, and there was always a big bowl of Ceviche to dip into.

After dinner we headed to a tiny bar where Jack was going to be playing guitar.
It was a place called Cops and Rodders, and it's owned by a racing enthusiast who is a former police officer. The ice cubes were blinking lights. Too cute!


Jack was well received by the audience--it was a very small one and the music he played seemed to be appreciated.
He was joined for a couple of songs by one of the bar patrons.

At midnight, I'd had plenty of bourbon to keep me lit. Steve was drinking sodas because he didn't want to take a chance out on the road.


I still can't believe we stayed as late as we did. I'm so tired now.

Happy New Year

Steve never knows if a photo is for the blog, or if it's just for my personal collection. Well, surprise, honey, this one's on the blog.

Oh. My. Gawd.

The Papas ala Huancanaia was excellent. More than excellent. We were extremely happy! Definitely give it a try, when you feel like burning your lips a little.

Tonight's Experiment

PAPAS ala HUANCAINA SAUCE

Ingredients :
7 yellow chili peppers seeded and deveined
10 ½ oz feta cheese
Oil
2/3 cup milk
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed

Preparation:

Place peppers in a blender. Pour milk and blend.

Sauté onion with garlic in oil until cooked.

Transfer this to blender together with the cheese.

While blending, add oil until a creamy sauce is obtained.

Pour the sauce over boiled and sliced potatoes.

This is a traditional Peruvian dish, typically a side dish.
We're trying it out tonight, with some Peruvian Ceviche (seafood dish)

If we survive, I'll try to remember pictures!!

Oh hey I just noticed it's after 4 pm here in Arizona, and that means it's after 5pm in New Mexico. So I'm gonna start drinking!!! Happy New Year!!!

Where Brandy Was Born

Beautiful Phoenix, Arizona.

The "ONE" For Real

We had visited the Chandler airport a few weeks ago, to inspect an old Cessna, and Steve couldn't get it out of his head. He'd found it by accident, driving around with a friend of his (Martin--that's a whole 'nother post...)
When they passed by the Chandler airport Steve spotted this plane and they drove in to find out about it. The plane's owner had died of cancer back in September, and the family didn't know what to do with the plane. They guessed it was worth $50,000 and that prompted Steve to hire a professional who specialized in those types of planes to really give it a good going-over.
After the inspection, he offered the family $20,000 since there were some expensive problems that needed fixing before it could be airworthy. They thought about it, for a couple of weeks. Steve called back, offered $5,000 more, and they accepted.



We flew down to Chandler in Tony's plane on Tuesday, and Steve finalized the deal with the family. Then he got to work on the plane's engine.


All in all, the repairs didn't take long and soon Steve was flying it around the pattern:



By the end of the day, we were feeling pretty confident so we hopped in and flew it home.

Now Steve's got a smile as big as the moon, because he's got his first plane.

The "ONE"

Steve found the "ONE" on the internet. I am referring to an airplane. He said we had to get to Phoenix ASAP because this plane was perfect.
So he asked his friend Tony who has a very nice plane to fly us down there on Sunday morning.
Here's Tony and Steve, landing us at the airstrip where we were to be meeting the seller:


On our approach I noticed the dairy farms below. People don't know that the outer edges of Phoenix is littered with those as well as miles and miles of fields growing corn, alfalfa, and maize.

My copilot was Squeak, who is Tony's little friendly Papillon.

She sat there in her little bed on the seat next to me.
Steve typically takes about two hours to inspect a plane he's interested in, and that gives me a LOT of time to get to know the seller, or the seller's wife, or whatever. I keep forgetting to bring a book to read.
This particular seller, Chuck, was married to a lovely woman who shared my political opinions and who also has spent much time volunteering for the elections.
We only had about twenty minutes to talk because Steve suddenly said, "Okay, gotta go!"
Apparently the plane was not what was advertised. Not by a long shot. So we boarded Tony's ride and took off into the beautiful blue skies.
I had nice opportunities to photograph the nuclear power plant, since we flew a little close to it. The steam was quite visible since the temperatures were cool enough:

Now, if you're a terrorist planning the Jihad, please refrain from lifting photos of the nuclear power plant. We like it just the way it is, without bombs in the middle of it and commercial jets crashing into it. Leave the power plant alone!

This is me, with my headset on backwards. I fixed it after I realized it was hurting.


Upon arriving back in Havasu, I took a photo of the "island." It's where our original airport was, across the London Bridge on a 2 mile long peninsula.
I remember commenting to my copilot Squeak that there sure seemed to be more houses crammed into the mainland side of Havasu than what it looks like from down on the ground. We think we're such a big city, until you take one look across the water and see just how small and isolated we are out here in the desert:


The new Super Wal Mart is situated right across from the airport (the current airport) and from the air it was hard to see that it is actually the pit of hell. But I know. Oh yes. I know.


Shay and I were in the pit of hell on Saturday, for he received a Wal Mart gift card from Grandma. Well, as we were in the very back of the store looking at video games, the fire alarm started sounding. The overhead announcement said over and over that a "fire emergency has been averted, however, exit the store immediately for your safety."
We put down our things and started walking toward the front door. The fire alarm continued to sound. I looked around at people and they just went about their shopping, like zombies. Nobody was paying attention to the fire alarm!!! We made it all the way to the exit when the manager came out to the doorway and said, "Sorry, false alarm, go back to your shopping."
I saw the fire truck pulling into the parking lot. We were out of there.

I had no intentions of being in the middle of a stampede in the pit of hell.

Today Steve has called with the news that yet another plane is on his radar. Another "The ONE."