Today we paid a visit to this very famous cheese place, the Tillamook Cheese Factor in Tillamook, Oregon. It was fascinating watching the processes for making their cheese and ice cream there. Yes, they make ice cream as well!
When we entered the building, we went to the cheese tasting area. From the tasting area we progressed into the display area and loaded up on some their fantastic cheeses. I went directly to the Habanero Jack Cheese, the Garlic Red Pepper Cheddar, the Extra Sharp Cheddar, and the Pepper Jack cheese to put into my shopping basket.
Then we proceeded to grab an ice cream! The Tillamook ice cream, I had a double scoop of their old fashion vanilla, was very tasty and very smooth! I have been known to be considered an ice cream connoisseur by people in the know!
(Today I chose not to be a diabetic!)
Even though Tillamook distributes their product throughout the USA, there were a few of their cheeses that I have not seen in my local supermarket. Therefore, I slipped a couple of the cheeses that I tested in the tasting room into my shopping basket.
If you have never tried their Habanero Jack Cheese or their Garlic Red Pepper Cheddar, you will do yourself a favor by gabbing some and put it on some Triscuit Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil crackers. It will be some mighty fine snacks!
Well it has been about 33 years since I have been to some AMA flat track motorcycle races, and tonight I am at the Petaluma Speedway taking in some bike races!
It is really cool to watch the riders lay their bikes, and let the foot pegs drag. The boys were handle bar to handle bar and really “twisting the wick”!
So far this summer vacation has been extremely fun, as well as relaxing.
We stopped at the Russian River Winery Friday. We tried some of their wines, both white and red. What I found to be intriguing was that their Red Zinfandel was quite intriguing!
This area is known for it’s pinot noir and chardonnay grapes, however, this particular winery produces a very flavorful Red Zinfandel.
It is a 2009 vintage sold under the label of “Chester” Zinfandel:
Redwood Valley with a price tag of $23. This product is named after the “winery pooch”. The label has his picture, Chester, on it!!
More to come about the Russian River Valley and the associated wineries in the area!
This weekend, the Memorial holiday weekend, marks the traditional beginning of the American summer. It signals to most to dust off the grill, clean the boat, get a new swimming suit, re-condition the waters skis, work on your sun tan, and for some work on your basal cell carcinomas, but mostly just enjoy the freedom of the outdoors. Yes it is a time for friends and family to have fun.
This weekend most families will gather in backyard, the beach, the lake, the river, at their relatives houses, having fun, grilling, and enjoying their freedom.
There is that word again, freedom! That word is one of just a few that continuously seems to find its way into the vocabulary of American culture. We have the freedom to go where ever we so desire. We have the basic freedom of speech. We enjoy freedom of religion, or freedom not to participate in an organized a religion. We have the freedom of the press to print all the news that is fit to be the news, without fear of recrimination!
It would appear that we have it all, and we do.
Notwithstanding, all those freedoms that we, as Americans, have the privileges of enjoying, comes with a very high price tag. Someone must provide those freedoms by defending our culture and way of life when necessary. Those defenders are none other than some of “us”. The “us” that I am talking about comes from our finest young men and women this country has to offer. These defenders are our sons and daughters, our moms and dads, our aunts and uncles, our brothers and sisters.
It is odd that we call upon our youth to defend our principles, our culture, and our way of life. We call upon these people to train as warriors in order to defend our freedom by fighting aggression, terrorism, and tyranny worldwide. Unfortunately, these fine young people sometimes to pay the ultimate price for our freedom by giving their life! As we all know, there is a very huge price for our way of life.
There are two very important principals to remember this weekend:
1. Freedom is never free!
2. These are ordinary folks doing extraordinary things!
Together, across the years of our nation’s history, they answered the call.
They stood the watch.
They looked neither left nor right.
They did not search for an exit.
They walked steadily and unafraid into mortal danger, knowing all the risks and all the costs.
SEMPER FIDELIS!
This weekend is a holiday designed to recognize the men and women in our military. However, it is really a time to honor those who have paid the ultimate price for freedom, laying down their life so that our way of life will continue to thrive.
To all my family and friends who have served in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, I salute you!
To all those who have lost loved ones while defending our country, your loved ones will never be forgotten! I salute you as well!
I will leave you with this from John 15:13
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his country/family/brothers/friends”
I hope that you will listen to the words of this chilling song by Trace Atkins and the West Point Choir.
Say a prayer for peace for our daughters and our sons!
(UAL Flt 175 prior to impacting The World Trade Center Bldg.)
On September 11, 2001, we suffered the worst terrorist attack in the history of the USA. It was a moment that reverberated around the world instantly. Within just a few days our government issued a promise that “we would do whatever it takes to bring the individual(s) to justice”.
The USA put into a plan, worldwide, to hunt down, apprehend, and bring the individual(s) to justice.
As the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months, and the months turned into years, the idea of keeping that promise seemed to fade into the distant past. It appeared that the Taliban and Saddam Hussein had replaced Osama bin Laden as the prime focus in our war on terrorism over the past nine and one half years. Rarely would the name of Osama bin Laden come up on newscasts or in newsprint.
However, out of the clear blue, on Sunday night May 1, 2011, Osama bin Laden’s name re-appeared front and center in the news like a bolt of lightening. On that evening the news organizations, worldwide, initially reported that the USA had found, captured, and killed Osama bin Laden in a city not far from the Pakistan capital city of Islamabad! It now appears that bin Laden had lived in that compound for the last 5-6 years!
How can it happen that the world’s most wanted terrorist could live, without any detection, in a large city in Pakistan, an ally of the USA? The city of Abbottabad, Pakistan has a large military presence, both active duty and retired, living in this city. As a matter of fact, Osama binLaden’s compound was situated less than 10 minutes from Pakistan’s equivalent of West Point Military Academy! Is that incredulous or what?
I find it inconceivable that the world’s most wanted terrorist could hideout within plain sight of thousands of people!
Nevertheless, to the people who died on September 11, 2001, in the World Trade Center buildings, FDNY firefighters, the NYPD, innocent bystanders on the ground, and all the flight crewmembers, May 1, 2011, has culminated in the death of the orchestrator of that devilish terrorist plot that has defined the first decade of the 21st century.
Notwithstanding, the threat of terrorism still rages on worldwide! However, the USA has delivered a huge blow to terrorism with the elimination of Osama bin Laden!
So to my friend and coworker, Captain Jason Dahl, and to all his crew on UAL flight 93 that crashed in a field in PA, to the crewmembers of UAL flight 175 that crashed into the World Trade Center, and lastly to the crewmembers of both AA flights 11 and 77……..
A PROMISE MADE, A PROMISE KEPT!
REST PEACEFUL MY FRIENDS, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOUR SACRIFICE!
(Captain Blowdri and a T-37 at the USAF Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB)
I am a child of the 50′s, 60′s, and 70′s, and I love that music.
The music from that era is is some of the greatest music of the century! How can you not like music from Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and The Eagles?
There is no argument that “the young man from Tupelo, MS”,Elvis Presley, changed contemporary/pop music. In fact that is probably the single largest understatement of all time! The hits that Elvis cranked out were undoubtedly some of the biggest classics of the 50′s and early 60′s. He drastically changed the face of music that was played on the radio in the 50′s blending blues with a new form of music termed “rock and roll”. Elvis put his mark on history music charting hits like “Heartbreak Hotel”, “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”, “In The Ghetto”, and “Viva Las Vegas”, just to name a few.
Notwithstanding the mark left by Elvis, on January 7, 1964 the music world changed once again with the beginning of “the British invasion”. On that day four lads from Liverpool England boarded a jet bound for the Ed Sullivan show in New York City. Those four young men, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Richard “Ringo Starr” Starkey, better known asThe Beatleswould impact the music industry in much the same fashion that Elvis did some ten years earlier.
The music of “the Fab Four” again would change the face of rock and roll music. Like the music of Elvis, the music of the The Beatles still lives on, and will will for many decades. Songs like “Something”,” Help!”, “Yesterday”, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, and “She loves You”, just to name a few of their #1 charting songs.
A music changed occurred once again on June 26, 1972, just eight years after “the British invasion”, a four member band released their first album that charted 3 top 40 hits, “Take It Easy”, “Witchy Woman”, and “Peaceful Easy Feeling”. That band is none other than The Eagles. The Eagles went through a few changes in band members over their history, however, Don Henley and Glen Frey remained the focal core for the band. The band produced chart hits like “Desperado”, “Tequila Sunrise”, “Lyin’ Eyes”, “Take It To The Limits”, “One of These Nights”, “Heartache Tonight”, and their signature hit, “Hotel California”. Once again the rock and roll genre made another big change!
In the mid to late 80′s the rock and roll made still another change with the infusion of hip-hop/rap. It was at that time that I gravitated to a different genre of music, the music that I remember my dad listening to, country music.
At this time, in the 80′s, there was a group of four boys from Ft. Payne, AL that burst onto the country music scene. The group consisted of Randy Owens, Teddy Gentry, Jeff Cook, and drummer Mark Herndon. We know them asAlabama!
Alabama charted hits like, “Mountain Music”, “She and I”, “Love In The First Degree”, “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)”, “My Home’s In Alabama”, “Why Lady Why”, Dixieland Delight”, “If Your Going To Play In Texas”, “Feels So Right”, and “Forever’s As Far I’ll Go”, just to highlight a few of their accomplishments.
Alabama bridged the gap that existed between rock and roll, and country music. Their music was welcomed, and played, on both country music stations, as well as, rock and roll stations. The boys from Ft.Payne paved the way for country music acts like Brooks and Dunn, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, and Taylor Swift whose music is classified as “cross-over music”, thus getting air time on both rock and country stations.
When I play some old Alabama, things just “feel so right”! It brings back memories of when I was a child, my dad watching and enjoying, a local country music TV show that originated from KERO TV channel 10 in Bakersfield, CA, called “Cousin Herb’s Trading Post”. Forty years ago I thought that country music was so old fashioned.
Guess what, I have returned to my roots!
So check out this Brad Paisley video while he plays you some “Old Alabama”! Maybe you will return to a place where things just “feel so right”!
(Captain Blowdri and Clint Bowyer’s race car @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway)
Last weekend was my annual trek to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR race weekend. In addition to the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series races at this facility, there were two nights of lightening fast World of Outlaws Sprint Car races on the 1/2 mile clay track, located behind turn four and to the west of the NHRA drag strip on this world class racing complex, consisting of 1200 acres.
I have only missed one race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway since NASCAR started racing there in 1998. This year the weather cooperated and was quite nice, in the mid 70′s during the daytime. In the past, the weather was always of come concern. The heat has been as high as in the mid 80′s one year, however in 2006, it snowed on us Friday night in our RV’s! The weather in Las Vegas in the last of February/first of March is a crap shoot!
This year I purchased two weekend passes to the Neon Garage. What a great idea! The Neon Garage passes let you out into the infield. That pass gives you access to pit road, the limited garage area, as well to an entertainment area that is really cool!
One of the many cool things about going to the NASCAR races in Vegas is the fact that the race track lies just across the street and a little NW of Nellis AFB. During this time of the year, there is a wide a varied conglomeration of both US Air Force and NATO allies aircraft transiting to and through Nellis AFB. But the treat of the whole weekend is watching the USAF precision flight team, known more commonly as the USAF Thunderbirds, practice and prepare for their upcoming yearly tour.
It is quite a show for all the race fans to watch on a daily basis!
For both the Nationwide race on Saturday, and the Sprint Cup race on Sunday, the dominate race car did not win the race! Saturday “Blazingly Bad” Brad Keselowski had a sure win until he experienced a right front tire blowing out in the middle of turns 1 and 2 on the very last lap. Luckily for him, he was able to hustle the car around to squeek in a third place finish. On Sunday Tony Stewart was the dominating race car for most all of the race, however, some misguided pit strategy extremely late in the race relegated him to a second place finish!
Brad Paisley just finished his four song set at Daytona International Speedway. His song set consisted of “This is Country Music”, “Mud On The
Tires”,”American Saturday Night”, & “Water”.
Mr. Paisley really rocked the Daytona International Speedway crowd this afternoon!!
As you can see, the race track is getting all the final equipment in place for the Brad Paisley pre race concert, as well as the driver intros.
For those who have never made the pilgrimage to Daytona, the atmosphere is electric, the fans are energized, and excitement is in the air! Today’s race promises to deliver intensity and excitement for the fans.
The underlying story line is the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt,Sr’s death. As we all remember, it was in the last turn of the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 that the tragedy occurred, forever impacting motor sports.
Can Michael Waltrip visit victory lane as he did for his very first time on the bone chilling Sunday afternoon? Can Dale Earnhardt,Jr. win his second Harley J. Earl trophy, a fitting tribute to his father, The Intimidator!
Those questions and many more will be answered in about 6 hours. So tune into “The Great American Race” to see what unfolds!
Til next time, I am still working on my REDNECK!
This message is sent to via Leon Hammack’s smokin iPhone!
