Exploring the simple pleasures in life.
After many years of effort, I have found that the key to true happiness comes with learning to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. It’s in the awesome feeling that you have when the garden is full of beautiful banana peppers. It comes from spending time with the people you love and sharing fantastic adventures with them. This Uncomplicated Life is my way of sharing my journey into finding and enjoying the simple pleasures.
Colorado and Coronavirus Part One
For the last seven years, we have spent our vacation in Florida, wonderful road trips for the last six. With our plans to move to Colorado later this year, we decided to go for our vacation to check it out before we committed.
Paravicini’s Italian Bistro Review
For our last meal in Colorado, we chose Paravicini's Italian Bistro, another restaurant we discovered on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Pho & Grill Review
I had not been feeling well the night before, so Chris decided that we should have pho for lunch. We found Pho & Grill not too far from our cottage in Colorado Springs.
Front Range Barbecue Review
I ordered The Sloppy Pig, the sandwich featured on DDD. The flavor of the pulled pork was on point, some of the best I have had that Chris didn't make himself. The sandwich was so big I wasn't sure how to go about eating it.
Skirted Heifer Review
I was not sure exactly how to eat the creation so started by eating the cheddar skirt. The grilled cheese was crispy and spectacular.
Mountain Shadows Restaurant Review
Their claim to fame is a Giant Cinnamon Roll. The cinnamon roll is very popular and is only available in limited quantities. I noticed in some of the reviews people complained that the cinnamon rolls sell out really fast. As we planned to go for breakfast our first morning in Colorado, after two 12+ hour driving days, I had no expectations that I would be able to get one of the cinnamon rolls.
Jarocha Review
We started with a half-dozen oysters and the Ceviche Jarocho. We live near the James River and have never had oysters in a restaurant as well done as what we had at Jarocha. They were gorgeous!
Hillbilly Hot Dogs Review
The hot dogs were delicious, but the atmosphere is what made it special. From hearing our name announced on the loudspeaker when our order was ready, to them ringing a bell and singing when we put money in the tip jar and the spectacular display of nonsense, the place was just so much fun.
Camp Coffee Making Review
While we don't usually have breakfast at camp, we do enjoy our morning coffee. It's nice to take a few minutes to relax before we start packing up. We weren't really coffee drinkers when we met, so never really needed a coffee maker. After we discovered a coffee that we both love Chris gave me a Bialetti Express Moka Pot.
Restaurant Adarra Review
When we entered, there was a group of people in front of us. We felt like VIPs when immediately we escorted to a spot reserved for us at the bar.
Ozero Heat Resistant BBQ Gloves Review
We used our camp stove for our first two camping trips. After a disastrous episode with wind on our second campout, resulting in us losing most of our dinner, we started just cooking over an open fire. One of the issues with doing so is managing the fire. It gets very hot with almost no temperature control. Chris used our tactical shovel to rearrange the logs as needed, but this proved somewhat ineffective.
Chicken Wings With Barbecue Sauce and Blue Cheese Dip
One of my go-to foods for game day is chicken wings. I started making them over 10 years ago, the first time as a fun dinner for my boys while we watched the SuperBowl. They loved them and over the years I have improved them by tweaking my recipe, using homemade barbeque sauce and blue cheese dip.
Icicles On the Skyline Drive
With a forecast indicating chilly days and a cold night, we headed back to the Luray area to revisit our first camping destination. Most of the campgrounds in the area are not open in the winter, but I managed to find one that could accommodate our needs a little north of Luray.
Albana’s Taverna
We are always looking for a great gyro and order them as often as we find them. Unfortunately, really good gyros are not that common. The best we've had have been in New Orleans, Charleston and now we've found a surprisingly good gyro in the middle of Virginia.