"The Alask-Can Grill"

We met Chuck and Val here at the RV Park over the Xmas holidays. They joined us at the KOA New Year’s Eve party and later at our RV site to celebrate the arrival of 2010. They are a special couple and, together with Leah, their 10 yr. old yellow lab, they have traveled extensively through Canada, in the western states and into the Baja and west coast of Mexico. This year, they decided to try out Texas and we’re glad they did.

A few days after the New Year’s Eve party, Chuck and Val came to see us about organizing a fish fry for about 40 people. Chuck and Val have a nice site but not big enough to entertain that big a group. Alternatively, our site is open on the one side, well-lit and can easily manage a large group. So we said, “Sounds good but where are we going to get enough fish to feed 40 people?” Well, Chuck advised he had a freezer in the undercarriage of his coach – full with 50 pounds of fish direct from Alaska! Seems Chuck wanted to unload his stash from Alaska so, in turn, he can re-load the freezer with Gulf shrimp before he starts to head home in late February.

So we commenced the planning process: picking a date that looked good for weather, sending out invitations, figuring out what else should accompany the fish and who should bring what, and sorting out the cooking equipment and placement (“Safety First”)! We even came up with a theme – wear something fishy to the fishy event! Everyone who was invited was excited about attending and, before we knew it, January 21st had arrived. Mother Nature was SO good to us – the weather was gorgeous and little or no wind! The party was supposed to start around 3:00 but people began arriving around 1:00. Every person wore some little thing that was fishy – from wearing fishing vests to wearing lures as jewellery to fishing vests to wearing fish nets as a hat! All were eager to help out and share the day and the moment.

With so many contributions, it was so easy to host this party. People brought olive and cheese trays, special ordeurves, potato salads and cole slaws, fresh corn and lots of butter (yes, corn-on-the-cob is available in Texas in January), devilled eggs (they were the 1st to go), and desserts (home-made brownies, banana breads and two Apple Spice cakes). One of the treats our friend Lori from Texas brought was her own rendition of Mediterranean Skewers comprised of jalapeno smoked sausage, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, mozzarella, artichoke hearts and fresh basil – mmmmmm…mmmmmm! And no need to supply paper plates and utensils because RV-ers are used to bringing their own place settings and chairs.

We had three gas fire pits running and we even had our own photographer – our friend Larry grabbed his camera and snapped some great shots!
At some point, our friend Jim from Wisconsin snuck in this one of Chuck (on the left) and Larry (on the right) in the Party Zone.

And, as always, the KOA folks were terrific – they delivered the KOA portable picnic tables and were so helpful when it came time for clean-up! Oh – I almost forgot Cia and Gail’s “Jello Shots” (you could hardly taste the Vodka)!


But the hi-lite of the night, without doubt, was the fish! Chuck and Val provided Chinook (King), Sockeye (Red), Coho (Silver), White King and Halibut as well as smoked Sockeye! and we LOVED every single bite! The batter was so fine you hardly could tell it was a batter. And tasty? Well, everyone tried to compare one bite of one type of fish to another but one could not top the other – every bite was DEE-lish and COM-pletely yummy! The smoked salmon. It was about an inch thick and pre-cut into small chunks - thank goodness or I would have tried to pick up the whole filet myself!

An awesome time was had by all. It was a memorable event for everyone – people are still talking about it! And surprise, surprise, there was another adventure to come with Chuck and Val – a short (and unexpected) trip to Mexico! As soon as I sort out the pics, I’ll share some of those stories next week… hope you’ll come back to see us then… m.