We initiated the new pickup

Last Saturday was Rick’s birthday. We decided to take a drive and while discussing where we should go, hit on the idea of going to Thermopolis. We have a friend there who collects old tractors and hit-and-miss engines, and hadn’t visited him and his wife in quite a while. In fact, it had been several years since we had been to their house. We had seen them at shows and the like, and he had offered to give Rick an old plow called a “grasshopper.” Since we had never gotten down to get it, we decided that Rick’s birthday was as good a time as any. After calling John to make sure he was going to be home and hearing from him that he needed Rick’s help on some other tractors, we loaded up the snackle box and headed out. 

Generally, when we go away Scotchy is somewhat miffed, but content to stay at home. I don’t know what the deal was, but she was NOT going to stay home that day. She made it very clear, so we all piled into the pickup and took off. 

After a short stop in Basin for gas and a water dish for the dog, the drive south commenced. It was a nice day for a drive: no storms in the vicinity and hot enough to make me really appreciate the air conditioning in the pickup. Rick doesn’t really care, but Scotchy and I sure enjoyed it. It is always fun to see how the farm crops are doing around the area. We tend to irritate people because while I don’t drive as slow as Rick used to, I do tend to poke along at about 60 miles per hour, which is slower than most people want to go. 

The first order of business when we got to Thermopolis was to get the plow loaded. I can see why they call it a grasshopper plow: the frame looks like the front half of a grasshopper while the mold boards look like the high hind legs. It really does resemble a grasshopper. Once the plow was loaded, we headed out to a late friend’s house where John was working on the tractors for the heir, who wants them all running again. There’s a bunch of them. 

After some time looking over John’s engine collection, we said our goodbyes and headed home. As we headed out of town, I just had to remark to Rick that we initiated the Silverado pickup into the family: it was hauling its first load of junk home. 

Baked Apple Tapioca

3 cups sliced apples. 

2 ½ cup water

¼ teaspoon cloves

½ cup quick cooking tapioca

½ cup red cinnamon candies

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter

¼ cup lemon juice

Arrange apples in a greased 3-quart casserole. Combine the rest of the ingredients except butter and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue cooking at a hard boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add butter and lemon juice. Stir until butter melts. Pour over apples, cover and bake in moderately heated oven for about 45 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.