Wonderful story!

Happy T-Giving to all & their Vanagons,

Mr. BZ-how big a turkey can I get in a 12" Dutch Oven?

On Nov 25, 2009, at 3:16 PM, Andrew Martin wrote:

> I never roasted a turkey IN my van but I had a dang fine
> Thanksgiving turkey
> dinner with all the fixin's while camping at the Mora Campground
> near Rialto
> Beach in the Olympic National Park in WA.
>
> It was raining hard and windy as all get up but I hung a tarp
> between the
> Westy and the fire pit, built a small fire, and cooked a whole
> turkey breast
> over campfire while cooking the veggies inside in my tiny aluminum
> backpacking pots.  (Only Florian will get the attached photo)
>
> My surprise dinner companion was a retired school teacher from Ohio
> who'd
> shown up after dark the evening before.  She made two passes through
> the
> deserted campground before stopping at my site and approaching my
> campfire
> to ask if I minded if she made camp in the site directly across from
> me.  I
> assured her it was fine and invited her to sit by the fire after she
> was
> situated.
>
> We chatted late into the night while her traveling companion, a long
> haired
> tortoise shell cat, investigated the shadows and appeared every few
> minutes
> to make sure she was still there.
>
> She told me about her solo travels around the country during school
> breaks
> and after her retirement.  She been all over the US and Canada,
> camped and
> hiked in all the well known National and Provincial Parks, she even
> hiked
> the Chilkoot Trail from outside Skagway AK, over Chilkoot Pass and
> into the
> Yukon.  (I'll bet she always had well behaved students who wouldn't
> dare
> push her around!)
>
> Before saying goodnight we agreed to "potluck" a Thanksgiving dinner
> the
> next day.  I hadn't told her that I brought turkey, squash, green
> beans,
> potatoes, carrots, cranberry sauce and stuffing.
>
> Boy was she surprised when she saw what I was up to the next
> morning.  Since
> we were celebrating in my Westy (more spacious than he Ch*vy
> conversion van
> she drove) I cooked up the veggies between hopping in and out of the
> van
> checking on the roasting turkey while she told me more stories of her
> regular summer exploits and politely tried to convert me.
>
> After an excellent meal (if I do say so myself) and cleaning up the
> Westy,
> she excused herself, went to her van briefly and came back with a
> piece of
> pumpkin pie she'd purchased at the diner in Forks the day before.
> Incredible!
>
> In the morning we said our goodbyes and exchanged e-mail address.
> I'm sure
> she's still out there somewhere; I seem to recall her cat's name was
> "Jesse".
>
> This year my sweetheart and I are going to Seattle in the morning to
> help
> prepare a meal for some folks we don't really know and later we're
> having
> our own Thanksgiving dinner at home with friends we don't often
> see.  I have
> much to be thankful for.
>
> Andrew
> Bainbridge Island WA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of
> Florian Speier
> Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 11:46 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: is anyone going to roast a turkey in the van?
>
> title says it all. just wondering. If you do, please share pictures.
> thanks and happy thanksgiving.
> Florian