Moser Good Eats and Good Times: McKenzie Family Visit

The Property, the Ponderosa, the Farm…all names for our home in Volcano, it just depends on who you talk to. From 1992 when we bought our 40 acres in the Sierra foothills just outside of the little town of Volcano, Verne and I have referred to it as the Property. Not sure why, but it just seemed to fit. At some point Scott started calling it the Ponderosa, probably in reference to the old TV series Bonanza about the adventures of the Cartwright family or it could be because we live on Ponderosa Trail, just off of Ponderosa Way (there are a lot of Ponderosa’s in Amador County). Jeff and his family refer to it as the Farm. That could be because we have always raised animals of some kind. We are down to two donkeys, a field full of cattle (owned by our neighbor), and about 35-40 chickens. When the girls were at home and active in 4H we had ducks, geese, chickens, rabbits, pigs, cattle and sheep. Jeff, Trish, and at that point their two boys, Parker and baby Peyton, actually lived in the cabin (now the Studio) for about six months as they transitioned from living in San Francisco to El Dorado Hills. We have a favorite story we tell about Parker. He was about 3 years old and very much like his parents…he didn’t like to get dirty. I wanted a picture of him holding one of our newborn lambs so we posed him sitting on a rock and I placed the lamb in his arms. Parker didn’t like the way the lamb smelled and he said, “It’s di-sgusting!” with great emphasis on the “di”. Cute. To this day if we find something unpleasant, we say it is DI-SGUSTING and smile at the memory of Parker and the lamb.

We’ve been talking about selling the Property and downsizing for a few years now. Actually, according to Lauren we’ve had a two-year plan to downsize for over ten years now and our kids have come to consider our talk of selling an empty threat. That is, all but Jeff. My talk of having met with a realtor a few months ago got his attention and he decided to bring his family for one last visit to the Farm. If I’d known talking to a realtor would result in a visit from the McKenzies, who now reside clear across the United States in Newtown, Connecticut, I would have done it sooner.

Verne and I decided the highlight of their short visit with us would be an afternoon spent working on the ‘50 Chevy pickup that will eventually be theirs. Our hope was that by spending a little time “working” on the pickup, the boys might bond with it (in an abstract sort of way). I’ll be honest here…this was really not Verne’s idea and he thought it was a bad one. He couldn’t believe the kids would want to spend time in his dirty old barn working on a dirty old pickup, a pile of rusty metal. When I heard that they’d spent their first day in NorCal rafting on the American River, I had to agree with him. But it was too late to come up with a better idea.

Let me give you a short history of the pickup. Much of Verne’s (and his brother Keith’s) early life was spent on a farm in Washington. At a very early age the two boys learned to drive the very ‘50 Chevy pickup that sits (in pieces) in our barn. Verne figures he was about 10 when he started driving and Keith a few years younger. Before Verne and I moved to NorCal and later to the Property, he got the pickup and had hopes of restoring it to its original condition. It became a project that he occasionally worked on with Jeff. They didn’t get far with it, but I do have pictures of the two of them power washing and later sanding the truck to ready it for primer and paint. These apparently were happy memories, because Jeff feels a certain connection to the pickup and a couple of years ago told me that he’d like to have it. This was great news because for the past several years we’ve been in “get rid of all the old cars” mode (part of the downsizing plan). Here’s the problem…it has to be drivable to be shipped or transported the 3,000 miles from Volcano, CA to Newtown, CT. It is far from being drivable. In fact, when Verne most recently started this project again, it was literally scattered all over the barn, inside and out. It seemed impossible, but he has worked on gathering all the pieces and is gradually putting it back together. Impressive.

When we walked down to the barn with the McKenzies in tow the plan was to make the pickup movable (by putting on the wheels and tires) and push it outside to be power washed (a perfect job for three boys on a hot day). Verne approached the project just as he had with 15-year old Jeff all those years ago. He put the kids to work by having each of them put a tire on the pickup and tighten the lug nuts. After that, he had them raise the hydraulic jack and remove the floor jacks from under the truck. Next, Peyton got into the dirty cab and steered as the rest of the boys pushed the truck from the barn. The boys took turns thoroughly power washing it getting every nook and cranny from top to bottom and inside and out. The overspray, some of it quite intentional and always accompanied with a mischievous grin, kept us all cool and engaged in the project.

Peyton power washing

Parker power washing with a little help from Dad

'50 Chevy Pickup

Jeff, Verne, Patrick, Parker and Peyton

Afterwards, Peyton got into Verne’s ‘52 restored truck and Verne had him start it up. Everything is unexpected when it comes to Crazy Grandpa. (You don’t get that name for being cautious.) You’ve got to remember that Peyton is only 13 and probably has never sat behind the wheel of a car and started it. Sitting in that big truck and actually starting it up, hearing it rumble and roar, was quite the thrill. He timidly pressed the accelerator and then a little harder and the engine revved. He laughed. We all laughed. It was so cute. He later told me that he’s going to drive the ‘50 Chevy pickup to school when he gets his license. I don’t know if Parker or Patrick were enamored with the pickup, but I do know that Peyton will go home with visions of someday driving that old truck to school and being the coolest guy on campus. Driving a ‘50 Chevy pickup to high school in the year 2020 will certainly be unique.

Peyton driving with Patrick and Parker

I think our afternoon hanging out around the barn and working on the pickup was definitely a highlight for the kids. Of course, everything in life is relative, so I guess you’d need to know how we spent the rest of our time together to understand how the experience I’ve described above could be a highlight. All five McKenzies love coconut and when they lived in the area would often stop at Andrae’s Bakery in Amador City for macaroons. We headed for Amador City Friday morning hoping we wouldn’t be disappointed and that Matt Andrae would have macaroons for sale. We made two stops on the way. Our first stop was to visit my MFP buddy who is a master jerky maker. Jeff and Peyton have talked about making jerky for almost two years now and have yet to muster the courage to take out Peyton’s dehydrator (one of the more creative birthday gifts we’ve given to a grandchild) and make beef jerky. I haven’t made jerky before (don’t like the stuff) so I arranged the meeting with Dennis as he is an authority on the subject and loves to teach others. He was ready for us with samples to taste, a handout detailing the steps to making jerky and important considerations, and his favorite recipe. Just the kind of encouragement the boys needed to go home and make jerky. We next stopped by our friend Otti’s home to pick figs for our crostini-fig-blue cheese appetizer planned for that evening. That was another fun experience (at least to my way of thinking). We finally made it to Amador City and bought a bag of macaroons. Andrae’s has changed some over the last ten years, but their macaroons are as good as ever. Since we were out running around, I suggested we show them the #4 tailing wheel off of Jackson Gate Road that has been semi-restored and preserved in a beautiful glass building for viewing. We opted to not give them the full tour, which includes the Kennedy Mine, as our last experience taking kids on that tour was met with marginal enthusiasm. It’s hard to compete with places like Disneyland and Harry Potter World. Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing the tailing wheel though. We took a few pictures and were back in the van and on our way home. The kids were great on our road trip around town. Never any indication they were bored. Never a complaint. No sign of electronics. Total engagement in what we were doing. That’s a miracle. That just about covers our morning that preceded the afternoon’s adventure, the highlight of our time together, working on the ‘50 Chevy pickup.

Jeff and family left the following morning for SoCal to spend a week with Trish’s parents. According to Jeff, the boys had a great time “at the Farm” and said, “Why don’t we come more often?” Success!

A few more pictures...