Annual BBQ

Friends of ours live in the mountains and have an annual barbecue. Lots of people, food, music, food, talking, food. You get the idea. Several of the attendees play musical instruments. This year there were mostly guitars and a steel guitar. Some years we get a banjo, fiddle, keyboard, or others. This year only about half the people were able to make it.

There are about 12-15 camping rigs of one kind or another. All camped out around on the property. It is on a cattle ranch and my friends live on the ranch and work for the owner. I have made many new friends and only get to see them at these 3-day campout barbecues.

We don't go and camp out. It is only about 30 minutes from our home. We just drive up for Sat and spend the whole day there. Others who are camping out, arrive on Friday and have an enchilada dinner that night. Sunday morning they all get up and have a joint breakfast. I have never gone back for that. All day Sat is about as much fun as I can handle in one weekend.

On Saturday, the music starts fairly early. They all have breakfast in their campers or motor homes, or there are usually donuts and stuff in the house. About noon out come the dips, chips, salami, cheese, vegetables, cut up fruit, crackers, and more. That gets munched on for a couple hours.

Then they start the huge outdoor grill. I think they cooked about a hundred pounds of tri-tip steak. I am not a meat eater so that sight doesn't really do much for me. Now when the table gets filled with salads, beans, watermelon, potato salad, coleslaw, and who knows what else, well that is when I get excited. The hosts provide chili beans, garlic bread, and the meat. Each family brings a salad or main dish and a dessert. You would not believe how many different desserts are there.

Usually after everyone is stuffed to being sick, there is more music, but this time several of the musicians were leaving. It ended up being an early night. We got there about noon and got home about 10pm to 3 very hungry dogs who were anxious to make a stop on the grass. They were all locked inside the house all day. They had slept all day and were ready for some play.

I am glad this only happens once a year. What with Christmas and Thanksgiving and this BBQ, I may be three times my size in a few years.

When I was on the plein air trip Wednesday, above are some of the photos I took. Click on the pictures for a larger view. WetCanvas members have my permission to use these flower photos.