A Tribute to Big Charlie, our 2004 Toyota Sienna

We owned Big Charlie, our stalwart 2004 beige ("desert sand mica" colored to be exact) Toyota Sienna, for over 16 years. With kids in college, we decided to sell it to someone who could use it, but it is still running well at 167,700 miles.

Good ol' Big Charlie

Prior to buying it, Andy had scoffed at the concept of buying a mini van, but with two young kids and a large dog, we could no longer deny the extreme pragmatism of it. We researched brands and finally came down to a close call between the Sienna and a Honda Odyssey. We bought Big Charlie new in April of 2003 (an early release 2004 model redesign) for about $26 K. This car has been ridiculously reliable, and other than routine maintenance, we never had a major issue- what a great value and total-cost-of-ownership over these years.

Crafting with license plates- when you own a car a long time and get periodic replacements

A lot transpires when you own a car over a 16 year period. When we purchased Charlie, both of our kids were in car seats. Eventually both kids learned to drive using it, and both are now in college.

There are so many things we've experienced and appreciated about Charlie over the years:

• It's big! The first time we took it home, we were shocked to find that we had to fold the driver-side mirror in to (barely) squeeze it into our Richfield garage
• The motorized passenger door was great when trying to wrestle a toddler into a car seat. Over time, though, as the seal aged, it would begin to freeze in the winter, so there were a few times I had to pour hot water along the door to get it to open
• Extremely low maintenance. Charlie has been a dream to maintain, with very few problems over the years
• A great vehicle for family trips, driving to the family cabin or Duluth. You just open up the back hatch and throw all your crap in without having to organize it. Back in the old days, we had a travel VHS player that we would hang from the front seats for the kids to watch on long trips. We've driven numerous times to Chicago, Kansas City, WI Dells, Madison, etc. Our longest trip in Charlie was our 2006 loop through the Badlands, Rapid City, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Springs, Denver, Lincoln and Omaha. Near the end, Andy's back was hurting so much from being in the car that he had to lay on his back in the cargo area while I drove us home from Omaha 

Approached by wildlife while trying to get something from the rear, Badlands, 2006

Trip through Northern Minnesota

Four Toyotas at the cabin- there seems to be a theme...

• There have been a number of times we've driven with the maximum 7 people, including family events, birthday parties, sports teams, etc.

Kids and a golden retriever

(OK- this is actually my sister-in-law's beige Toyota Sienna, but you get the idea)

Max capacity- on an outing for Will's birthday party-he's goofing off before we even leave the driveway

• A great car for tailgating, picnics and drive-in movies

Getting the cooler

Tailgating before a drive-in movie

• Charlie always gets surprisingly good mileage, generally over 26 MPG
• It's so easy to drive- great visibility, and it's turn radius is phenomenal. Also a great car for teaching novice drivers, and it was reassuring to know they were in a fairly safe car

New driver

Another new driver

Then again, once the kids start driving...

• We've used it a number of times for moving, including when we moved from Richfield to Bloomington, and moving our kids to and from college. Andy's mother used it to drive a set of baby furniture down to Iowa. The back seats are removable for more cargo area. We've hauled lumber, mulch, landscaping rock and huge amounts of groceries for parties. I was even able to buy an enormous kayak as a gift for Andy and maneuver it into Charlie myself

Barely squeezing in a new kayak

Moving kids to and from college

Graduation open house shopping

• We installed a hitch, and it was great to haul all four of our bikes around. When the kids were young, we hauled the Burley in the back cargo area along with the bikes

Hauling bikes and a Burley

• 15 cup holders! For you statistics folks, that's 2.1 beverages for each passenger under max conditions
• A great car for hauling dogs. We've owned three dogs during Charlie's tenure. We could never figure out how Duchess could sense when we were getting close to the cabin without changing speeds or turning, but without fail she would start whining with anticipation when we were a few miles away. Sadie was a sweet dog, but dumb. Once she "got lost" in the van and couldn't find her way out even though I was calling her over and over through the open passenger door. I actually had to get into the van myself to guide her out. Chester was such an easy and eager traveler. He jumped in without hesitation and very quickly went to sleep, usually in the most inconvenient spot on the floor

Sadie going places in Charlie

• While beige minivans can seem ubiquitous, there are times that's an advantage: it seems that beige mini vans have cloaking devices. We've never been pulled over or had a speeding ticket

Pulled into the grocery parking lot, and parked by two other beige Siennas

• Over the years his stereo equipment got more and more outdated. Nobody has listened to a cassette tape for years, but we were able to buy first an audio jack-to-cassette and then a Bluetooth-to-radio station converter to keep the music rolling
• We rode Charlie hard with our 2018 Ragnar race. Six of us drove along a 200 mile, 36 hour course, getting in and out, eating granola bars and stashing our stinky gear in the back

2018 Great River Ragnar

Charlie was "rode hard and put up wet"

• Charlie rose to the challenge again transporting team members for the 2019 Ragnar Trail Wisconsin in Wausau. Our team was named in his honor.

Good old Big Charlie. We'll miss him.

Camp Dutch Oven and Campfire Cooking

Since we bought our camper this summer, we've been exploring more outdoor cooking, including in our 12" camp dutch oven (camp dutch ovens have three legs on the bottom to be placed over hot coals).

Our Camp Chef 12" Camp Dutch Oven

I've read a number of cookbooks and searched for recipes online- given the nature of the multiple variables with outdoor cooking, don't expect exact instructions. The trick is to get the right number of charcoal briquettes going below the pot and on the lid, to rotate the pot regularly (we use the claw of an old hammer to lift the lid and lift the bail handle of the pot). We use long tongs to move the briquettes around and place them on the lid.

St Croix State Park

Here are some recipes we've tried.

We made this Sausages and peppers cooked in beer recipe at St Croix State Park. It turned out well, and was pretty fool-proof, since we started with cooked brats that wouldn't kill us if they were a bit underdone.

We cooked broccoli on top of the hot coals on the dutch oven lid

Next, we cooked chicken in coconut milk while hanging with family at the Golden Chipmunk campground in Wascott, Wi. We had the dutch oven cooking over briquettes in the fire pit and built a wood fire to the side over which we seared brussels sprouts (in a cast iron skillet, of course) with our new tripod over the fire.

Enjoying a beer while rotating the pot every few minutes to avoid hotspots. A claw-hammer makes a great tool to lift the pot and lid

Brussels sprouts looking good, too

What fun is camping without coffee? French press in the morning and the mid-afternoon Italian espresso

William O'Brien State Park, we created our own chicken stew. We heated oil in the bottom of the pot over briquettes (it took a while to get the briquettes to heat up- it had been raining all day and the fire pit was soaking- plan extra time with this kind of cooking) and browned about 5 pieces of skin-on, bone-in chicken. Then we added some water and some chopped vegetables: parsnips, small new potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, as well as some rosemary and thyme. We let the whole thing cook down, stirring occasionally and rotating the pot. The veggies softened up in the chicken fat and everything caramelized a bit. The final results were AMAZING. We're definitely doing this again!

Trying to get the briquettes to heat up in a wet fire ring

Cooking next to a fire to help the briquettes along

I don't have any pictures of the final result as it was pitch dark when it was done, but that was part of the fun.

In June, 2020, we cooked right on the edge of Superior at Lamb's campground. I tried baking in the Dutch oven for the first time. I cooked sourdough biscuits (below), then used the hot coals to cook a from-scratch 9" chocolate cake. They both came out beautifully. The second night, we cooked pork chops with mushrooms in cider vinegar.

Half-batch of sourdough biscuits cooked in the Dutch oven

Pork and veggies in a cider sauce

Later in June 2020, we stayed at Fort Ridgely State Park. We cooked pork chops seasoned with ranch powder in oil over the fire grate, potatoes roasted in foil, and broccoli over the lid of the dutch oven over the fire. I made sourdough flatbread and cooked it over the fire grate- it was really good (recipe below). We cooked chicken marbella in the Dutch oven, but placed the pot in the fire coals rather than using briquettes. It was really good. We also cooked apple crisp in foil packets. And we always enjoy coleslaw while camping, and tried a new peanut coleslaw dressing. We tried making cherry crisp in the Dutch oven, and it was a fail, only because the canned cherry pie filling we used was so bad- we won't do that again.

Pork chops and broccoli over fire, potatoes in foil in fire

Starting chicken marbella, grilled sourdough flatbreads

Apple crisp foil packets

In July 2020, we did a 1-week camping trip. It took a good deal of meal planning and advanced preparation, but we ended up eating very well all week. In addition to many of the recipes we've enjoyed previously, I made a batch of shredded pork ahead of time that we froze then heated for dinner and served with ranch beans.
I made "woof'em" sticks out of two sizes of dowels, and we made woof'ems (or campfire eclairs) with chocolate pudding centers (we've since learned that butterscotch pudding is even better). We also tried roasting Easter Peeps marshmallows, but they didn't turn out as good as plain regular marshmallows. A roasted marshmallow dipped in Baileys is a nice treat, too.

Roasting woof'ems, WI Dells, July 2020

Campfire breakfast- sausage patties, biscuits roasted on the grate, egg scrambles in the pie iron. Door County, July 2020

Coffee break and fresh cherries (including a cherry pit spit-kick contest) - Madeline Island, July 2020

Finally, I anticipated that anything chocolate would melt in the hot car and campsite, so I didn't make chocolate chip cookies but rather asked my former colleague Dennis for his rice krispies treat recipe, as the ones he always brought to work potlucks were soft and chewy. This makes a BIG batch, but they stay soft for some time, and they're great for camping and travel.

In August of 2020, we went to Frontenac State Park. We pan fried chicken over the campfire for the first time, in the spirit of Stroud's in Kansas City, we dredged it in flour with salt and pepper, and fried about 15 min per side in peanut oil. It was a hit, including cold leftovers for lunch the next day.

Frying chicken in Grandma Margaret's Griswold

The burner guard we had "custom made" by a very handy T@G owner in WI who posted about the one he made for himself on an online T@G community site works great- no more flame-outs!

New burner guard protecting flame for blueberry pancakes

 We also made bratwurst stroganoff in the dutch oven, using really good-quality brats and using beer instead of wine.

At Cascade State Park over Labor Day 2020, we made sourdough pizza cooked over the campfire. I made a half-batch of sourdough pizza crust, packing the dry ingredients separately and mixing when we were ready to cook. I rolled the crust out on a cutting board with the side of a glass and parcooked it on both sizes in a hot cast iron skillet, then topped it with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni. We covered it with the dutch oven lid until the cheese was melted.

Andy also really enjoyed frying some freshly bought Superior white fish, because apparently he can't think of camping now without frying something.

Frying fish in the tiny cast iron griddle

In September we camped with Meg and Ben at Merrick State Park in WI. On Friday night I heated chili I'd made in the dutch oven and topped it with a half-recipe of cornbread until cooked through, along with roasted brussels sprouts and a salad made with pears we'd roasted over the fire, goat cheese and grapefruit vinaigrette. Dessert was apple hand pies, warmed slightly over the fire. On Saturday night, we had to do more fried chicken. I decided to try a small batch of fry bread, along with our delicious ranch beans, made before and heated at camp, and coleslaw.

Fry bread

Breakfasts include pumpkin pancakes and make-your-own goat cheese and red pepper omelets in the pie iron, as well as skillet fried potatoes. Covering the potatoes with a lid for a bit helped them soften and cook better.

Dennis' Rice Krispies Treats

One large box of Rice Krispies (24 oz)
2 Large bags (16 oz each) of mini marshmallows
1 stick butter
1 jar of marshmallow creme

Melt butter on low heat. Add marshmallows. Once they are almost melted add the marshmallow creme. Once all melted add Rice Krispies. Spread in large greased pan (can barely fit in 9X13).

Sourdough Biscuits

Yield:
8 biscuits

1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup margarine or 1/3 cup butter, cold
1 cup sourdough starter

Directions:

1 Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
2 Cut in the margarine or butter.
3 Mix in sourdough starter.
4 Turn out dough onto lightly floured board.
5 Knead a few times, until all of the flour is mixed in.
6 Pat/roll dough to 3/4" and cut out biscuits; place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
7 Bake at 425°F for 12-15 minutes, until slightly brown

Sourdough Flatbread over the fire

(Reduced recipe- for 2 people)
1/4 c sourdough starter- can use unfed
3 Tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp yeast
3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
dried herb(s) of choice, such as rosemary

Mix all and knead in mixer with bread hook. Put into a food storage container or zipped baggie in the fridge/cooler, where it can last a few days before use. Roll or pat thin portions and cook over the fire on a grate, turning with tongs.