I promise this blog is SLIGHTLY cooking related! So after I found out that my beloved Cobalt Blue Le Creuset was now discontinued; I found out that the Gilroy Outlets still carried a few pieces that they had left. When Hubs suggested making a trip down there to go shopping, I jumped at the chance to go pick up some first rate pieces out there. The outlets usually carry Cast Iron Seconds, and first rated stoneware. Essentially, the stoneware line is slightly discounted because its at the outlets, and the Seconds can see a pretty hefty discount… something along the lines of 20-30% off. Usually they have slight imperfections in the color gradient but usually they still are awesome in terms of the LC quality.
So this part of the blog would probably appeal more to my car loving friends. I usually spend around 2 hours of my life everyday sitting in my car commuting… in traffic no less. Which has pretty much rendered me into thinking that I drive because I NEED to drive. I need to get to work so I drive… I ran out of milk, so I need to drive to Safeway…etc.
On our way down to Gilroy, we came across this spiffy little Lotus on the road… Covered in decals and all sorts of writing! Hubs was driving along in the fast line and we passed it; but it was enough for me to catch a glimpse of “Australia to Alaska.” Ehh?? So after googling on my iPhone and not getting anything, Hubs drove like a little old granny at 45 MPH in the slow lane until we could get behind this Lotus. OMG. She was an Australian car! Nifty! With a really cool license plate… and a driver on the right side! Wow! She had this cool storage box on the trunk that listed the driver’s blog.
I snapped a few pictures and found the driver’s blog. So apparently she’s a Lotus Elise named “Elsie”… and the owner and driver, Giles Cooper planned for 18 months to figure out a way to drive his car from Australia to Alaska. And get this… he’s driving thousands of miles because he loves to drive. Wow…. I would have flown or cruised up to Alaska… but he’s making the roadtrip of a lifetime with his car. I found his blog to be very well written and intriguing… and VERY inspiring! It’s one of the rare non-food related blogs that I’ve bookmarked and I look forward to seeing his updates as he makes his way through the US and slowly up to Canada. So best of luck to you Giles!! I look forward to reading the adventures of that you and Elsie take… Especially looking forward to the pictures of Elsie up in Banff!
Going back to Gilroy… I walked away with some good loot! I found the stoneware Cobalt Blue spoon rest, Le Creuset silicone measuring cups (also in Cobalt), a nice new spatula (in Cobalt), the cast iron round trivet I’ve been drooling over for awhile now… (yes yes…. also in Cobalt), silicone and terry cloth handle protectors for my skillet so I can safely grab the handle without burning off my hands, and some nifty stainless steel knob replacements so I can switch out the black knobs when I want to put my LC into the oven. π Also Hubs managed to get more loot than me… he got some Donald Trump ties at $9.99, some wardrobe basics, and a nifty new Pearl Izumi jacket to wear when he does his Appalachian Fall Bike Ride later this year.