There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
But for car camping, I have a little more fun with it. I got a mini webber charcoal grill earlier this summer and it's the shit. I only wish I'd gotten the travel version as it's easier to carry and more compact that what I got (Smokey Joe). But for 30 dollars for the grill and 10 for the small chimney starter, it's not bad. We've grilled burgers, sausages, corn on the cob, and peaches so far, but I know there's a lot of other good stuff that's pretty easy to grill. And these grills can just be set on a picnic table or the ground. Sometimes we'll even roll up and have a quick picnic with them. We had a "ninja barbecue" in a park that took maybe 45 minutes from parking to leaving this weekend while we waited for a ferry. And for breakfast, I have a Coleman propane stove and I'll just make normal breakfast stuff like bacon, eggs, oatmeal, etc.
PS: If you get a charcoal grill, get the damn chimney starter, it's so worth it. I always grilled with gas growing up and the first few times I tried charcoal, I used lighter fluid and it sucked. Starting the coals was annoying and took forever. And it was all really unreliable. Plus it tasted slightly like gas. I was ready to write off charcoal as old tech and give up. But the chimney starter reliably starts plenty of charcoal with nothing but a couple of newspaper pages and some chill time in camp. It requires no attention, beyond the basic attention you'd give to a burning fire to make sure it doesn't catch something. The one that is the right size for the 14 inch kettle I got only cost 10 dollars and it's small enough to fit inside the grill during transport. I also found hardwood briquettes worked better than lump charcoal for me, though lump is more natural and I like the idea of it better.