Taking the Ace Hardware Route to Champoeg

A field in between crops (I think) at Champoeg State Park in Oregon. It took four Ace Hardware store stops to get here.

Team Toto has had some culinary issues, for quite some time. No, not the too-many-chips-and-pizza-diet issue–we have that issue, but that’s not the one I mean. This one is about the portable grill we take on trips.

I should say grills. We began this generation of our recreational travel lives, in 2014, with an aged, propane-powered Weber Go-Anywhere Grill. It was small, generally reliable, and not very hot. Want to sear a steak or veggie? Forget about it.

I don’t mean to cast shade on Weber or its Go-Anywhere gas grill. It might have been user error. Or maybe there was some maintenance thing I was supposed, but failed, to do. In any case the grill was convenient, lightweight, durable, paid-for, and not hot enough.

So, after considerable research on forums and online retailer user reviews, I put another grill, branded Cuisinart, on my wish list. This table-top grill had two burners (so we could cook something indirectly if we wanted) got very hot, and was stainless steel (very helpful in our damp climate). Handy closure snaps on either side, folding legs and a carry-handle made for easy, if bloody, travel. (The blood issue came from the handy folding legs, which could double as chef’s knives, and which attracted my delicate fingers and palms with admirable consistency).

I learned all this after my Mom generously gave me this grill as a Christmas gift. We, Team Toto, also learned that this plenty-hot appliance was, generally, too hot. A lot of overcooked, dried-out meals ensued. User error? Almost certainly. Would a less clumsy person have bled less? Sure. The product is solid. But Team Toto suffered starvation at times, and the low platelets that run in my family posed an additional risk.

So there we were, a couple of years (and pints of blood) (okay ounces) later, at Camping World, ready to cash in our $20 coupon earned by renewing our Good Sam membership. Another grill called to me. Yeah, okay, I apparently have grill issues. Could be worse things.

The new grill was affordable, easy to carry, and, as soon as the warranty expired, would. not. stay. lit. Or even light, half the time.

You will recall, if you’re still awake, that a dumpster at Seven Feathers RV Resort in southern Oregon recently claimed a portable grill from our team. This was that grill. A better person would have found a way to nurse it to health. However, no better people (in this one sense) are available in Team Toto, so BBUG (bye bye unreliable grill)!

Which brings us to our trip north from Seven Feathers last month, on our way to the beach in Washington (the state). Our overnight stop was reserved: a pull-through, privacy-free site at northern Oregon’s beloved Champoeg State Park.

We had decided to give in, from a portable grilling standpoint, and become just like everyone else, with a little Weber Q grill. They’re like Beemers used to be, and how Tesla cars seem to be this summer: everybody has them. Try though we might, we’re just regular common people doing commonplace things. It’s a little disappointing.

Who sells those grills? Everyone, except in July, when the stores need to make space for Christmas trees and probably St. Patrick’s Day decor. “Yeah, we have one in back, open box, ignitor missing, we’ll take $5 off.” Sheesh.

So we plotted our course north from Canyonville to stop at any and every Ace Hardware store reasonably close to our route until we found a Q1200 in a color we didn’t hate, which is to say anything not black. (Nothing against black cooking appliances. We just didn’t want one.)

The fourth store (the South Salem store, I think) had what we wanted.

Yeah, okay, it’s mostly black. But the lid is “platinum.” Classy! The Ace Hardware people, anticipating my arrival, set up a display model with optional folding cart. They got me.

And so we grilled something, I think. I’m not sure. It all worked well. This is absolutely the last portable grill we’ll ever need! Hmmmmmm.

Our site at Champoeg. Really quite nice, especially given how late we reserved it. We had a nice night here, and the next day we headed off to the beach. We’ll share details presently, maybe.