The genesis of this mini meet up started a couple of weeks ago with the C/L posting of a Weber Ranch kettle. I had never seen an older style ranch before, so like a true grillfella, I dropped everything and made the 45 minute trip to see this wonderful old beast. I was not a buyer, so I took lots of pics and then shared the kettle with NorCal WKC to see if anyone had interest. After a couple of weeks, the seller sent me a text with pricing close to what I would pay, so another trip was in order. To make room for this potential acquisition, I contacted Argentflame as I had a 22 WSM and I knew he was looking for one. He promptly agreed to make the 1.5 hour trip up to meet me halfway. Buckie lives close to the seller of the ranch, so I enlisted him to ride shotgun. We set off to see the ranch:
Buckie and I arrived at the sellers house. While buckie expertly distracted all the other parties present, I take the opportunity and play hardball on the pricing with the owner. A deal is struck and we load her up.
Despite Argentflame's crappy directions, we mange to meet him in Davis CA, the halfway point. Argentflame (with his new 22 WSM) and Buckie:
Buckie provides the seal of approval on the underside of the spaceship:
Buckie explaining that a ranch kettle, is indeed, larger than a 22 OTG:
"I know there are assembly instructions somewhere on this smoker"
Tres Amigos:
Argentflame's car alarm went off and would not stop for about 5 minutes. Three guys in a public parking lot, taking pictures of weird looking kettles, moving stuff in and out of vehicles with the car alarm blaring was starting to draw some attention. We quickly packed the kettles up, managed to quiet the alarm, and decided to get something to eat.
The sight of 3 large pink pigs in the parking lot had us hoping for some BBQ (kudos to the skater-kid who took the picture, he knows how to frame a shot!):
While I patiently listen to the explanation of why the burgers are so small, Buckie explains how he is going to recreate sweet potato tater-tots on a Weber:
We had a great time. A kettle was acquired, a smoker was swapped, and we enjoyed each others company as always in the WKC spirit!
Winz