Kamadettes Reunited

Tara and her roommated Colleen had Spring Break last week, and decided to do a road trip ending in Ensenada. We had SO much fun with them into town! We got to show Colleen around Ensenada and we spent one night out at Papa's N Beer to party with the people on the cruise ship. We had a blast! :)

Tara and Mohamed

Okay, so it just so happened that all of the "good" pictures turned out to be Tara & I. :( But, after one too many beers your picture taking skills go right down the drain. ;)

Happy 21st Birthday Richelle

There is no Friend like a Sister

There's no better friend than a sister-

There's no one more loyal and true...

and even when sisters are different...

their likeness come shining through.

Perhaps it's a family resemblance

that strengthens the bond they share...

or maybe it's just that sisters live life with a similar flair!

A sister remembers your collegehood-

She knows more than you will admit

of times you were Little Miss Perfect...

and times you gave others a fit!

She's seen you in some situations

when silence just wouldn't suffice...

and managed somehow to get by with those sisterly words of advice!

And when some encouragement's needed...

a sister will always be there...

to listen...

to laugh...

or to lean on...

to comfor, or simply to care.

There no one who's more in your corner...

and no one you're more grateful to.

There no better friend than a sister...

and no better sister than you.

from "There Is No Friend Like A Sister"

by Mary Engelbreit

Richelle, I love you more than I can express. You are the best sister that Tara & I could ever ask for!

Now, lets have some fun! :) :) :)

The Official Kamadettes

Left to Right: Tara, Laura, Cheryl, Bronita, Richelle, and Deborah

We are the official Kamadettes.

We will each be doing an introduction post (soon!).

But, for now, Deborah & Cheryl were the first Kamadettes; they are sisters and while Deborah has always been a part of Kamado, Cheryl worked for several years with Kamado and has always been active with the company.

Then we have myself, Richelle and Tara we are the daughters.

Lastly, Bronita, she has been Richelle's best friend since 3rd grade (1994) and since day one she has been a part of our family. She has been to every Kamado event that we have had (minus Vegas) and has always supported the company.

The miles between us & Tara, Cheryl, and Bronita make no difference to how close we are.

We have several "honorable mentions" of Kamadettes that I will post about soon. :)

The picture above was taken in 2004 on our annual girls road trip. Every year we used to take a road trip down the coast of California for a few days during the summer. We would always have such a blast!

How long have we been in this business?

Happy Friday!
I have decided that Friday's will be "Flashback Fridays" :)
For today, we are going back to the year of 1986 when my parents were making the original Meridian's down in Tecate, Mexico. We were also living there at the time.

Here is me. :)

And little Richelle :)

Carnaval

Every year Ensenada has their own Mardi Gras called Carnaval. It is crazy fun!! So many people come from all of Baja California and Southern California to celebrate.

They close down and block off all of downtown from Thursday-Tuesday and the streets get packed with people! There are stages at every corner with different bands playing, DJ's, and dancers. There are a lot of vendors selling T-Shirts, beads, candy, food, and of course Cerveza! They also have an area with a bunch of Carnival rides.

Last year Richelle & I went three of this nights and had a fabulous time. This year we only went one night and of course I forgot my camera! :( But, for your enjoyment, I have a couple pictures from last year.

This picture was taken from the balconey of Papa's N Beer (our local hang out). And this was just one corner of about 20 blocks that was full of people.

Here is Richelle with our two good friends Mohamed (left) and Edgar (right). Mohamed works at Papa's N Beer and the both of them make sure we are always looked after when we go out so we are always safe.

Viva Las Vegas!

For our first "Flashback" post, I thought we would go back to November 2003 when we joined Kim & David's "Smokin' away again in Porkaritaville" BBQ Team in Las Vegas for the BBQ Competition at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Since Kim & David were coming from Richmond, VA it was not feasible to drive all the way towing their three Kamado's, so Richard, Richelle, and I rented a U-Haul trailer and drove down with a #9, #7, and #5 along with about 30 boxes of our Kamado Coconut Extruded Charcoal.

We also had several of our fabulous customers come down to join in all of the fun: Jason C. (who is lucky enough to live in Vegas), Jeff R., Mark M., Glenn B., and Scott S.
The first night, Kim, David, Jeff, Scott, Jason, Richard, Richelle and I all went sightseeing down the strip and out to dinner.

The following day the Competition started, and it was packed! Not only was the BBQ Competition going on, but there was also the Annual Chile Competition going on next to us and the Pro Bull Riders event.

We had people coming up to us left & right with questions about what the Kamado was. We had such a great time. It was our first time ever attending an official BBQ Competition and we were extremely impressed. Everyone was so friendly and fun.

Here is Richard, trying to sneak some of the Ribs off of the gorgeous Green #7.

Here are some of the entries from Kim & David.

Chicken

Brisket

Pulled Pork

Ribs

Mark M's Lobster-Go-Round

Kim's beautiful Cherry Cheese Cake Tarts

Smokin' Away Again in Porkaritaville finished 16th overall and took 6th place in Ribs! They did a fanstatic job!!! And they got to meet Robin Leach from the "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous".

We had a good time the last evening after all of the awards were presented and all of the rush of cooking had calmed down, everyone got a chance to relax and enjoy each others company. We also were able to sell all three of the Kamado's we brought down along with all of the charcoal that was not used. The #7 we sold to Rue J. in Nebraska (who has later gone on to purchase 3 more!), the #5 Jason C. took home, and the #9 went a really nice person, who's name has slipped my mind. :)

Here is a picture of our whole group the last night!
Good times everyone! We look forward to next event we all get to go to together. :)

Left to Right: Mark M, Richard, Jeff R. Richelle, Jason C., Scott S. (in the back), Kim W., Laura, and David M.

Welcome!

Hiiiee!!

We are the "Kamadettes" :)

We are the daughters of Richard & Deborah Johnson who own Kamado Co.

Richelle (far left) and Laura (far right) both work for Kamado Co. and Tara (middle) is the baby sister who is currently going to school at Chico State University.

We moved down to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico last November with Kamado to get our new manufacturing facility up and running.

We thought that we would start this blog to share our experiences working for Kamado while living in Ensenada.

Here is a pretty shot of an Ensenada Sunset from the balconey of our house.