Just Thought I’d Tell You

We are safely back from our trip out West.

For the past seven days, we alternated between camping, driving ridiculous distances, and staying in motels, as well as eating a mixture of healthy foods we brought  from home in our cooler (cheese! jerky! hummus! home-baked bread!) and convenience-store snacks.

This jerky ain’t the same.

It was also on this trip that I realized that granola isn’t found everywhere. It is no secret that I live in a bubble.

Speaking of which, I bought my first jar of Nutella at a Walmart in the middle of Kansas. I am not against Walmart. I like our local Walmart just fine, and it was most welcome out on the Plains.

Nutella, on the other hand, I did not like at all. I like ganache sandwiches a whole lot better.

Also, a random fact: my daugther won’t eat marshmallows.

If you’ve never gone on a cross-country road trip with three young children, including an infant, it is probably better that you don’t. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

When it comes to road trips, sticker books are magic. I don’t care where they put them.

For the record, the infant and my girl were the most patient of all.

I was the least patient of all, which was hardly a surprise.

My husband, on the other hand, was a saint. This is what makes our marriage work.

My camping beauties. Josie is really dutiful when it comes to smiling for pictures. It just doesn’t always look believable.

By contrast, coming home was amazing – suddenly, we weren’t homeless! We aren’t living out of our car! We can spread out over the expanses of our house and the farm. A little (a lot of) personal space makes a whole world of a difference.

I have no doubt that the same is true for chickens and livestock.

My car has not yet been unpacked.

My house is a mess.

As you can tell, I am doing nothing about it for now.

I have a duck thawing in my sink to make smoked duck breast for supper in some context or another. In the past, I’ve smoked the entire bird, but smoking the breast I think is better.

It’s hot and muggy back home and we even pulled out our window air-conditioner.

We haven’t turned it on yet. It feels a little bourgeois. We are sensitive that way.

On a different note, this wheat field on the border of Colorado and Kansas on our way back was simply breathtaking.

Stay tuned for more!