On the Open Road

Oh, where to begin? RFC and I left on our great cross-country adventure last week. It is made a little more adventurous by the fact that I am sharing the driving of RFC's stick shift, when all I have ever driven is an automatic. But so far, so good, and we have made it to Rock Springs, Wyoming.

We have been taking a northern route west and have driven through a number of states. Pennsylvania seemed to take the longest, but it was the first day and we may have been anxious to put some distance between ourselves and NYC. So far, it has been camping each night which means lots of camp fires and camp food. We stocked up before we left and invested in a camping french press so I could have my coffee from the Porto Rico Importing Company each morning. A few nights ago I had my first real s'more. I discoved the trick is to get the mini chocolate bars because the big size is too big and doesn't melt well enough from the heat of the marshmallow. No worries though, because the other trick is to rest the assembled s'more on your fork and hold that over the fire to finish the job. I have also realized that nothing compares to the taste of a fire-roasted hot dog on the Fourth of July when you have just gone to see Mount Rushmore.

Speaking of Mount Rushmore, we thought it lived up to all expectations. And the Black Hills of South Dakota have got to be one of the most amazing sights in the United States. And wacky. Huge heads carved into a mountain? Before we got here, though, we also paid a visit to the Corn Palace. Yes, that's right, a palace decorated with corn. RFC has heard me say this already, but I think the coolest thing about the Corn Palace is being able to say that you've gone there. We also stopped for lunch at the famous Wall Drugs. Haven't heard of it? Drive anywhere within a 400 mile radius of Wall, South Dakota and you will see the signs advertising free ice water, 5 cent coffee and homemade pie. (My advice: skip the pie and go for the homemade donuts...they are perfect.)

I made sure to buy Road Food by the Sterns and have tried to map out a few of their suggestions. Our first attempt was a place in Middlebury, Indiana, but we found ourselves out of luck, it being Sunday in Amish Country. We were more fortunate at Bob's in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We sampled broasted chicken for the first time. Broasting is a way of cooking in a pressurized fryer. Apparantly a company in the Mid-west makes them. The result is fried chicken without the breading but all of the greasy crispy goodness. We topped off this meal with a generous helping of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Life is good! We've learned that there are RV's bigger than our apartment. You can get pretty good Mexican food in Albert Lea, Minnesota. And the deer and antelope really do play out on the range.

NYC Tart (dispatching from the field)