Food

7/17/2013


Food

Hitch hiked into town this morning,  after an early and brief three mile stroll to the trail head.  Got a ride in a pickup truck,  from a younger family man who hikes, and takes his kids along for the day.  So we talked about The Trail....and how wet it has been this year.....and what a challenge all that mud can be when you are day hiking with your kids.
I am always surprised at how far downhill the highway has to drop to get down into town.    

His work stop was the lumberyard.  I walked to the grocery store from there. The Outfitter next door was not open yet, so I went straight to the food. Usually my first stop in town is the first place that I get to that has food that you can eat....right now.....but today I had decided in advance would be a "healthy food" day.  I am getting weak and run down.  Today has to be heath food day.
  

They have some really great grocery stores along the trail....the ones at Franklin, Daleville, Waynesboro, Front Royale, were great.  And today's store was mighty fine too.  They just have so much food at the big stores.....lots and lots of food. They have so much food packed into this grocery "Price Chopper", in Manchester Center, VT that the grocery carts have to be stored outside.  There just is not any room left inside.  It is just packed wall to wall with great stuff to eat.  And it's incredibly cheap.

 I wonder if anyone has written and published a supermarket guide book?  Somebody should do it.  I can not think of any place more fun to visit.  "Hey!  You have to check out the Big Brown Cow Grocery, in Palukaville.....  they have the widest selection of chocolate bars ever known". 

Since I am only staying one night it is a struggle to decide what to buy.  I simply do not have enough time to eat it all....I need discipline....I need self control. (Hey.  I just realized that I did not buy any ice cream....none of any kind.  Can you believe it?  Now that is self disipline!  Ok the truth is that luckily I forgot ice cream, and I forgot that roasted deli chicken too.  I think I could eat some of that chicken right now.)
Today I made the responsible decision that I would shop mainly for fruit.  I need to get some real fruit back into my diet to supplement those Snickers and Hershey Bars.  

I bought 2 plums....my very first of the season, and two nectarines...again first of the year for me, and a big bunch of red grapes.....and oh my gosh they had Bing Cherries....expensive 

Bing Cherries....they must have just come in season....but they were ripe and I had to have them!  And I bought a giant avocado from Peru, too.  I almost missed it because they were all pretty green and I did not have a day to wait for it to ripen.  I picked through the whole bunch.
(Hey,  I shoulda washed my hands somewhere..... after being on the trail for 5 plus days.  But I did have a clean t-shirt on).  There it was..... huge and it felt ripe....even though it looked pretty green. Yup.  It was perfect. 

Mostly I just looked.  I spent a long time wandering around that store and imagining myself taking a delicious bite of that cake, or those brownies, or savoring wonderful V-8 juice on the back of my tongue.  I added 1/2 lb. of Pepper Jack cheese and a box of Triscuitt...to go with my avocado.  And I bought two prewrapped sub sandwiches....one beef, and one ham and cheese. 

I bought three and a half days of trail food.  I have a resupply box coming up the trail, so am only going out for three nights....probably my shortest stint on the trail ever.  It's been hot and buggy....and my clothes are pretty ripe after just two days.....and as I said......I'm a bit run down.... so I am spoiling myself this once. 

The one thing of note in my resupply purchases is the lack, the total lack of Snickers Bars!  I simply could not find any full sized bars in the store.  Hard to believe.  So I bought a bunch.....way too many I know ........... of Hershey's Extra Dark.  I intended to buy 2 six packs of them at $4.29 apiece, but saw the sign saying 3 for $ 9.99.   That's 6 more bars for $1.41.  How can I say no to that?

When I am carrying 1/2 pound of chocolate, that I do not need up that mountain tomorrow....my mind will change.... Today I can not say no.
That is the only consideration that holds me in check at this grocery store.  Anything I buy that I do not consume by tomorrow morning..... I will have to carry up that hill.  What hill?  I do not know.....I just know that there will be one.