I own the road!

I’m off to New York today. My boyfriend, Chris’ car and my car are loaded down with the contents of our lives. We start out with a hearty breakfast (well, lunch actually by the time we got started) after a morning of wrapping up at Chris’ place at the Grand Central Bakery. I had the basil egg salad, while Chris had the pork sandwich with apricot chutney. I saved half my sandwich for a road snack. I was not very prepared food-wise for this trip, but to be honest, there wasn’t enough room for that! I’ve already lovingly packed my kombucha and fish oils in the front seat with me and am carrying around my probiotics in my purse to keep their vitality. Fortunately, I have a GPS which helps me find local co-ops and health food stores.

As I headed East on I-90, it all felt kind of surreal. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I arrived in Seattle, all wide eyed and scared of what it was going to be like? Now I feel like a seasoned pro driving on mountain passes. The drive in through Washington was fairly uneventful, except for the heat. The highest temperature my car hit was 103 and fortunately, my car was doing ok with the boiling temperatures. In Idaho we stopped in Cour de alane for a quick rest and then decided to move forward into Montana. We didn’t make it that far before we decided that it was time to stop for the night. We ended up in Saltese, Mt (a very small town only the motel/convenience store and a bar and grill) at Mangold’s Motel. We were greeted by a slightly stoned man who appeared to be the owner. We checked in and were told that we could take two complimentary tapes to watch in our rooms. That’s right VHS. Apparently, there was no cable in the rooms due to a trucker taking down the lines as of late. We proceeded to pick two classic 80’s movies, Fletch with Chevy Chase and Twins with Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unfortunately we only got through Fletch. We did however make it to the Montana Bar and Grill, which has been around since 1910. I ordered up the bison burger and Chris got the elk burger. That is one thing I really like about towns like this. You get to sample local flavor. Whereas, it would be unusual to see bison or elk on a menu in Texas, it is common place to see in small northern towns like Saltese. Needless to say, it was quite tasty. Though it was by no means the “perfect meal”, I was quite happy to be eating game animals, as they are most likely going to be more “natural”. By that I mean that they will be free of hormones, eating their natural diet and allowed to roam free. By allowing these natural behaviors, the meat is a lot leaner and has a better fatty acid profile, therefore making it a better meat. Though it is possible for these to be grain fed animals, the likelihood is less. As the demand for these animals increases, so will the chance that these animals will be raised in situations similar to cows, chickens and pigs.