Aftermath of short road trip-shared thoughts

With my impending move there are many goodbyes that have to be made. My east coast family requested a visit and their offer of a new (to me) car was too good to pass up. Getting to the New Jersey shore from central Pennsylvania using mass transit is not a simple thing. After an hour car ride to the train station, a three and a half hour train ride to Philadelphia, 20 block walk to the bus station ,  a hour and a half bus ride to Atlantic City then a forty five minute car ride I arrived at my family's home. With little preparation, I packed light and foolishly thought I could grab good food enroute.

On the train, a pepsi and bag of potato chips were the only vegan options for the lunch part of my journey. Had I used some forethought I would have packed a lunch but without preplanning I was hostage to Amtrak's menu.  Once I got to Philadelphia I found a small Thai-Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown that was able to make a hot pot of veggies (mushrooms, asian greens and green beans) and tofu in a brown sauce, without the fish sauce. Coupled with a glass of Merlot this was a delcious meal and fun as I got to people watch and read the paper before the next segment of my journey.

Once with my parents dining options were quite limited. The two times we ate out I ordered vegan veggie burgers. Veggie burgers are often restaurants' token dish for vegan/vegetarians. Taste wise they are quite uninspiring however co-dinners are satisfied with the appearance of a "normal" food and it is one of the few times that a vegan can eat in peace amidst a group of non-vegetarians.

When I got home I was reinvigorated with creating many of my own meals on the road and not being so dependent on the very limited offerings that one encounters in unfamiliar places. Today at the supermarket I purchased some of Dr. McDougall's vegan soups and instant oatmeal for quick lunches and late nights when neither my partner nor I feel like making food. I will make some foods this week (Spanokopita and Split Pea soup) and freeze to take along to be heated in the solar oven. I am also planning on finding a pumpkin muffin  and chocolate chip cookie recipes to print out and take along for baking once we hit sunny climes.