On the road again
I just can’t wait to get on the road again
The life I love is makin’ music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again
As I type this post, I’m currently sitting in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Yesterday (Saturday) was a very long day on the road. We left Phoenix, Arizona at 5:45 in the morning and arrived in Tucumcari about 12 hours later … 615 miles (990 km). Whew! That was a very long day.
Fortunately, Al and I took several breaks and switched drivers a few times. What also helped was my focus on fueling us properly. Al thinks about the truck and I think about our bodies. The day before departure, I did some serious meal prep knowing we intended to put in some long driving days.
Yesterday, we started off our day with a rare treat … while driving, we had our coffee accompanied by coffee cake. Ok, a sugary breakfast is not necessarily the best fuel, but it’s always a fun (and rare) splurge to start our travels in a festive mood.
Lunch consisted of Turkey club sandwiches on fresh sourdough bread with a side of crisp red grapes. For dinner, we enjoyed salmon patties (that I had prepped the day before) accompanied by homemade potato salad (also made the day before) – dinner prepared and eaten while parked at a rest area. One of the things that was super important to me when we purchased our RV was the functionality of it while the slides are pulled in. I was able to fry the patties and serve dinner and dine at our dinette all while the slides were left in.
Oh, and did I mention the homemade brownies we had for dessert? Yeah, I’d say I fueled us up just fine for the 12 hour travel day. And then the day ended with one of my famous margaritas and a good night’s sleep.
I love RV travel. Because we were able to enjoy meals at our own table, meals I had made, and use our own restroom whenever the urge struck, it enabled us to arrive at our destination with energy to spare … not much energy, but we weren’t exhausted. Staying hydrated, being well-fed, and making regular stops allowed us to crank out some serious mileage.
Today, we plan on putting in another long day of driving, but not as long as yesterday. We’ll be on two-lane roads most of the day today (Sunday) as we angle up toward Kansas City from New Mexico into corners of Oklahoma and Texas and then into the state of Kansas. Unfortunately, we expect to encounter more wind today. Yeah, yesterday as we headed in an easterly direction, we encountered winds from the south ranging from 15-25 mph. Fun times trying to stay in our lane along with the semis swaying from the gusts.
I enjoy all kinds of photography. It’s a hobby that I’m passionate about and continues to challenge me in more ways than I ever imagined. I think my passion for photography stems from my father. He was an avid photographer during his younger years and was even a professional photographer for a short time after WWII.
Time to eat!
Although my dad doesn’t understand the technical side of digital photography, he certainly understands the concepts and workings of a camera. Even at 91 years of age, he and I are able to talk about things like aperture, shutter speed and depth of field. Yes, I’m very fortunate that dad still has a brain as sharp as a tack. And sharp enough to criticize my photographs 😏
From time to time, I’ll print out some of my blog posts as well as individual photos, and send hard copies to my dad. He loves these snail mail packages. After he’s had a couple of days to review the photos, he and I will talk about them via a lengthy phone conversation. Although his vision isn’t as sharp as his brain, he’s made his opinions very clear …. he does not like my food photographs.
Best carrot cake ever!
Well dad, neither do I 😆 Never in a million years did I think food photography would be so difficult and frustrate the heck out of me. Challenging is an understatement! Some people have a knack for cooking, food staging and making their images look appetizing and some folks don’t. We’ve all seen those less than stellar food photographs posted on social media 🤢
And then there are those who can compose in minutes and share a lovely shot … like my daughter, who manages to take awesome images with her phone and share on social media – Tea Party anyone!
My daughter shares great pics of food on social media. Here she is at the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree, AZ. We had a fun ‘Tea Party‘.
Yeah, food photography is much more difficult for me than I ever imagined. And to think, I thought bird photography would be more challenging … not! With birding and landscape photography it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. Nature does the staging and lighting for you.
With food photography, I first have to make the food which in itself can be a challenging task in a RV. Then I have to find the location with the right lighting and stage the scene. Then it’s time to find the right angle. Geez, by this time, I’m ready to snarf down the food and screw the photographs. And when we go to a restaurant, I rarely think about taking a pic of my food. When I do? 🤮 Let’s just say, not worth sharing. Once again, I’m usually too eager to eat the food than I am on making a photograph of what was just served. I’ll leave restaurant photography to the millennial’s.
Oh well … I’ve never shied away from a challenge. So I’ll keep plugging away at the genre of still life – food photography … and Al will continue to suffer through the eating and drinking!
Wandering Wednesday Photo Theme – Food
For this weeks photo prompt … theme … inspiration, let’s share images of Food. Perhaps you have a favorite restaurant or recipe you’d like to share. I know I can always use a little food inspiration. So share and connect – leave a comment down below with a link to your blog or link back on your post. And if you have any secrets when it comes to taking great photographs of food … I am all ears!
Carrot Cake Recipe
If I’m going to call something “the best ever”, I think it only fair to share the recipe of this indulgent carrot cake that I make only once a year. Carrots may be healthy and low in calories, but cake isn’t 🤣 You’ve been warned … enjoy!
For the cake
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots
3 1/3 ounces unsweetened coconut (1 1/6 cup)
1 small can crushed pineapple (don’t drain)
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula mix in carrots, coconut, pineapple with juice, and walnuts. Add remaining ingredients, mixing with spatula until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour into a greased 9×13 baking pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
With a hand mixer, beat together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Add half the sugar and continue creaming. Add a quarter of the remaining sugar and continue mixing. Once thoroughly combined, add remaining sugar a little at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Spread frosting on COOLED cake.
Each Wednesday I post a different photo prompt as a way for bloggers to share their love of photography and engage with other like minded bloggers. Perhaps this prompt will serve as a little inspiration for you to pick up the camera in search of a composition or a reason to go through your photo archives. Whether you shoot with your phone, a DSLR or something in-between, don’t be shy 🤗 share and connect! Post your photo anytime between now and next Wednesday when a new theme will be shared.
Upcoming prompts – Landscapes, Garden, Birds …. get out and shoot or peruse those archives!
I find travel to be exhilarating and energizing but at the same time exhausting. Kind of seems illogical, huh! I also think it’s somewhat difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle while on the go. Not that it can’t be done … it just takes a little more forethought and planning.
Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching my diet slip away …. 🤣
Socializing and traveling …
When I add in a bunch of socializing along with our travels, I find myself getting easily derailed when it comes to my dietary restrictions and healthy eating plan. It’s easy for me to stick to my health plan when we’re hanging with friends that also focus on eating healthy and exercising, but unfortunately, some of our friends do not share those same goals, in which case, I get distracted.
I don’t have what I’d call food allergies, but I do suffer from food sensitivities. In essence, I can eat anything I want without the effects necessitating an EpiPen, but I do struggle with other less obvious aliments caused by eating foods I shouldn’t …. issues that can severely impact my energy, physical well being and ability to travel.
We spent the first three months of the year hanging with dear friends in Lake Havasu City, and as much as we thoroughly enjoyed our time with our friends and loved exploring western Arizona, we didn’t fair so well with our goal of healthy eating.
Unfortunately, Al and I both gained some weight during that visit which is always frustrating, and I started feeling less than ideal. Hmm, aren’t January and February the months when everyone starts a new diet and exercise regimen? I think we missed that memo!
Not everyone understands food sensitivities …. gosh, I’m not even sure I do. However, through a lot of trial and error, I’ve come to realize, it’s a lot like the straw that broke the camels back .… a cumulative effect of small actions which turns into an unpredictable large reaction.
No need to get your feathers ruffled
Not wanting to be a party pooper or ruffle anyone’s feathers, I try not to make a big deal about my food issues during social gatherings. After all, it’s not like I’m going to have a life threateninganaphylactic reaction to eating something I shouldn’t.
But after three months of socializing along with all the food indulgences, there was a final straw … the straw that broke this camel’s back. Sometime toward the middle of March, I started feeling like crap. My energy plummeted, I felt physically ill, and my mind was in a constant fog. I had trouble functioning, and I was not having fun!
Fast Forward …
Today, after focusing on diet and exercise the past few months, I’m fortunately feeling better than I have in quite sometime, and Al and I have even lost the weight we gained earlier in the year …. well …. Al more so than me.
One of the reasons (one of several) why we decided to curtail our travels this summer was so we could focus on our health. We wanted to look and feel our best for our son’s wedding this August, and the last thing I wanted was to experience his special day with my head in a fog.
Even while traveling, we try to stayed focused on our health by having healthy homemade meals and snacks prepared ahead of time, but it isn’t always easy. Sure, when we’re out exploring and hiking we get in plenty of exercise, but it’s also easy to fall into the category of I don’t feeling like cooking, or that restaurant we just passed looks interesting so let’s check it out, or let’s just grab some fast food (something we do our very best to avoid … but occasionally fail). I wish I was more “into” cooking. Perhaps I wouldn’t get distracted so easily and succumb to all those temptations!
During our stay in Page this past April, I got back in the kitchen and started focusing on meal planning. Since we were out and about regularly hiking and exploring in northern Arizona, we didn’t need to think about an exercise plan, at least not until we moved to Prescott.
Once Al and I were settled into a RV Park in Prescott, Arizona, for the summer, we formulated a regular exercise routine complete with the addition of a little yoga. I found this great beginners Yoga DVD that I started doing regularly and all was going great until ….
Warrior Pose – my version looked a little different from Mrs. Duck’s version
… until I pulled something in my neck while doing Warrior Pose. Seriously? Oh, but my luck didn’t end there. Oh no! The following week, I twisted my ankle while hiking which has left me unable to perform Tree Pose on my left leg 🤦♀️
tree pose at sunset
Oh well, this too shall pass! After icing the neck and taping up the ankle, I’ve been hobbling over to the local library and returning to the RV with a stack of books on cooking and health … anything to help inspire my active brain while my inactive body recuperates.
With my exercise plan derailed, guess I’ll be wearing Spanx to the wedding. See, there are always options when things don’t go according to plan. RV living has a way of teaching one to be flexible and to expect the unexpected. Actually, flexibility is a prerequisite for RVing. Trust me, it’s in the rule book somewhere!
Back in the kitchen …
Okay, so the exercising hasn’t gone according to plan for me (Al’s doing great 🤬 and getting in all his steps every day), but while he’s out exercising, I’m excelling in the kitchen and feeling so much better for my efforts.
No, we didn’t eat all that! The muffins were for friends, but I thought they’d look pretty in the photo. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Food sensitivities are real!
So back to my food issues … When a person has a severe food allergy or a medical condition like Celiac disease, Western Medicine seems to know exactly what to do, but food sensitivities are not so clear or easily diagnosed.
For many, the journey can be a roller coaster ride, as it has been for me. Ultrasounds and CT Scans were inconclusive and provided no answers for my pain. Several years ago, a visit to a Functional Practitioner was helpful and enlightening. There has been a lot of trial and error along with note taking on my part and the journey continues.
Looking in the mirror and being honest with myself is the best thing I’ve done for my health.
What might work for me, may not work for another person. One thing I know for sure …. I can’t ignore the fact that I can’t eat what others can. Yes, such a bummer and very frustrating, and when I do ignore that fact, it’s the beginning of a downward spiral for me. Food sensitivities are real regardless if other’s disagree.
Let’s talk food …
So let’s talk about what I can eat …. Yay, I won’t starve! Chicken, my favorite protein and my stomach is never bothered by chicken. Whether it’s grilled, roasted, or sauteed … dark meat vs. light meat, doesn’t matter, I like it all.
One of my favorite things to do is marinade and grill a bunch of chicken one day and then use leftovers for the following day – cook once, eat twice, or sometimes even three times. I quite often plan this before a travel day which deters any urge for going out to eat. Not only does this help keep my diet in check, it helps keep us on budget.
Here’s my favorite chicken marinade recipe. The amount listed here is about right for 4 chicken thighs or 2 boneless chicken breasts. If you’d like to make more chicken, just double the recipe. You’ll want to marinade the chicken for at least 2 hours and more is even better. I prefer to then grill the chicken, but baking also works.
Citrus Rum Chicken Marinade recipe
In a large ziplock bag combine:
1/4 cup of lime juice
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of rum (I like to use Captain Morgan spiced rum)
1 Tablespoon of honey
salt and pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 cloves of minced fresh garlic
a pinch (or two) of cayenne pepper (optional)
chopped cilantro (optional)
Once all the ingredients are well combined, add the chicken to the ziplock bag and place in the refrigerator to marinade, turning occasionally.
Citrus Rum Chicken
Let me know if you give this chicken recipe a try and what you think about it! I like to grill up a double batch of chicken and use the leftovers the next day to make chicken and lettuce wraps with a drizzle of homemade honey mustard dressing. Yum! The wraps can be seen in the picnic photos further up in the post. Having healthy meals prepared ahead of time for our travel days makes the world of difference. We maintain a higher level of energy and clarity throughout the day. No junk food for this gal!
One thing that has become very clear to me these past few months is staying healthy, active and mobile is the key to an enjoyable life … the key to enjoying our adventurous lifestyle of full-time RVing. Happy noshing!
Anyone who’s fortunate to have a daughter has most likely engaged in a tea party or two. I used to love sitting at my daughter’s Little Tykes table on a plastic molded chair made for a three-year old.
My daughter would pretend to make tea and cookies in her make-believe kitchen. Then we’d sit at her child height table sipping pretend hot tea and eating treats.
Quite often a doll or favorite stuffed animal would join in on the tea party and be served as well.My daughter, Ashton, may be all grown up now, but that doesn’t mean we still don’t enjoy a tea party, but instead of pretending, we like the real deal. Oh my yes! Bring on the tea and crumpets.
During one of my outings with blogging, RVing friend Faye, we stumbled upon the cutest place in the town of Carefree, Arizona, just north of Scottsdale. Faye and I had just completed a two-hour hike and were looking for a place to have lunch.
Obviously, we were dressed in hiking attire which seemed a tad inappropriate for lunch with the Queen. Thus, we vowed to return another day … dressed appropriately and with our daughters in tow.
Two weeks later on a Saturday, Faye, Ashton, Laura, and myself arrived at the bustling English Rose Tea Room. Fortunately, I had made a reservation at this popular and charming place.
While we waited for our table to be set, Ashton poses with the Queen. We also perused the shelves filled with china, trinkets, and tea available for sale.
We had a fabulous time at the English Rose Tea Room and the girl’s hit it off famously. Turns out, my daughter and Faye’s daughter-in-law have a ton in common. The conversation flowed freely when our mouths weren’t stuffed with delectable scones topped with Devon Cream and homemade jam.
Laura and Ashton enjoying a tea party with their mom’s
By the end of our luncheon, the girl’s were friending each other on Facebook and there was talk about setting up another tea party before our RVing ventures have Faye and me hitting the road in a northerly direction.
me and Faye
This was such a fun girl’s outing at a very unique and charming restaurant. Although we did see a few men joining their wives for a tea party, this is definitely a girly thing kind of place.
Faye and I just can’t envision those finger sandwiches being a satisfying thrill for Dave or Al. Although I should mention, the English Rose Tea Room does serve large sandwiches and salads. For us girls, it was all about tea and crumpets.
After lunch and after Ashton and Laura made a few tea purchases (who knew they were tea connoisseurs), the four of us strolled around the Carefree center grounds. The cactus garden display, water features, and sculptures are beautiful, and worth a walk around.
Carefree is also a popular place for hosting a variety of festivals. Click here for more information on the town of Carefree, Arizona.
Ashton in front of the English Rose Tea Room
My daughter ended up buying one of these empress tea strainers along with some English loose tea. She also collects decorative tea pots. Who knew, all those tea party’s long ago would continue and trigger an interest in the world of tea. I’m just thrilled my little girl still wants to have tea party’s with her mom 🙂 The Empress Tea StrainerGracie China Shabby Rose Porcelain 4-1/2-Cup Teapot, Shabby Rose Green
For the cake
I don’t have what I’d call food allergies, but I do suffer from food sensitivities. In essence, I can eat anything I want without the effects necessitating an EpiPen, but I do struggle with other less obvious aliments caused by eating foods I shouldn’t …. issues that can severely impact my energy, physical well being and ability to travel.
Anyone who’s fortunate to have a daughter has most likely engaged in a tea party or two. I used to love sitting at my daughter’s Little Tykes table on a plastic molded chair made for a three-year old.
My daughter, Ashton, may be all grown up now, but that doesn’t mean we still don’t enjoy a tea party, but instead of pretending, we like the real deal. Oh my yes! Bring on 
the tea and crumpets.
and with our daughters in tow.
Live Laugh RV 