America is yummy!
This trip involved a lot of fantastic eating. We started off the trip right, with a stop at Vegan Treats, the DELISH vegan bakery in Bethlehem, PA. I got the peanut butter bomb, which I like to refer to as The Best Thing to Happen to Peanut Butter Since the Goober Pie. Miriam got a lovely carrot cake. I've been to Vegan Treats before, but love introducing it to new people -- I was only sad that I passed within 45 minutes of home and didn't have my Mom come meet us!
The next wonderful food stop was right outside of Indianapolis and Camp Guci at Traders Point Creamery, where Miriam’s boyfriend Beni was a staff member this summer. Miriam and I both got grilled cheese with avocado (I got mushrooms, too!) and a gouda and vegetable soup (so good-a!). We also sampled their chocolate milk (which Miriam says was wonderful, but I forgot that I don’t actually like chocolate milk) and their caramel ice cream, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
In St. Louis, we had inexpensive and yet DELISH sushi at Wasabi in Clayton. I will shut up and let the sushi boat (and Miriam's face) speak for itself:
In Denver, we had delicious tacos and even more delicious margaritas at the awesome Machete’s. Hilary and Tyler are friends with the Chef, which meant we got to try new things (ridiculously smooth tequila AND huitlacoche, a Mexican corn fungus, which is a delicacy and something I’ve wanted to try for a while thanks to Iron Chef). Silliness ensued, as one would expect from the combination of altitude and margaritas.
We also had next-morning brunch at this cute place called Snooze, which had a GLORIOUS dish of hash browns with eggs and cheese and any toppings of your choice. Basically, a bowl o' happiness. I chose avocados and tomatoes (obviously):
In LA, we had a much-anticipated meal at Fabio-from-Top-Chef’s restaurant, Firenze Osteria. We each ordered a different kind of gnocchi (look, the man is famous for his gnocchi. we couldn't resist). I won't say more, except that a. I won the Ordering Game of Life by ordering the Best Pesto of All Time, and b. you should read Mat S.'s account of The Best Pesto He's Ever Eaten.
America is energy-diverse!
America has lots of different energy sources, and they’re ALL advertised along interstate route 70! Now there are some (coughcoalcough) that I’m not a ginormous fan of, but there’s no denying that it was neat to see signs advertising all of these of different types of energy. We saw signs for coal in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, for natural gas in Pennsylvania (oy vey Marcellus Shale), and for geothermal in Ohio (ask Miriam, I got pretty excited about this one).
We also saw wind turbines throughout Illinois, Kansas, and Colorado, a solar-powered restaurant in Denver, and old-school oil wells in Los Angeles and in fields in western Kansas. We even saw signs for home insulation, so I’m going to say that we saw energy efficiency, too. Unfortunately, I didn't actually get pictures of any of this except the wind turbines in Kansas. Needless to say, my inner energy policy wonk was a happy camper throughout the trip. Miriam probably less so, since she had to listen to me talk her ear off about it . . .
So that’s it for the blog posts about our EPIC summer road trip. Moral of the story: I had a fantastic time, and can’t wait for my next adventure!
