Adventures in (Shopping for) Camping

May 18, 2012
First Landing State Park (see more about this on my other blog "You Went Where?")
Planned departure time 3:00 p.m.; actual departure time 5:45!  Here's why:

I left the shopping for Friday so that everything would be fresh.  I've had too many camping trips where I've purchased the fruits and veggies a couple of days ahead, only to have to throw away part (or all) of something because it has gone bad in the meantime.  Since I worked closing shifts on Wednesday and Thursday nights, I couldn't load the car until Friday anyway.  It should have been easy - I had a list and a plan.  Fresh to Frozen first to pick up whatever they had that was on my list, Costco to get those specific items and fill up the tank, Martin's to get the cupcakes I ordered, then WalMart to finish it all off.  It really shouldn't have taken more than a couple of hours.

Well, F2F and Costco went as planned, then the trouble started.  On Tuesday, I had placed an order for two dozen mini cupcakes at Martin's Harbor Pointe location.  I wanted half of them yellow cake and half devils food.  I wanted half iced with yellow frosting and half with green.  And I wanted to pick them up at another location.  This is not a difficult order.  The woman helping me was the Assistant Bakery Manager, so I had every confidence that this would be handled correctly.  Plus, I watched her write the whole thing down on a production order form - everything was right, including the store where I wanted to pick them up.  Great!  But apparently, once I walked away, instead of placing that order form in the appropriate slot to go to the production facility, she called the order in to the store where I planned to pick up the order, so they could write the order and sent it to production.  And she got it wrong!  She ordered 1 package of mini yellow cupcakes (12) and 1 package of devils food cupcakes (6).  They got the icing right, at least.

So . . . I went to one Martin's to pick up my order, went to the Martin's where I placed the order to complain, then to WalMart.  At WalMart, I didn't find the Baby Cuties that we wanted and they were out of steak rolls.  So then, back to Martin's to pick up the remaining mini cupcakes that they were able to wrangle up for me, stop at the next WalMart to get my rolls, then finally back home.  My two-hour shopping trip took four hours.  I got home around 2:30 - nothing packed, nothing ready, and a two-hour drive ahead of me.  As a result, I forgot extra batteries, towels, something to sleep in, and a jacket.  Oh well, every camping trip is an adventure, one way or another!

What Makes the Difference?

OK, so here is my latest rant, and it's a little sensitive.  I have had the opportunity over the last couple of years to observe community behavior related to the families of two men who have committed similar crimes.  Both families have lived in and been involved in the community for years.  One family is older - children in their teens/twenties; the other has children much younger.  One family was very much "mainstream", while the other could be called "different".  One wife has a job outside the home, the other does not.  In both cases, the arrest was a shock to the community and to the people who (thought they) knew the family.  In both cases, the men had either been questioned and investigated or had been caught committing their special crime several years prior to their arrest, so one would assume that the wives were aware of what was going on.

So here's my question:  What makes one wife and family more sympathetic than the other?  What causes the community to basically shut out one of these families and draw together to help the other?

Arroz con Leche

Each year, the Girl Scouts celebrate "Thinking Day."  This is when all Girl Scouts are supposed to think about their sister scouts all around the world and consider how things are different for girls in different countries and cultures.  Each troop is expected to put together a tri-fold board with facts and photos about their country, create "SWAPS" to represent their country, and prepare a food or beverage that would be typical to that country's diet, and present it all at the Service Unit's Thinking Day celebration.  This year, our troop presented Costa Rica.

The dish we prepared was Arroz con Leche - rice with milk - basically Costa Rican rice pudding.  We found it so delicious, that it is now a regular recipe in our house.  It is very simple, but beware!  This recipe makes enough to feed a large crowd.

2 cups rice
4 cups milk
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 ounces butter
1 cup raisins

In a large saucepan, cook the rice in 8 cups water for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer.  I salted the water.)  Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1/2 hour.  I find this is best served warm.

See?  Easy!  Now invite all your friends over and give this a try!