Most people don't think of Spokane, WA as a vacation spot. But I do. Well, for the next 2 weeks I do, anyway. I'm hanging out with my friend, Kaleah, who also eats raw, and we're going to work out the particulars for a raw on-line program we've been toying with. She's self-employed, so we're gonna have lots of time to play in the kitchen and the garden, in addition to our "work".
My drive over to Spokane was supposed to take about 6 hours. It took almost 12. Yikes!
Something interesting that I noticed was that even though I brought raw crackers, cheese, nori sticks, bananas, avocados, Minneola oranges and fresh-squeezed orange juice (and a full stomach, btw), I was DYING to stop and get something cooked, salty and greeeeeasy! It was a good reminder that whenever I go and do something that I haven't done since going raw, there are still old programs running. I haven't eaten fast food in months, and when I really thought about it, I realized that it was just a Pavlovian response, an old habit, and I wasn't even hungry. But I learned a long time ago to associate a fun time, vacation, road trips and adventure with unhealthy food. And I didn't even realize that I'd learned that association. So that was a good thing to realize (and conquer).
When I got to the 405, I decided to take a short side trip to Redmond to visit Raw Vegan Source, an AMAZING little store that has over 600 raw items (and nothin' else)! What a freakin' treat! I got 50 raw nori sheets, 2.5 lbs. of coconut flour, 1,000 spirulina tablets, a bag of Gone Nuts with cacao-covered almonds & raisins, and 1 or 2 other things I can't remember now. Good prices on stuff, I gotta say! Oh! I got some He Shou Wu, that's what I got. So anyhow, my lovely Nuvi got me there and back out onto the freeway, and over Snoqualmie Pass I went.
Or did I?
At the summit, just FEET from exit 47 (very near the summit), we all were stopped because of a blizzard! I could hardly believe it!!! In April of all times! After just having had the warmest January on record for the Pacific Northwest, I was beyond shocked. We were there for almost an hour and a half, and when the snow finally cleared enough to go again, visibility was still low and we had to go 35-45 mph all the way down the other side. I went 25 or even 20 in some places. Lots of frozen and packed snow on the roads, and we were ahead of the snowplows. I was told that by Cle Elum (clee-EL-um) everything should've been clear, but it didn't stop snowing HARD until Ellensburg. All tolled, I was driving slowly (and nervously) for almost 4 hours. Ick!
When I was done getting out of all that snow, my eyes were SO tired, my arms and shoulders were extremely sore (even though I tried repeatedly to relax while driving), I was exhausted, and my nerves were shot. And I still had over 200 miles to drive. I called Jason for support and told him all I wanted to do was stop and get fast food for comfort. But I remembered my health goals and ate some raw nori sticks instead (which were actually more enjoyable). Again, I was confronted with old patterns and old habits. It's really amazing how often in my life I've turned to truly unhealthy "food" as a comfort, and all it did was wreak havoc on my body and mind. I think being really high raw (like 98 or 99%) for 2 weeks prior really helped me keep a clear head and helped me to realize that if I ate that stuff, I'd just be even more sore and tired by the time I got to my destination.
I ended up arriving at Kaleah's house at around 10 p.m. safe & sound. We stayed up until 1:40 a.m. catching up (we don't see each other much, even though she made the trek across the mountains to help with and attend Tim VanOrden's event last month) and chatting. The next morning, I was allowed to sleep in until noon or 12:30, and was greeted with a salad, orange juice and walnut ball brunch, which was beyond delightful! The walnut balls were made of dates, walnuts, lemon juice and cinnamon, and tasted like a Christmas cookie. AMAZING! Then Kaleah gave us some chocolate she'd made that she keeps in the freezer. It had cacao powder, coconut oil, shredded coconut, agave or honey (not sure which) and goji berries in it. It was snappy like a candy bar and the coconut made it a bit like a crunch bar. Unbelievably delicous!
Today we're going to set up plant beds with her husband, John, transplant kale babies, get a protective glass barrier made for them to protect them from the cold, and then head into town to get me a new phone (and maybe one of those juicers like Anthony Anderson has). I'll post more as fun stuff comes up, as I'm sure it will. :o)
