Five star restaurant on Public Lands

To be able to live 4-5 months in one stretch in a slide-in pickup camper we have found that certain luxuries of living at home need to be maintained.  

Perhaps the most important is eating well.  We are fine with taking 30-second showers outdoors while shivering in a wind.  We can dig holes outside or use plastic wag-bags for pooping, or wear one set of clothes and underwear while another set is airing out in the wind to be worn the next day.  We can live in a camper where the floor area is approximately 2 feet by 6 feet.   We can be relatively comfortable sleeping at 40 degrees in our camper. 

 But we can't spend 4-5 months eating cold sandwiches and packets of oatmeal.

We start our day with coffee:

Vicky's breakfasts are just like at home---her homemade granola (bags and bags of it stuffed into hidden places in the pickup when we leave home) and yogurt.

My breakfasts are scrambled eggs, with soysage, turkey bacon, canadian bacon, or any leftover meat from the previous day's meal.  Just like at home:

Soy sausage (soysage), warmed pork and beans, and scrambled eggs:

Scrambled eggs, Canadian bacon, and hamburger stroganoff for me, and yogurt with fruit for Vicky:

Turkey bacon, fried potatoes, and scrambled eggs:



When return from our hikes, we have a large plate of fresh veggies:



And dinners?  Wow.

Hamburger stroganoff over black bean noodles with green beans:

Hamburger deluxe:

With so many toppings that it is difficult to get it into your mouth!  A Dagwood sandwich.

Chicken breast with fried potatoes:

Mexican beef casserole, one of our favorites:

Vicky making a meatloaf from my mother's recipe:

How is this for fine dining!  Meatloaf and green beans:

We eat tacos frequently:

Salmon melts:

Tuna/noodle casserole with poblano peppers:

Salmon and fried potatoes:

Roast beef:

And sometimes we combine all of these.  One night Vicky had her meatloaf as tacos, while I had mine with pork and beans (cold----NOBODY should heat pork and beans).



Thanksgiving, 2016:

and leftovers!  We always have leftovers that are as good or better than the first time.  Here is the leftover chili, ready for four more meals:

Dessert:  DESSERT!!!

Vicky makes me pumpkin pie without crust.  Choosing my calories I would rather have whipping cream than the crust.  I don't miss it.

All of this is basically healthy eating, mostly food prepared from scratch, leaving some room for treats.  This type of eating, along with averaging about 5.5 miles/day of hiking, results in a pretty healthy lifestyle.

Now, let's not neglect mentioning that Vicky takes total charge of this part of our road life together.  We have found that we need a clear division of labor to make it work, so my part is just to eat and appreciate.  I have my jobs, too, but they are not nearly as creative....or delicious!  (basically, without going into a lot of detail, I am responsible for managing the food AFTER it is eaten---if you get my drift).