A Small Trip

Wow. So sorry it's been so long since I posted. It's been a while since I went to the grocery store, which means I couldn't make my own food. That, and my stomach has still been bothering me, so I haven't felt too adventerous in the whole food-department. I should be getting my lab results soon, to find out just what's been going on, but until then, I'm stuck in limbo.

So, today's blog is about trips. It's broken up into two categories: the first being yesterday's trip, the second being today's trip. That pretty much sums it up.

Yesterday's Trip:

My roommate and I decided to go to Target and Ikea yesterday. It took us about 2 hours to get there via bus and MAX rail system (since we missed the bus by literally seconds and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one). So, we went, and about five minutes before our stop, I get this text from my lovely boyfriend. It turned out, he was in the main lobby for my dorm. The guy had spent three hours of train and about half an hour busing from the train station to my college, just to surprise me! I was ecstatic. And also about an hour and a half away. But, of course, I had to go back right away, and that I did. I was just so happy to finally see him after being away for a month, and so surprised that he spent five hours of traveling and waiting, just to see me. He took the last train North out of Portland, but, of course, that was a 6, so we really didn't get to do much. But, much isn't what's important anyway. Goodness gracious, I am still in shock. But it is a super, duper positive shock, indeed. =) =) =)

Today's Trip:

Today's trip was nowhere near as exciting. I went to the grocery store. I bought bananas, raspberries, mixed green salad, and beans; bread, bagels, and two boxes of cereal; canned soup, SpongeBob EZMac, frozen pizza, and yogurt covered pretzels, ; milk, string cheese, and cream cheese. Oh, and purple duct tape. All for about $35. I am proud of that. I am especially proud of the yogurt covered pretzels, since they were the same price as my small baggie from the school, but contained a POUND of pretzels. I've also been eating these a little bit to much already. But a girl can't help loving yogurt covered pretzels.

Coming home with all of this was quite a pain. Since I was alone on this trip, I couldn't pawn any heavy item on some unsuspecting victim. The cereal boxes proved the most challenging to deal with, though the heavy cans and half gallon of milk were also difficult. I ended up putting the boxes on the back of my bike, tying them on as I had done with Anna's soda cans earlier. Here's what it ended up looking like:

Yes, I am impressed with my tying skills too. Who knew sailing knots could have any sort of value in everyday life? Oh, and should I mention it was raining on my bike ride home?

Dorm Food

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My First Trip to the Grocery Store

I finally went to the grocery store! It was marvelous. We ended up going to the grocery store that was furthest from our school. It was worth it for the experience, though. The store was huge. Like, two stories huge. I’m from a town where Fred Meyer is one story, contains a small selection of produce, meats, and dairy, has a decent bakery, and a basic supply of dry goods as well. Our Fred Meyer in my home town is literally the smallest Fred Meyer there is. But this one? This was huge. Like, sells food, toys, clothes, furniture, and fridges huge. Like, two floors of nothing but store. I was a little bit overwhelmed. So I bought a lot: a plethora of fruits and vegetables, bread, milk, string cheese (I somehow lost my cheddar cheese before I made it to the checkout counter, and didn’t realize it until I got back to my dorm), a can opener, tortillas, and rope. Why rope? Well, because I have this nifty rack on the back of my bike and I would like to be able to use said nifty rack to carry things. My original plan was to get bungee cord, but amongst all the overwhelmingness of the store, I got a little lost. Rope was all that I could find. I got about 300 feet of it. I think I should have enough.

On our way back from the grocery store, Anna (who had just about as much stuff as me) and I looked like fools. My wicker basket was full of milk, jars, cans, and everything else that was heavy. My backpack was full of fruit. On my handle bars, I hung two plastic bags (which cost ten cents each here in Portlandia), filled with veggies, bread, and miscellaneous other food items. Anna’s bike looked similar (minus the basket). However, we had one conundrum. Anna bought a six pack of soda. So, being the creative college students we are, we used the rope I had just purchased, and tied the soda to the back of my bike. Using 300 feet of rope, several sailing knots, and several minutes of patience, I tied the soda to my bike. And my back tire. So, I had to undo and then redo all of my tying. Eventually, though, we were off. It was a challenge steering all three miles back, especially with the bags falling off my handles every couple of blocks, but eventually, we made it back to the dorm. So, we untied Anna’s soda from the back of my bike, took the basket off the front of my bike, piled bags on top of said basket, and carried all our earnings all the way up the eight floors of Mehling (using the elevator, of course). We looked ridiculous, but when all was said and done, we had accomplished what we had intended. We had food. And, best of all, we had room for all of our food in our dorm.

I was kind of upset because I forgot to take a picture before I undid everything on my bike, but I can promise you, I will be doing this again. And next time, there will be pictures.

Dorm Food

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