Hungry as a Bear

Lest you think this trip has been all peaches and cream (there I go, thinking about food!) or a bed of roses (it is definitely not even a bed!), I will tell you just how hungry I have been. Many days we are in pretty remote sites and it is a chore trying to keep perishables cold. Some campgrounds have no water. Our food box is very small and so is our stash of edibles. Lots of crackers, cookies, pretzels. And our entire cooking supplies consist of one can opener, a stove the size of a cantaloupe (ah, cantaloupe....) and a two-cup pan with aluminum foil for a lid. At dinner time I ask Doug if he prefers the catch of the day (a can of tuna) or the pasta entree (a box of macaroni and cheese made with one third the water due to pot size). We have learned to love powdered milk. And peanut butter goes with everything.
Once every day or two we eat out and make it count. But recently we have been really scraping the bottom of the bin, and I was craving real food. So, the night before we reached Tom and Kate's home, we camped at Manresa State Beach, near Monterey, and treated ourselves to dinner in a swanky area called Seascape. There we found an upscale Mexican restaurant overlooking the Pacific and it was heavenly. I looked at my salad and almost cried, it was so appetizing. Then my chicken fajita dinner came and I said to Doug, "I LOVE my fajitas!" When the waiter strolled by to check on us, I gave him this silly grin and said, "I LOVE refried beans and I LOVE rice!" We scarfed up every morsel and were totally satisfied. And when dessert was offered, I uncharacteristically said, "Yes, I LOVE key lime pie!" and dove in!
Ridiculous, huh?