live. work. dream.

I’ve always been a crunchy granola type who recycles everything, eats organic, and tries not to consume mass amounts of paper products. But I’m slowly finding out that applying these values on this trip is going to be tricky.

Ever try going inland to someplace like Arizona, and looking for organic produce that doesn’t look like it was held over from last winter? Forget it.

What about paying a reasonable price for Boca chick patties or fake meat products like Morning Star fak’n bacon? Nope. Say goodbye to your wallet.

Yes, California does have one or two perks it seems, when it comes to living and eating healthy. Even mainstream grocery stores like Safeway carry all that I need to maintain a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. But as we go inland, we are surrounded by cheap agribusiness produce, overpriced fake meat products relegated to the back of the freezer section, and no bulk items to be seen anywhere, especially in the Mall Wart supercenters that trash the landscape.

Some people in the handy RV.net forums have offered some great suggestions on shopping while fulltiming. Overall, part of staying happy on this trip is to just forget about the way I used to shop for food. When in Rome . . .

Feeling nostalgic after our trek across Death Valley, we just had to stop at Terrible’s Town which was the only thing in Pahrump 12 years ago. Now the town has sprawled out in a scary way and there is a big Nugget Casino next door.

Hoping to find the clean and quaint Kenny Rogers Café inside, we were overwhelmed with all the additional casino fare which had squeezed the restaurant into a corner of the building, now renamed the Bougainvillea Café & Rotisserie.

I was happy to see the $1.99 breakfast specials included biscuits and gravy but leery to order them, for good reason. I got just what I expected: a pile of beige goop that matched the plate, with a consistency of wallpaper paste. The biscuits appeared to have been made from a box, but I made much better “Bisquick” biscuits myself from Rene’s homemade mix. These were either undercooked or someone sat on them to warm them up.

The two split biscuits were of decent size, but definitely not something to write home about. Yet here I am doing just that, go figure. The gravy was already starting to form a nice film across it by my third bite. There was absolutely no sign of sausage bits, just a lot of tiny black flecks which I certainly hope were pepper flakes.

Since it takes an awful lot for me to actually dislike a meal, I give Terrible’s biscuits a C grade. The staff was friendly and breakfast included a free hot pitcher of decent coffee on the table. And after all, you can’t beat the price of $4.25 for two… as long as you don’t mind a little second hand smoke with your meal.