Once you get to day 82 of a long distance bike tour I think you can be forgiven for saying that nothing that I haven't already mentioned on the blog happened today. There were hills, and an unfortunate headwind, some pretty riding on quiet county roads, and a campground to welcome us at the end of the day. All things you, our dedicated blog readers, have heard about before. So, lying here in the tent, I thought what new insight can I offer??? One of the most difficult and delicate questions to answer as a visitor to America is 'what is the perception of Americans overseas?' inevitably the size of Americans is mentioned (with a bit of gloating that Australia has now overtaken America as the fattest nation on earth). Take this cliche and my love of supermarkets in foreign countries, and you have some sense of the voyeuristic pleasure I get from taking a sneak peek into this microcosmos of American food culture. Like the fact that as a general rule they have heaps more variety of soft drinks, at least one double sided aisle will be dedicated exclusively to bottled sweet and fizzy drinks but they stock hardly any tea, I guess we are more like the English in Australia than we like to admit. One of my other favourite observations is the shopping trolleys with cup holders, cup holders big enough to fit your 24 fluid oz (709mL) Starbucks double shot, French vanilla latte with extra whipped cream! (this is not a joke, I heard the lady order this). This extra big sizing is not just for coffee, you can by bags of sugar coated cereal the way you buy bags of dog food at home. Just choosing the flavour and size of our daily Gatorade is a challenge.
Being limited by size and weight on the bikes has meant I have had to forgo a couple of items...
To be perfectly honest though I have never been a big cheese ball fan ;) The flip side of all this choice is that some of the local produce is the best I've ever tasted, we have gorged ourselves on beautiful cherries and berries of a flavour quality that we just don't get in Australia. The variety and quality of locally made, small producer and delicious ice cream and beer here in Wisconsin has been a gastronomic celebration! Bottoms up! Although next time I need to make a pasta dinner for my big, extended Italian family I have just the ticket.
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Greetings from Team Wolfspank! It's great to see you all are still on the open road! I'm pretty jealous. Don't feel bad though, we struggled pretty hard with Gatorade flavors too...it all ended up tasting the same.
ReplyDeleteTake care and keep on truckin!
~Chris
So love the pics both scenic and the funny supermarket ones -a hoot. At the end of Wisconson is a ferry ride by the look of the Journey Map, and into the last 1500 miles! First day of Spring tomorrow here and we want more sunshine. Keep well and hope you meet more nice Americans.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I am quite embarrassed ... and appalled ... by American supermarkets. And I can't get OVER the cup holders on shopping trolleys!!! That is absolutely OBSCENE, if not concerning!!! Did you talk to Robin and Greg about this? I would love to have heard Robin's reaction! Americans (in general) well and truly have an oral fixation. And it ain't fun!
ReplyDeleteRide on, guys!!!
Good to see you are having a great time. Wisconsin is lovely in the summer. Those wide shoulders though are so the snow plows have lots of room in the winter. We were in daily contact with the kids back home in Maryland during Irene and fortunately, our area fared well. No flooding or major wind damage-just no electricity for about 4 days. We are making our way home now and back to work for me in October. Keep pedaling and be safe.
ReplyDeleteI a glad to read that you are taking advantage of the harvest! Be sure to try the corn on the cob!
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