saunter, sourdough bread, and sunflower cookies

Saturday did a 5k walk with running friend and we walked it, catching up on life. Goal wasn't on time, but friend time. It was soo windy and at 32F, it made it feel so cold.  Last year it snowed during the event. It is about memories! 

Experimented this last week. 

Sour dough starter and bread. Will exhaust this starter, bake, freeze, and go on. Am reminded that while SD is fine, I don't love it as much as other bread can make. It is fun to make though. 

Used King Arthur flour's recipe for gluten free sourdough starter. 

Used https://joannaoverly.com/gluten-free-sourdough-bread/ recipe for bread, but don't use psyllium and instead added milled chia to bread mix after letting the milled chia sit in the water a little to absorb the liquid. 

First loaf was baked 60 min (as recipe said) on a cookie sheet. It wasn't done in middle so it fell after a while.  

Second loaf baked yesterday and poofed wonderfully. Baked for 75 minutes in my Staub ceramic pan, so held its side shape and poofed up. 

Today I'm letting another loaf set, and also two long baguettes. Will bake tonight (after collegiate women's basketball final game).

Yesterday made up Sunbutter cookies, recipe from Sunbutter which cuts baking soda for a good reason! Refrigerated dough overnight. Baked those up today. Yummy! Plenty to freeze for snacks.

What was I thinking race weekend.

I don't know how people do an event and then write a summary the same day or a within a few days. I do know I we all have our own strengths, and so I should not judge myself against others. [I need to note that I thought I published this, and apparently I hadn't!. Blaming that on tamoxifen, and being busy with life.]

Last year my running sibling said "hey, let's do this race".
I said "It sounds hilly, are you sure it's not".
"It's not," I heard in response.

I was thinking "okay, you live with some nearby elevation, I don't, but there will probably be some hills".

Then in July I saw an email and race course info that said 4,000 feet of elevation change. I said "WHAT" to my screen and messaged my sibling. She said I was off.

Even as we were driving up to the town, she still said there's no way there's 4,000 feet of elevation change.

I am an optimistic person by nature, but I also am a realist, so I was internally spazzing about this race that had a reallllly long course limit due to the ultras going on at the same time as the half and marathon on Saturday, and the half on Sunday.

Oh, did I neglect to mention that we decided to do a *trail* marathon on Saturday, and a *trail* half marathon on Sunday. I mean, we are both Double Agents/Marathon Maniacs/ Half Fanatics.

The drive there took me longer due to a detour--don't all driving trips take longer than you anticipate?-- and a stop at REI that did NOT have Injinji tall socks. The sales guy didn't really want to help me anyway, since he had to interrupt his conversation for this lady who was just standing patiently waiting her turn to talk to the sales person in the shoe/sock department.  I did get Tanka bites there, and the salt /electrolyte tabs so I guess the stop wasn't a failure after all.

The county roads in this part of Michigan are wide, and each intersection has a X network of wires  overhead leading to a large street light illuminating the intersection. I thought this was really cool, except for all the wire/lines.  I think parts of upper central Wisconsin had lights like that, but it has been a decade since I've been there.

We head to the race start area, even though we know we can't pick up our race packets because of the time. It was nice to see the parking area, and the sand. Someone I know told me that there is sand there, and to have gaiters for it. Thankfully we did!

In town to the grocery store (The Meijer was HUGE), and our hotel was nearby. The hotel was a great location, but spendy for what we received (basic hotel, breakfast we couldn't eat, and no pool). I reminded myself that it was supply/demand/ tourist town type of thing, and right before Labor Day, so ka-ching $$.

We set out our clothing for race day one and got some sleep which was interrupted by the alarm.  Grabbed some hard boiled eggs, and headed out to the start area for packet pick up. While I have done a couple trail races before, I was still nervous. I've not done with this kind of elevation and was not sure of the trails.  While the trail I did before was Woodside in California, with nice wide trails under evergreens (except for the bottle neck start area to thin out the group), this one had single track that was one foot wide, and single track that was wide enough for both feet, and then some nice area for an ATV to maneuver well, and "two track" (the local term--it's double track where I live) that was truck worthy. I was glad we got there early, to get a parking spot in the main parking lot.  We picked up our packets and-wow- what stuff there was in there!  I was expecting bib, shirt, pamphlet, and some local coupons. We got a t shirt, a technical shirt, a technical hoodie (Runner Inside design), coupons for food at the finish, a rootbeer float at the finish area, a sticker for the race,  and coffee mug. My apologies if I'm missing something. That was for EACH race. We were doing Saturday and Sunday, so we go these X 2.

Prerace

I took my Bug Soother bug spray to the race, only sprayed my ankles and half way up my calves, and left it in the car. I was more worried about chiggers and ticks than mosquitoes. BIG mistake. Big. HUGE. I was also anxious, even though I knew this was basically going to be a hike instead of a race race.  Do our own thing, but we'd probably stick together. I didn't want to get run over by the fast folks from the ultra, but wasn't too worried on that. I was more worried about the sand. For an area with many trees, I thought there would be more dirt via composting of leaves over hundreds of years. Instead, there were large swaths of solid sand. Across the double track, and ten feet, ten yards and longer in various spots. Those were all on the flatter sections, so perhaps the sand just washed down the hills and collected there. Rambling, oops. Anyway. Sand, and dirt, roots about every two feet to trip over, and some places where the track was only wide enough for a foot, and worn down to three inches below the rest of the surface.

At the start of each wave/category, Race Director Chris had notes for us, and questions. My concern was getting lost, so I asked about flagging on course. I got some "seriously" comments from those around me, but every RD does something different.  I found out that the flags would be pink for marathoners, and that they were frequently on course if a direction/turn was happening, but further apart if there was no other trail option/ we were on the same trail.

We started out and of course I ran a little bit past the spectators due to the energy of race day. We were thinned out in the little loop at the start, then spread out. First it was three of us together, then we gained a fourth person after a while. We hiked and hiked, stopped for pit stop stuff, got eaten by mosquitoes (they were really bad this day). Then we were on a skinny trail skirting the outside of a long winding up hill that looked like something out of Last of the Mohicans. What a gorgeous day to be outdoo---ouch,  mosquito. There were tree roots on all the trails, so I was worried, since I can trip over a piece of gravel in the grocer's parking lot!

Our group of four was passed by the ultra runners in this area. They were very polite, but we still stepped off the trail while they passed. It was fine when it was one or two runners, but when it was twenty in the pack, or ten, it was a mosquito fest, and a time when the clock was still running for us.  By mile 12 my hips were hurting from the pace I was going, and I was getting bitten more frequently, so I just kept walking when the others paused for a pit stop. I could still see them as I wound my way back and forth zig zag up the side of a hill.  As I reached the plateau, I scared up two deer, the only wildlife I saw all day.  The last half of this course had fewer (in my mind) long winding areas, and more constant undulating course layout of going up and then over 'rollers'. If this was a road for a car, it'd have been great for 'hill hopping'!

I took my phone out about the halfway mark. I slowed to take a gel, got some more out of my pack, and figured I'd take the phone out to do a photo and call The Mike to let him know my pace. Thus, this is the ONLY photo I have of the marathon trail.

Pretty much the widest part of the regular trail system,
not counting the occasional bit of double track. 

I couldn't help myself, I started slow running in some areas. I was tired. I needed to pee, but if I stopped I was swarmed by mosquitoes. I just wanted to be done. Oh, wait, look at that, Mile 16; no wonder--I'm hitting the wall. Up and down and up and down and some longer climbs where the trees were much taller and more space between them.

The aid stations were fabulous. All staffed by Scouts and 4Hers. While I had some Huma, GU, and a Sunbutter sandwich on Canyon Bakehouse bread with me, at the aid stations the watermelon and oranges were a welcome break of sugar, vitamins, and fiber, and the carbonation of Coca Cola was great. Except, the HFCS Coke (and Tamoxifen) given me an urgency to pee.  I just kept telling my brain that I really didn't need to stop. The mosquitoes finally lessened and I was able to make a stop without being lunch.

I was glad to have read the the race pamphlet part that it was pretty much downhill in the last mile of the race. Thus, I was perplexed when I kept seeing the "Caution Hill" signs and seeing a steep descent and having to go back up again when my Garmin was getting to 23, 24, 25 miles. I was on top of a hill when my watch was at 25 miles. I was like, "THIS IS IT. IT IS ALMOST OVER" and was SO happy. And then. . . it wasn't. My Garmin has never been off like this before. Sure, a tenth of a mile or so, but not this. I rolled into the last aid station when my watch said 26.2. I even showed the Scout dad --lol.  The leader said that it was a mile or so to the finish.  I continued run/walking along the top of the hill, saw some pink flags, and more pink flags, and was confused. It was a triangle on my side of the road with foot prints to the left/downhill and right/uphill of a boulder.  There were pink flags across the road on the opposite side. I was perplexed. I was there for maybe a minute, if that, and an ultra came up behind me.  He said we had to go to the right. I forget the term he used, but it was a tight lollypop. We went up this short hill with medium steepness, looped around at the top/flat area, and then came back down. From here it was ALL downhill.  The road part was a bit steep for running down in my opinion, but those ultra folks did it so beautifully. It was like watching ballet on a hill!  Then I laughed. There was a bench built into the side of the hill on this steep part!    Once past this steep part with roots here and there, it was on to prairiescape and still a descent. I started running, knowing the finish was near, and hearing the spectators, and honestly, I had a hard time slowing down. I wasnt sure I was going to be able to stop past the finish line!

I can't even get one "floor" on my Garmin for going up and down my stairs at home (12 stairs).
There was a LOT of elevation on this course.
Garmin lied to me this day! 

Oh, the finish was glorious. I was so excited to be finished. The medal is HUGE. I walked around with it tucked in my armpit due to the weight.  I changed my shoes for Oofas and I walked, stretched, and then sat for a caricature and talked with some other racers, and spectators. I think everyone I spoke to was from Michigan, so they were shocked when I said I was not!  I was a bit worried as to where my sister was, but I knew she had people with her.  We had brought the cooler with us, so I had some chocolate milk, my Tanka bites. Then I had to sit, because my body started working the food rather than just going forward.  

Weighing in at 1#8oz 

My sister finished!  Yeah, let's go get some food!  She wanted to go back to the hotel and I said, "oh no, we are going out to eat". She said, "Like this?"  Yes, like this. I am HUNGRY.

We went out to eat at a local place with good food.

gluten free bun toasted. I was hungry. I didn't trust the bread, but I needed my burger. 

Returning to the hotel there was a deer family across the parking lot in the trees. 

DIRTY feet 

I think I'm ready for the night 

Went to sleep so exhausted. The alarm went off in the morning, and I rolled over. I couldn't believe how good I felt. I was surprised!

Then I stood up.
I almost fell over.
The legs that felt fine in the bed, were wicked sore upon standing! 

We knew movement was the best thing for us though, so even though our bodies were saying 'no', our minds were telling us 'do this!'.

Back for more! 

By the time we were walking around at the start of the half, our bodies / legs were feeling much better, but we both knew we were taking today in stride. No  power work for us today.
We were surprised that parts we expected on the half weren't there from the day before, and I was hoping to get a photo of that loooonnnng steep decline today, but that wasn't on the course either. We later learned that a tree fell overnight and blocked the route--I guess adding obstacles isn't a thing :)

Most of the trails were like this, some were narrower with a definite 'gully' of sorts with the path being wide enough for one foot only. 

Strange how basically the same course can vary from day to day. 

The second day we encountered no mosquitoes! It was definitely less humid as well.  

The lovely "Caution Steep Descent" yellow signs. 

When we got to the end of the main part of the course, and moved to do the lollipop up a steep hill, my sister said this was part of the ski lift area.  Even without being someone who skis, I could definitely see the remains of the ski lift. 

Thank goodness that is over!  Longest marathon time and longest half marathon time for me. 

Somehow I wound up with more elevation than was suppose to be on the half course. Perhaps that was due to the redirect of the course from down trees.

When we started I realized I forgot to remove my ring. I am thankful the Camelbak has a closed hook within it and that is where I put the ring. It took several hours before I could put the ring back on. I never use to have this problem. I think there was only one half marathon (Chicago, 2012) where I had a little swelling. I'm putting this back on Tamoxifen again. I started that this Spring and it doesn't matter if I'm doing a 5k on the treadmill, or longer distance like these two days, my hands swell. 

Since the chain sporting store I stopped at didn't have tall Injinji socks in stock, I wore my fun Halloween socks. 

Before leaving the parking lot, we spied this sign. I *know* it is a fat bike, but the sign looks like a pair of binoculars :-)  And now you cannot unsee that, can you? 

The toes were dirtier than the day before! 

Leukotape held!  Thank you. Even with the blister being filled underneath, the tape held. 

It also only came off after soaking the feet in the shower/tub. 

Fanatic Maniac?  Finished one race, ran another, 2019. 

We did some car sightseeing in Manitee and definitely would come back to see the town. This was a gorgeous looking day, and no matter how much I really wanted to get to the Lake, my body was NOT willing to walk that far, especially across sand. 

Bluefish restaurant. DELICIOUS

appetizer 

salad . Thankfully my sister will eat blueberries (yuck). 

steak and potatoes.  It was a little rich, but so good. 

Monday morning we could move a little bit but were quite stiff at the get go. Once we got to walking, we were doing well.  After dropping my sibling off at the airport, I headed out of Michigan. I made my path based upon a billboard for Five Guys :-)   

Five Guys never tasted as good as it did this Monday after a double weekend. It was SO good.  They also loaded up the fries when they heard I did back to back races, and I honestly could not eat all!! 

My driving attire for the legs. Injinji compression toe socks (purple of course), and my Oofos which made massaging the feet a little easier when driving down the road with the forward/back movement. 

I still can't believe I hadn't posted this before now. I got caught up in various things.  This weekend I'm heading to Tulsa for Route 66 Half on Sunday. First time I'll do that race without my running sibling. Instead, The Mike is coming along for a vacation weekend :-)   

Marathon, Maniac Level, Plantar Fasciitis OUCH

I kept meaning to blog and I kept getting caught up in other things. . . and then I was feeling sorry for myself with my Plantar Fasciitis, and that is how neglecting to post about marathons, plantar fasciitis, and becoming a Marathon Maniac/Double Agent happened. 
Marathon 1 of 2018: (7th Marathon)

This April I did a new marathon. I won't name it because I felt it was awful, not well marked, and more elevation change that I was expecting!  The road was open to traffic (not a big deal). We ran WITH traffic (big deal) since it meant that we were on the road and drivers were weaving in and out of us, or riding our heels).  Those are my views.  Yes, we all know that new races are hard. Yes, we all know that elevation is sometimes hard to gauge on info maps. Maybe I'm the only one that gets car sick watching some of those "we drove the course" videos. I was having some problems with my feet already. I didn't know that it was early Plantar Fasciitis. I had slipped out of my Birkenstocks as I backed up from the car earlier in April. My heel hit the ground and it felt like I had landed with the heel on the sharpest possible rock I could have found in a parking lot. I didn't realize then, but that is a classic PF sign. UGH!

Thank you litter runners, for guiding my way!

A few more aid stations, a slower pace with a hurt foot/sore heel, and I had to ****walk past my car in the parking lot*** to get to the finish line area around a couple curves. I actually stopped and stared and my car and asked myself if the last .75 miles was worth it, or if I should just throw in the towel.  I obviously chose to finish, but it was a hard choice to make.  This somehow surprised the people at the finish line when I mentioned it.

 
End of the worst race I’ve ever done. Not quite the worst on time, but the worst on emotions, morale, signage, etc. I got a golf cart ride back to my car, took off the bloody shoes from the heel blisters, stripped off the socks, re-bandaged the blisters, grabbed my Mexican Coca Cola and headed home.  I might come back to volunteer at this race, but I won't be running it again.  Everyone's opinions of a race are their own, but this is why I won't name this race. 

One on each foot, with another marathon in 7 days!

A few days later I was at the running store to buy one of those socks for PF, and to ask for help. The one guy had it last year and gave me several pointers. . . I just wasn’t going to go to the doctor before the next race, for fear of him saying “stop exercising!” No one wants to hear that when they have Marathon Maniacs on the line!  :P 

I also had to research how to cover up blisters to go again, because there was no way these were going to be healed in a week.  Enter Leuko Tape.   
I actually didn't have Leuko tape at home, and was trying to figure out how to order some (a huge roll is EXPENSIVE). I wondered who would have some, and I called on the place I did my wrist Physical Therapy at last year. They had a small roll left, and she gave me the roll for the trip. I didn't want to take the whole roll with me, so I wrapped some around an old gift card in several layers that I could peel off, cut, and use, and then returned the roll to the PT office.  This stuff worked! 

Marathon 2 of 2018 (8th Marathon):  The Flying Pig. Awesome race. I’d do this again. Okay, I would do the half again, not sure about doing another full ;-) 

The worst part of this was getting to the town/hotel room. Indiana: Drive interstate speed for one mile, slow down to fortyfive miles an hour for five miles, repeat across the entire width of the state. UGH. Hotel. High star hotel. I have my luggage, no carts available, so roller bag, food bag, purse, and small cooler. I tell the check in desk that I am checking in, my friend is already in the hotel. He verifies my name, checks my id and gives me room keys. I go up to the room, walk in and wonder when my friend got knew luggage. . .and why she has so many pink feather boas all over the room, and wonder why she has Krispy Kreme, because she flew so she won’t be able to easily take those to her husband. OH! He gave me a key to the wrong room!!!. Pick all my stuff up again, go downstairs, have another person help me—who asked “but was anyone in the room?” “No? Okay” “here’s your key”.
**reason to have your room completely locked down tight when you’re in your hotel room!**
**reason to never leave purses or wallets in a hotel room, even if you’re not in there!** 

YIKES!

Flying Pig expo was smaller than I was expecting, but it was awesome. Swag bag was awesome –this year with a picnic blanket with the logo on it, posters (with a box!) and technical shirts. If/when I come back for this race, I’ll do the ‘three way’, but this year I decided against the 1 mile Fri night, the 5k/10k on Saturday, with the half full on Sunday. When I signed up for the race I still wasn’t running much from the back pain/car collision of a couple years ago. Combined with the unexpected PF issue, I was glad I had not. However, I did go and cheer on my friend at the 5k/10k, and enjoyed the riverfront of Cincinnati. I highly recommend it! Beautiful with swings looking out to the river, a flying pig/play equipment, and a giant piano keyboard with the pipes being reclaimed/repurposed church chime bells!

The flying pig play equipment. It's wings move up and down! 

Race shirt, Swag blanket,  Purchased pig and glass, won the Route 66 neck gaiter thing,
and the Melanoma Know More magnet and suncreen

 Race day was energetic! Back up pair of shoes! Not those bloody ones from the last week, but the same style, same size, and same make. 

Leuko Tape with 2Toms SportShield over it, to prevent the sock from sticking. 

The first part of the race was exciting, and fun. Running across the bridge to Kentucky, and back to the Ohio:   The only reference I saw to the tv show WKRP in Cincinnati. 

It definitely kept one moving along, as well as the many other runners on the course as well! Then we made it up to the conservatory area, with a **Beautiful** look out over the Ohio River, if you went from the road to the sidewalk (obviously I did). 

Overlook, worth the run!

The next half of the race was okay. I was feeling okay, but then energy started to drain, and the Plantar Fasciitis was aching. I can remember the area perfectly where my run attempt was rejected with a “hell no” from my right foot!

I actually got to see a pig on the race course. He was heading home from his walk

Music on the corner. Beautiful music

It was also getting very hot, with no clouds for coverage. I was glad I had a package of sliced pickles with me, and the little bit of juice, but wished I had a couple of them! As I was on the highway, they were taking down the aid stations and I was shocked. I can’t remember how many miles we still had, but I was shocked they’d take down the tents while there were competitors still on the course! Maybe the people I was with were at the cut off point? Then I started worrying about race cutoffs! I walked past the wet towel station. I rejected one of those because I didn’t want to wash off my sunblock! There were a couple sunblock stations on this course, towards the last ten miles or so—this Melanoma Warrior was happy to see that! 

I was walking the course well, and met up with a woman whom I ended up finishing the race with. Either I came upon, or she came upon me, I do not recall. We were on the roadway, and directed to the sidewalk, and then the fire dept in a little golf cart came around with bags of ice for us because it was SO hot. They ran out for the people right behind us, so I took some and put it in my water bottle, and passed on half a bag of ice. A couple people told me not to do that, but I didn’t need a quart of ice! We picked up our pace and kept powerwalking, she told me that her husband finishes ahead of her, always, and that she knows he’s at the finish line for her. We actually saw him, as he came back along part of the way to find her. He directed us to turn at one point, where we would have gone straight because we saw barricades that way.

After finishing, I hobbled to the bus to get my checked bag, and stripped off those shoes and socks! I was DONE with this brand of shoe. They changed their sizing last year and these two pairs of shoes were my shoes after that size change. They were out! I put on my birkenstocks and hobbled back past the finish line to the “finish jacket line”. I chatted with the woman I finished with, and her husband. I was still there when I got a phone call from my friend, who was at the table behind me, having finished shortly after I did.  

My friend's story on the course is that the aid stations were taken down, but they weren’t directed off the course or anything. She took the money she always carries, gave it to a guy on the street, and asked him to go buy some water at the local corner store for other racers to make their day.

Since I finished both marathons in less than 16 days, I am qualified to become a Marathon Maniac, and thereby a Double Agent! 

WOO HOO!

We went back to the hotel to go to the pool and hot tub. .. ohhh, a hot tub feels great against sore muscles.  Imagine our shock when we arrived and it was a pool only. . .  and you could see the hot tub had recently been removed and another seating area was placed there with new tile/grout/ and placement that just didn't flow. 

With the race in the books, I headed home. Driving with flaring Plantar Fasciitis is hard as the flexing of the foot annoys the PF area. It was time, I took myself to the doctor and asked for help on my plantar fasciitis. 

The doctor gave me Ibuprofen cream, as I have contraindications for ingesting it, and exercises. I went to the running store and tried on SO many shoes, and fell in love with a Saucony style, and I have proceeded to rest my foot since then.

No extreme walking/ no competitive events, no running. Just resting, just doing my exercises, and just doing yoga.  In June I went to DC for Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Advocacy Day and I limited the walking I did because of my foot!  I had graduation for a family member to attend, and I were "sensible shoes". 

September: Went on vacation, ate out, and wasn't sick

I didn't have any races in September, except the Virtual Running Club National Park race. I did this last year because I wanted the medal shaped like a park ranger hat! This year it was the outline of the continental US.  The tshirt has that on the front and then has Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, and a couple other islands placed appropriately on the shirt. The Mike and I both had National Park shirts to wear on our vakay. . . and we did stop at a national park (or two)!   

The Mike has vacation he has to use, so we decided to use some of it! (He's been unable to take it all the past couple of years).  We decided on Niagara Falls via Canada and camping! Like we have camped together, once, in twenty years! We have slept in the car at a rest stop on the way to our destination. We have slept in the car on a quick trip to Leadville to crew for a fellow bicyclist, at the last minute, arriving at midnight and getting up at 5am for activities. However, we have only 'camped' once and that was a few years ago, for one night only.  I usually do some great planning for our vacations, but this year I wasn't getting much in the "between here and there" search.  I even looked for races, and they were either on the Saturday we were leaving home, or they were on Saturday or Sunday we were returning home and not where we needed them to be, ha ha.  The plan: Rent a minivan and use it for camping.  This meant we had to pack light. We were able to secure a Dodge Grand Caravan, the only minivan that has stow and go back seats so we could set up the air mattress there.  Yes, we literally slept in the car!

Funny and cheap fix:  The Mike had picked up a dashboard GPS unit for $10 at a garage sale because he wanted the parts. Turned out it actually worked!  We used that for the trip versus tying up my data on the phone  and versus spending $8 a day for GPS in the rental.

We took our Thirty-One soft sided cooler for the trip because it'd fit behind the driver's seat.  One caution: it tends to leak if you have something on top of it. .  . for this reason we wouldn't take it on vacation in the future, but for about town or weekend trips it'd be great.  We put a garbage sack under the cooler to protect the carpet.  Packed inside: containers with Hormel ham and turkey; cheese sticks, as well as sliced cheese for sandwiches; mustard; fruit cups; milk; a few cans of soda/pop; Chobani yogurt; and hard boiled/cooked eggs; We did plan to dine out along the trip as well.  In another Thirty One tote, we had chips, crackers, pumpkin seeds, Canyon Bakehouse bread, pretzels, mamma chia packs, plates, paper towels, silverware (not plastic), Tanka bars, The Mike's granola bars, and a few other snacks. 

Day 1:  Indiana:  Introduced to Bonefish Grill. A spendy first meal, but we had a cooler with us for breakfast and lunch items.   

Bonefish Grill Gluten free meal at the front; The Mike's gluten fish & chips in back. 

I think Bonefish must have changed their menu in the last five years or so. I have only been to one location previously, and I remembered a lot more fish on then menu than the $$$$ entrees on this gluten free menu.  Plus, they didn't even offer to bring The Mike bread.  Like, just because *I* am gluten free doesn't mean he should have to go without bread --he does at home, but the restaurant is the time for him to splurge!.

Fall Flowers in bloom frequently on our travels

Our first night travel we played it like we have in years past. . .just drive until we are tired. We learned you can't really do that when needing a campground.  $30 to park the car on a grassy spot, have a picnic table and access to the building with bathrooms and showers. We felt we were hobos compared to the folks with RV and golf carts for getting around! 

Breakfast was a piece of Canyon Bakehouse bread with Sunbutter on top, hardboiled eggs, cheese stick and Chobani yogurt for us. (How did I live so long without Sunbutter in my life?  I never cared for peanut butter and these days peanuts don't like me!  Sunbutter is one of the few sunflower butters that is made in a facility without peanuts (like, what's the point of those other brands!).

We took a stroll to the lake on site, cleaned up and hit the road. We had places to go and things to see!  First up, Henry Ford Museum complex in Dearborn MI.  I had looked ahead of time at the website, but since I didn't know the differences for the different areas I decided we'd just make a decision when we got there and talked to someone about our options.   We decided to go with Greenfield Village and the Innovation Museum.  We erroneously thought we'd have enough time for both in one day.  (Note: you need a full day for each, and could probably spend a whole week here seeing everything).  What is Greenfield Village?  It's a historic village that Henry Ford himself started. It has homes and businesses, vintage transportation, the Wright Bros shop, Edison's Florida home, a pottery, a weaver, a printer, glass blower, so much more, and a roundhouse for trains, and --this is cool---you can go beneath a steam engine, seriously!  Have you ever seen the underside of a train engine?

Steam train engine undercarriage via the "pit" 

I had no idea that Ford created such a complex. He basically wanted to collect buildings and things that were of interest to him and put them in a village he created.

 We had packed cheese sticks and Tanka bars in my purse and snacked on those during the day.  After a eight hours of exploring, we were ready to find a place for dinner and get a campsite.  Using the Find Me Gluten Free app we found Buddy's Pizza and got a gluten free pizza for carryout.  I was unprepared for the question: Do you want it cut?  I've never been asked that before. She said a lot of celiacs don't want it cut, but they do use a clean/separate blade so I said cutting it was fine.

We found a campground for the night, although it too was more for RVs than cars/tents.  It was also close to the shower/bathroom building.  Nice place--definitely a Good Sam(aritan) club--we had someone offer to start a fire for us. I hadn't packed any firestarters or matches! 

My mind kept niggling at the name of the town, Monroe Michigan, but I was coming up with nothing as to why.  Turns out that this is Custer's home town. Yes, that Custer!  Civil War hero at the time he was celebrated here, before he went West.   The campground had some fliers and one of them looked good for breakfast, and was on the Find Me Gluten Free app too: R Diner.

R Diner, Monroe MI

We both had woken up and said, "We need a sit down warm breakfast today".  So glad the R Diner had a brochure at the campground. This diner is colorful, bright, airy, and right on the main drag, so it's easy to find.  They did have UDIs gluten free bread, and knew of gluten free/celiac needs, but I was throwing a wrench into the works with not being able to have soy oil.  The waitress was feeling so bad for me. I asked if they could poach eggs. YES! she felt so great about that. I asked for some spinach and cheese too.  She brought  it out and was not sure about how I was going to be with the presentation. I was ecstatic.  I said "This is how I often have my eggs at home!" (Okay, fine. I don't poach eggs at home). Spinach, eggs, and cheese. What else does a gal need? 

We took some time to find out what Monroe MI had. It has the La-z-boy headquarters. It also has a National Battlefield called River Raisin.  What? You've never heard of it? Your history books didn't cover it either?  Remember the Raisin was apparently a rallying cry for the War of 1812.  One of the Rangers said it was like "remember the Alamo".  The Ranger put the park in perspective and said that while most National Park areas have one or two views to share, he has five: US, British, Canadian, Native American, and French.

We got back to Dearborn and went to the Innovation Museum.  We didn't have enough time to see this in eight hours, let alone the six hours we had in the day before closing.

Presidential cars through history:

JFK's car
modified -after that event- into a hard top for Johnson's use

FDR's car

Not my first Wiener-mobile

This Museum is amazing. Trains, cars, trucks, race cars, machines, massive gears, planes, farm implements, and more we didn't even get to see!  Before leaving the museum for the night, one of the museum workers suggested dinner to us of a fairly new establishment called Ford's Garage. It's a mini chain and not affiliated with the museum. We thought "why not".  They do have a small gluten free menu. Sadly the piston onion rings were not gluten free. Not that I expected them to be, but they looked really cool on a funnel.

"Uncarburator burger" 

We crossed into Canada and found a campground for the night. It wasn't crowded since it was after Labor Day now and we had good access to the facilities.  In the morning we stumbled upon a gluten free bakery. The Mike was driving and he saw the LARGE sign while I had my head in the map.  Healthy Creations Gluten Free Bakery.  SAY WHAT? A bakery that is totally gluten free?!  Sign us up!  They weren't open. We went to a nearby park in London instead. It was so clean and beautiful. The whole country is clean, manicured, well kept! 

Back to the bakery we went. I wanted everything, but with small room for food that wasn't going to happen. I thought I was picking things that were going to cost a lot:

Four fresh from the oven muffins. 

 A brownie, and one or two cookies. 

Under $10 Canadian 

with the exchange rate it was under $9 US.       
Why didn't I insist on buying more?

The woman was so helpful. She said her sister owns the business. She knew what I could have and couldn't have with my soy oil issue.  DELISH. Highly recommend.

Because we have to do something in the town of London, I found a museum for us to go to.  I actually had in my head that it was a museum about the Mounties. . . um, no. It is the Regimental Museum.  We went to a military museum in another country. Fascinating!  We found out why Queen Victoria's seal/initials are still used, that there are a LOT of hat pins that can be awarded/earned in the military, and saw this amazing Flanders Field Cross bearing the names of Some Who Gave All.  

Next stop Niagara Falls Canada! 

Dinner view

 Elements restaurant at TableRock in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. They had a lot of options and said they could simply modify several dishes for me, which gave me more freedom on the menu.

"The Seafood Ravioli hold the ravioli" This is what the manager called it ;-)  I was given extra veggies in this filling, tasty, appetizing entree. It was REALLY good!  

The Mike's Strip Steak, with that nasty Gluten  :P 

We usually don't do dessert, but with creme brule on the menu, of course we would!  The Mike ate the blueberries for me :-) 

Creme Brule YUM!  

I LOVE Canada. This is our second trip into the country with my food restrictions of celiac, soy intolerance, no peanuts, no chickpeas. . .and I feel I'm forgetting something.  I try to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup because I don't like how it makes me feel like my tongue has been coated.  HFCS is not a problem in the most common form--soda/pop.  I drank more Coca Cola on this trip than I have in a while---not really a good thing, right?   Mexican Coke in glass bottles in the USA is what I normally get, or Hansen's (from California) root beer or ginger ale which I can get at Trader Joe's a few times a year.  

View under Rainbow Bridge on the walking path.

After we had a long day of sightseeing, with Tanka bars and cheese sticks for snacks, we stopped at Boston Pizza on Clifton. It came up on the Find Me Gluten Free app, so we said 'sure'! 

TWO sides to the gluten free menu! 

The Mike's gluten pizza (round) and my GF pizza (square)

Our desserts were a little different. . . I would have liked that brownie, but I went for the pudding and gummie worms GF dessert.  Don't judge: when was the last time you got gummie worms in a restaurant?! 

Does the wonderful energy of the Falls ever get old?  (No. The answer is No. I can't believe you even thought about it!)

Breakfast before heading out for sightseeing. The KOA had cute Nutella jars, so we had to get those.  The summer sausage I had brought from home purchased at Natural Grocers. No MSG. No gluten. No soy. Very tasty.

The beautiful Butterfly Conservatory was amazing. 

Fort George. First foreign military museum for us.  The Fort grounds are well cared for, and the employees have fun--the Musket demonstrator had us laughing with the demonstration. 

We crossed over to the USA, found a campsite, the visitor's center and got a tip for dinner. Lewiston NY up the road a bit.  Water Street Landing had a lot of variety on the menu in general, and an option I felt safe with for my gluten and soy needs was the burger. I wasn't so sure about the bun, but the waitress said it was gluten free--who has ever had a gluten free bun that has seeds on top?!  I halfway believed her, but was a little dubious since I asked for no potato chips and then they were served on the side. I cut off the burger that was touching the chips and didn't eat them because they were fried in soy/vegetable oil. 

If you've never been to Lewiston, it's a historic town to see on a gentle Niagara River and a place where many of the slaves seeking freedom crossed into Canada.  

Later, we went to a grocery store in Niagara Falls NY to restock our cooler. I was ecstatic to see a freezer section full of gluten free delights.  I splurged and bought a cake I didn't really need :D  It was about two inches tall and four inches square.  It also took me four days to eat it. The cake was really good and the frosting was overly sweet to me.  

The USA falls allow a person to get MUCH closer to the action. 

Rainbows viewed with the Rainbow Bridge in the distance. 

In case you go to Niagara Falls, let me share with you something we did not know while we were in Canada--if we had, we would have stayed at the KOA another day. You can WALK across the Rainbow Bridge into the USA/Canada.  You have to have your passport on your person. It is fifty cents. Quarters fed into a machine, and paid when you leave Canada to cross into the USA.  It's where you can get the international photo of one person in one country and your travel partner in the other country. It's where you can pose with one foot in each country (of course, then you can't get the photo and the sign). 

Hershey Store, Niagara Canada

We walked across the Rainbow Bridge to Canada for lunch. Why?  Because I knew we'd find gluten free food in Canada in the tourist area and I honestly didn't know where to get close gluten free/soy free food while we were on the States' side.
  .
Hard Rock for lunch: 

Just look at that GF Bun!   The waitress said she knows of at least a dozen types of GF buns available in and around Niagara of which she is aware!  A dozen!  It was light and tender too. 
We joked we should have gone to Hard Rock Niagara USA as well. They're both "right there".  I haven't been to a Hard Rock in the USA since before I was aware of my food restrictions.

After some more sightseeing, we started our return home.  

We camped at Evangola State Park, which we stumbled upon as it was getting dark. We had a nice campground area with paved parking for our camping. We bought some firewood only to have it start to sprinkle after we started our fire. We hopped in the car. Then it stopped and we started the fire again. Then it rained again, but not for long.  Third time was the charm with the fire ;-) 

In the morning, we packed up and went to explore the park.  

It was a smart move with this view for breakfast. 

Lake Erie
Before our trip, I tried to find local races to do along our route and came up empty. While we were enjoying our breakfast there were people walking around with bibs. . . a low key 5K was being held at the park.  LOL--the park ranger didn't even know!  Sadly, I left my running shoes and gear at home in trying to keep packing to a minimum.  I had hiking shoes, birks, and boots. I thought another pair of shoes would be too much. Plus, no sports bra was packed either.  No run for me. 

We headed on down the road and in the afternoon stopped at a Wendys for lunch, and made a trip to the grocer across the road for some more yogurt and browsing. 
These are AWESOME. They're huge too!  

We also found this gluten free pasta, so we had to buy a couple boxes. :-)  

I've cooked it up since then. It is really good and definitely one I'd buy again. Shocking, since I don't much care for corn pasta, but I do like rice pasta.  

It's made in Italy, and packaged in the states by Dakota Growers.

We were exploring a bit more before getting on the road again, and we encountered packet pickup for a marathon on Sunday. UGH. TWO races I did not have on my radar that I could have run in. Okay, just kidding. I wouldn't have been able to do the marathon, because it was in Pennsylvania, on Sunday, when we needed to be MUCH closer to home!   It was still sad to see running events and know I couldn't participate.  

After our last night of camping, we went for an exploratory hike before getting back in the car. 

Art in nature.  At first I saw a tree cut down, and was sad that humans cut short nature (along an undeveloped lakeshore area). Then I saw a tree root/trunk as a shoe climbing up out of the Lake. :-)  (Marblehead Ohio--you can see Cedar Point rides across edge of the lake). 

A pit stop was needed:  Culvers.

We needed to get out and walk/explore and we pulled off the interstate / toll system at the point for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Part of this is a state park and part of it is national park area. There are also sections of this that are private, and it was weird to drive from protected land to open land and back to protected land.  

For all the exploring/travels we have done, my husband had not seen Lake Michigan up close. WHAT? I exclaimed when he said it.  We HAD to go to the Lake. The parking lot/swim area is in the state park which has a fee for parking. Do not balk at this. It is well worth it.  A large changing room building, a large art deco building that has concessions in the summer, and  wide open beach for the water.  There are plenty of hiking trails too, if you have the right footwear. 

Enjoy the road. Get out and explore. Don't let food issues hold you back from seeing what nature has to offer.  Pack a cooler. Pack a campstove if you need to do all your food prep.