Brent went out for ground beef and bacon on Monday night and I needed a few things this morning. Biking to Kroger 2.5 miles away is not a very convenient option for small trips. When running out for a couple items we have a few other choices from our house. We can stop at Clark’s BP gas station a couple of blocks away or Rite Aid several blocks further. There is a mom and pop shop (Ujamma’s?) in the neighborhood behind Cabell Huntington Hospital, I think it’s on Charleston Avenue, or a street south. Then there is Julian’s market on 12th Street and 11th Avenue.

For both of our recent trips we chose Julian’s. It’s 2.2 miles round trip, less than 1/2 the distance of Kroger and still on level streets. Their prices are a bit higher than Kroger, but nothing outrageous. I paid .69/lb for bananas and they were .59/lb at Kroger last week. 2lbs of popcorn kernels were $1.99 and everything they sell is homemade or name-brand.

I did want to get bread today, but nothing whole wheat was under $2/loaf so I passed and will make my own later today with this recipe that just posted on another favorite blog site, 100 Days of Real Food. I also needed soy milk and it was near $3 for a liter, another pass today. The larger Kroger trip will be later this week. We make it stretch around here until we just can’t scrape together the basic nutrition requirements.

Helmets and groceries, Oliver and list. Julian’s used to be Mansour’s.

Front door parking for every one at Julian’s.  Yet, no bike rack.

Oliver, Avery and I took off at 10 till 9AM. We stopped for our eggs (4 dozen) first then to get a few provisions. Today’s purchases and weights:

4.12lbs bananas

2.97lbs sweet potatoes

2lbs butter (actually margarine b/c butter was $4.89/lb and the margarine was .89, I still feel guilty over the compromise, but my budget won this fight)

2liters (4lbs) of diet Coke

2lbs of popcorn

About 20lbs in total, plus Oliver and Avery, the tools and diaper bag and waters. I think we maxed out the trailer’s weight limit of 100lbs today. We were home by 10AM.

Time to Slow Down

Part of the slow journey today was my own physical condition. My throat has been very sore for a couple days and my legs ache. I can work through the muscle aches and pains, but then coming up the first of two hills home the pressure in my chest got to me. I have a history of my heart changing pace and rattling around in my chest like it’s trying to jump out, even though my breathing is steady. The Drs say it’s a change in pressure. Well, it started up at an intersection and didn’t let up till I got home. The intensity of the pounding was making me light headed, so I stopped the bike, drank a lot of water, tried all the breathing tricks I know to get it to stop. Because it wasn’t changing I decided to walk the bike home for the last couple blocks. When I reached down to unbuckle Avery in the trailer it quit. Just as quick as it started, it was over. I have been home taking it easy since.

HighSpeed

Did you catch a couple of things on this post? First there were miles listed in the “drove” section of the header. Then there was the diet Coke. We don’t drink diet Coke, but you may not have known that. My grandmother took the Greyhound down from Columbus last night to visit with us and friends for a couple of weeks. Her bus came in at 10:45PM and we didn’t dare let my 76 year old granny walk home or get on a bike. The local buses don’t run that late, so Brent turned over the engine on the van, aka HighSpeed, and puttered down to pick her up.

Grandma been taking the Greyhound bus down here since we moved in. She likes the independence of getting where she wants to go without overly burdening anyone to take her. She enjoys sitting back and taking in the characters she sees on the bus. Now that I think about it, she’s a car-lite woman. Her neighbor does her grocery shopping and she gets rides with family for doctor’s appointments and errands. Way to go Grandma!