Great Faces, Great Places

Well I made it. Over nineteen hours and 1200 miles later I have arrived in Spearfish, SD for Kristine's wedding. The drive was long and uneventful. The weather is dreary to say the least, a high of 63 degrees and rain...bleh. The wedding is at 6:00 this evening, so it gives me and Elissa so times to bum around. We might head over to Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. I haven't been there since I was 5 so it would be neat to see the progress they have made on the Crazy Horse monument. I also plan on getting out for a run, probably just half an hour or so. But what I really want to address is the difficulty, or more the predicament that traveling on the road presents the vegetarian or vegan.

I am still new enough to this lifestyle, and my will power isn't where I would like it to be, so there are temptations at every exit. Right now I have no problem turning down a Snickers bar for a bag of Fruit and Nut trail mix. Those aren't even considered problems in my book. Where I run into problems is stopping for meals. I brought a cooler along with some apples, oranges, carrots and lettuce that I bought at the co-op before I left, and I also have some bananas. But I am travelling with Elissa on this trip and I don't want to force her to stick to fruits and veggies. She is doing her part it seems though because she is eating the fruit that I brought and not asking to stop for snacks or anything.

But last night we stopped at Subway for dinner. And I just don't have the will power to get a veggie delight sandwich right now, so buckled and got a turkey sandwich. I have, however, become reconditioned to eat many more vegetables on the sandwich, along with cutting back from a foot long to a six inch. And I still do subscribe to eating meat, for a couple of reasons. One, I won't have a choice on what I eat when I am in the Marines, I am sure of that. So I want my body to remember how to digest it, so I eat meat every now and then. About 3-5 times a week. Secondly, I am in this vegetarian style for the health benefits, but I am still a firm believer in that your body will tell you what you need.

There is a big difference between what your body needs and what your mind wants. I want meat every meal of every day. When I am out running and I smell a bar-b-q, or run by the McDonald's, my stomach churns a little bit and my mouth starts to salivate. There are times where I crave nothing more than a juicy double cheeseburger, fries, and a large soda. But that is what I want, and not what I need. There is more bad than good in those meals. However, last night with my turkey sub, it was still healthy enough and it satisfied my need for nutrients. Anyway, I am still in transformation mode, and if it were easy, everyone would do it.

The wedding tonight is a buffet, so I will be presented with many choices of food, hopefully I can keep it simple.

More to come later, along with pictures!