Prior to lockdowns I brought my own jars and bags to shop as low waste as I could. We ate a small amount of processed foods and I focused on fruits and vegetables. Once COVID hit I tried to make shopping as effective as possible. First thing to go was bringing my bags and jars. For the first few weeks I admit I was even wiping down my groceries.
Once we got a better idea of what we were dealing with I stopped wiping down the groceries and started bringing in some fun foods to keep our spirits up. When we were preparing to list our house I started to use pre-made sauces, freezer aisle meals, and store bought bread. During the past winter the cold and wind made me crave sweets and comfort foods.
What I’m trying to say is, how did I get here?
I prepared for years to get to this moment. I feel frustrated that I’m back at square one, but grateful to be figuring out food, and our health in general, while being where I dreamt I was working toward all that time.
Anyway, I bring this up because we shopped for food for the next week. We’re currently at Friday Harbor. We got here early in the morning and had all day to do laundry, shower, and grocery shop. I told the kids we were doing LSG today. They of course missed why that was funny. Upon arrival we plugged into shore power and were quickly buzzing with electricity and most importantly, humming with the dehumidifier. It’s amazing how much moisture is in our air, thus chilling in the fabric of our cushions.
I waited until Shane was off of work and the ramp to the shore was at a reasonable slope to head to the store. Another super low tide had me feeling my barre thigh work from the previous morning when walking up to wash three loads of laundry.
The last time we were here I noticed that eggs and vegetables were pretty pricey, compared to Port Townsend. I really don’t have a frame of reference now to say if it was more than other places. After all, if prices are more, it is an island and the grocery store is just up the street from the marina. I am very grateful for the convenience it provided. It feels like shopping at Family Grocer back in Duvall, or El Rancho Market in Solvang.
I need to start tracking prices of products I purchase often to know when something is at a lower price point to buy more of it. Food is expensive period.
All of the groceries went into our Ikea bags, that I also used to cart laundry to and from the laundromat earlier in the day. Each of us carried a bag or two back to the boat. I removed as much packaging from the groceries as I could and started to stow them away.
I have a few books on board now that give stowing, preserving, and harvesting tips for cruisers. I’ll get better at this eventually!
And now for the lightning round of the log.
Homeschool: IXL for math, Kelly finished his vocabulary lesson, Wyatt did a spelling lesson, reading. Kelly worked out how many tokens we would need for three loads of wash, then how many tokens we would need if the large dryer held all of our loads, but charged a token every 10 minutes and it would take 60 minutes to dry. Wyatt also worked on this, figuring out what 10 six times was. Kelly purchased boba with his own money using cash.
We ran the engine for two hours this morning.
I reached 11,193 steps and that was only tracking after noon. My only activity was walking to get my chores done.
To do before we leave: Shane go over weather and currents with us, confirm cruising plan, take recycling out, fill up with water, pump-out, check out the books that became available from the library online and download to Kindle.
Notable Kings Market grocery prices: Earth Balance butter sticks $6.99, Vital Farms Pasture-raised Eggs $8.89, Mission Almond tortillas $5.69, Organic All Purpose Flour $6.59, Tito’s Vodka $27.59, large hass avocado 2 for $7, broccoli crowns (conventional) $3.99/pound, organic kale $3.99, yams (conventional) $2.99/pound, organic celery $2.89/pound, tofu $5.99, smoked salmon $9.99, small cans of sprite $4.29
Happy Father’s Day weekend! Looks like a few dad and kid boats are out there this weekend.