Eating in America

I cannot eat any more iceberg lettuce. I have had it for two out of three meals, three days in a row. These are the trials of a semi-vegetarian traveling across America, trying to eat in mom-n-pop places.

We have arrived in Salt Lake City now, and we hope to find some actual vegetables.

Say what you will about the horrors of chain restaurants and the homogenization of American food culture, but Olive Garden has saved our (metaphorical) bacon twice already. When it's down to BILLY BOB'S 4-POUND STEAKS vs. a bowl of linguine the size of Rhode Island, I'll pick the latter, even though both represent absurd excess.

We've also slipped quickly away from our Seattle coffee snootiness, instead slurping down huge mugs of whatever's in the pot. Sour, bitter, burned... it all fuels delirious hours of driving and marveling at the scenery.