Life is getting a little sweeter in this river city...

Today, while fueling our two cars at Safeway, I looked across the parking lot and noticed that Papa Murphy's pizza had opened a store on this side of town...six minutes from our house! Papa Murphy's makes pizzas to your order, wraps them up and you bake at home. We like to add garden fresh tomatoes in the summer and sometimes, pickled peppers. They are reasonable and tasty, and offer thin crusts. I'm loving this because when I simply do not want to cook, I head for Papa's which was on the other side of town in an extremely busy and crowded area. This is so cool. The other good news is that Trader Joe's opens in two weeks and there is a back road I can take, with little traffic right to their parking lot. Dancing the Snoopy dance here

[Jenise]

You'll love having a Trader Joe's in town. You and I won't use a lot of what makes them so good for others--ready-made heat-and-eat food, but they do have some things you won't find at Raley's, and might love. For me, it's the bread department. They have a thick, hand-made corn tortilla that I just adore, for instance. And their dried fruit and nuts selections are second to none.

But speaking of the Snoopy dance, you may have heard me mention many times that I live 14 miles from a decent market. My favorite place to shop is the Coop, and that's about 25. There is actually a slightly indecent market, an old low end place called Cost Cutter, only about 9 miles away (but in a direction I never go in) that I despise for a variety of reasons, including narrow selections, poor meats, and their dreadful venting system which results in your clothes smelling like old french fry oil after just 10 minutes in the store. You can actually drive home, then get back in your car later in the day and smell it again. No exaggeration.

Well Cost Cutter is the lowest tier in a locally owned chain, who have a higher end store called Food Pavillion, and who have now hired some whippersnappers from elsewhere in the country to help them create a new high-high end store they're going to call The Market. They opened one in Anacortes about 50 miles from here, and they're opening their second one just six miles away at our freeway exit. Though my confidence in the chain's management isn't very high, to have any grocery store where this one is going to be will be nothing short of a miracle. Six miles isn't what most people would consider close, but practically speaking it's the difference between being able to run out for one ingredient or not. They're stocking the shelves now and will open next week.

I remember Anacortes....we were there years ago, and took a ferry to the San Juan's. While in Anacortes, I went into a grocery store and was amazed at the different cuts of meat, but no roasts. We had our first RV and I was salivating for a type of roast. Never did find what I wanted. For some strange reason, that has stuck in my mind. I also seem to recall that potato chips were scarce, at least all the varieties we had in our part of the country. It was a fun experience because we had the three kids along and it opened their eyes to differences between places.

We were in a Food Pavilion in Mt. Vernon once. I think they had very good prices. Our last trip up that way, we stayed in Fidalgo Bay, and went into some tiny little local place, I was amazed at the cheeses. One of my favorite things is going into the grocery stores on our travels.. Others love the scenic parks, etc. me - grocery stores!

[Jenise]

I remember Anacortes....we were there years ago, and took a ferry to the San Juan's. While in Anacortes, I went into a grocery store and was amazed at the different cuts of meat, but no roasts. We had our first RV and I was salivating for a type of roast. Never did find what I wanted. For some strange reason, that has stuck in my mind. I also seem to recall that potato chips were scarce, at least all the varieties we had in our part of the country. It was a fun experience because we had the three kids along and it opened their eyes to differences between places.

We were in a Food Pavilion in Mt. Vernon once. I think they had very good prices. Our last trip up that way, we stayed in Fidalgo Bay, and went into some tiny little local place, I was amazed at the cheeses. One of my favorite things is going into the grocery stores on our travels.. Others love the scenic parks, etc. me - grocery stores!

Local butchers seem to believe that roasts are holiday food, and that certain cuts are summer food and others are winter food. It's very odd. I once asked for brisket in March, and was told that cut was for BBQ only and they wouldn't be carrying it until Memorial Day. I told him they braise it New York and smoke it in Texas all year long. "Well, we don't here...." was all he could offer.

And potato chips--lots of potato chips here, what you'd see anywhere I'd think. All the Lays products, Kettle Chips, Tim's Cascade are in any store, and some stores carry other additional brands. Can't understand what it was you ran into in Anacortes that time, it's not the case now.

That particular Anacortes trip was back in the 80's and they did not have all the choices they do now. I can't remember exactly what is was either, I only remember something was strange about the choice of chips. So many places, too little memory