The Cure for Pooplessness

Hubbyman and I decided to do another road trip yesterday and discovered that Monticello, GA has the cure for constipation!

It's amazing what you find when you make a wrong turn. :)  This was painted on the side of a building in a parking lot where we had to turn around after someone... ahem... I... headed in the wrong direction.

Our goal for this road trip was Vidalia, GA, the home of the sweetest onions you could hope for.  Since I've been on such a food obsession kick lately, a food-related destination just made sense.

For a change of pace, we decided to take my mini-van so I drove the first half of the trip.  His car is a manual which I am not able to drive so he usually does most of the driving.  It was a nice change for him, too, to be a passenger for a change. :)

The drive was pretty but there was really very little photo-worthy.  Plus, you know, I was driving. :)

We did stop at a pretty little place for a late picnic lunch, though, called Little Ocmulgee State Park. 

We decided on this pavilion for out feast because it had a cool four-sided fireplace in the center.

I packed WAY too much food for our picnic so we ended up bringing half of it home with us but at least I made sure we didn't go hungry. :D

• Diet Coke (for the caffeine)
• Romaine lettuce (big jar)
• Cold curried pea salad (small jar)
• Balsamic-mayo dressing (little plastic container)
• Orange
• Nitrate-free turkey sandwich on a homemade bun with touch of mayo and Dijon mustard
• String cheese

I actually only ate the sandwich and lettuce salad.  The pea salad (recipe to follow) came home.  I ate the orange on the way home and Hubbyman ate my string cheese.  His lunch was similar but he had 2 sandwiches: one with ham and one with roast beef plus cottage cheese, more string cheese, and a banana instead of an orange.  His pea salad also came home with us.  We had had it the night before for dinner and knew we'd be having it with dinner tonight as well so we agreed it was okay to save it for later since we were really full. :)

Oh, I had also bright homemade salsa, chips, and mixed nuts that we didn't eat, either. LOL

As we were cleaning up, I noticed cute little footprints in the concrete under the table.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed with Vidalia.  I really thought it was going to be an onion wonderland, but it was just another town who, in my opinion, grossly underutilized its onion factor.  In fact, the only onion I even saw was on their water tower.

He asked what I was expecting and I said, at the very least, I thought their would be more oniony names of businesses.  To his bemused horror, I proceeded to rename every business we passed: McOnions, Onionee's, The Peoples Bank of Onions, The OnyInn, Staronions, Kentucky Fried Onions, Taco Onions, Onion Wireless, you get the onion idea.  Admittedly, I carried on with this theme for a bit too long. :)

From here, he drove us home which made me happy.  Though, he got the easy part because we always take interstates home.  We take backroads for the first part of our road trips, but he has me as a navigator rather than vice versa.  They say men are better with directions, but I have to strongly disagree with that based on my house. :)

It was a long day and I had to struggle to stay awake on the way home.  I kept finding myself lost in thought, especially about a special someone in my life.

My camera phone did not do this sunset justice, but it really did look like flames in the horizon.

Cold Curried Pea Salad 
(adapted from simplyrecipes.com)

• 16oz frozen peas
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
• 8oz can water chestnuts, chopped
• 2/3 c mayonnaise
• 2 tsp yellow curry powder
• salt & pepper to taste

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the peas, celery, apple and water chestnuts.  In a small bowl, mix the mayo, curry powder, salt & pepper well.  Fold mayo mixture into the peas.  
2. Refrigerate until ready to save.  This tastes better when made a day ahead and still tastes good a few days later.