West Coast: Day 15 - Sea Urchin

We visited Vancouver's Fisherman's Wharf today.
The smell of the salty sea and fresh seafood was quite refreshing.
I guess that's the advantage of living so close to the ocean -  fresh seafood all the time...and so cheap.

My aunt bought a live sea urchin for three dollars and forty cents. I've have never seen the inside of one and trust me, it's not a pretty sight. The porcupine-like shell can be cracked open with a pair of scissors and gloves. You only eat the roe which is yellow ochre in colour.  My aunt said the ones off of the West Australian coast tasted better. I had a tiny bite of this one to compare to the one I tasted a couple years back at a Japanese restaurant. This one resembled the taste of lobster tomalley but raw. I'm personally not a big fan but it's a popular delicacy eaten as sashimi. But boy, it's one ugly little creature.

West Coast: Day 6 (posted a day after...)

It was meat, meat and more meat last night at Bubba's (Jackson, Wyoming). The pulled pork was delicious, juicy and fatty fatty fat. We also had beef brisket and spare ribs. My jeans are slowly starting to feel tighter. It's no wonder that there are so many overweight people in the States.

West Coast: Day 5

Tonight we are spending the night in Cody, Wyoming - a small town an hour away from Yellowstone National Park, which we will be visiting tomorrow! We had dinner at the Irma Cody Hotel (built by Buffalo Bill for his daughter Irma, hence the name). The food was alright but we had some red wine so I think that changed our opinion of the food. Oh, me and my alcohol.

West Coast: Day 3

Yesterday was a boring day in terms of food (lots of disgusting fast food). Today wasn't much better but I did make myself a pretty tasty English egg muffin sandwich this morning with sausage, home fries and a spicy salsa sauce. But we did see an incredible amount of pumpkins everywhere. Something about the midwest; they love their squash/gourd-like/pumpkins species out here. We visited a Gertens today (kind of the Wal-Mart equivalent for gardens/nurseries.) I have never seen a) so many pumpkins together in one place and b) so many different types of pumpkins. I love, love, love pumpkins. Weird, I know. We entered the prairies tonight (Murdo, South Dakota), literally in the middle of nowhere. Everything is flat and even the occasional tree seem out of place. Our Days Inn is cladded in wood logs and the lobby is filled with taxidermy. Perfect setting for a slasher film - House of Wax 2: Prairie Fire.

West Coast: Day 1

We left at 8am sharp this morning from Toronto and crossed the border (took two long dreadful hours - ugh US customs) at Sarnia, drove through Michigan State and now we are resting in Portage, Indiana for the night. My butt is in pain. The van is already in a state of despair. Doris (our GPS - not sure of the origin of her name...) hates us cuz we keep disobeying her orders to take pee breaks every hour on the hour, well, almost, and we insisted on the detour to the Coach factory outlet where the ladies of our travel party spent a lot of time and money. As for food it was breakfast at home, Mickie Dees for lunch (mmmmm - double cheeseburger!) and Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. I had stuffed chicken with grilled portabello mushroom plus a glass of Samuel Adams. The other plate was my dad's grilled porkchops; I took a pic of it cuz it looked more appetizing half-eaten than mine half-eaten. We were so ravenous that I didn't remember to the photos until halfway through dinner. Then, we passed by a little family market to pick up some fresh fruits. The pumpkins reminded me how much I love Hallowe'en...and pumpkin pie. I mean, we all have one special memory or another related to pumpkins, right?