Thursday, May 22, 2008

The. Move.

Mega, mega writer's block on the food front. Apologies. We're moving to California next month, and I think that the 'cleaning out the pantry' mentality is having devastating effects on the quality of our dinners. It's hard to work up enthusiasm for cooking or eating when the mentality revolves around cans, leftovers, minimum purchases, and just making do.

It's going to be epic, the move I mean. We both start graduate school in Berkeley in August, but what happens between now and then is less regimented. Do, as our resident scientist, is to report for duty at a Berkeley lab as soon as humanly possible. My program has no such expectations and I absolutely refuse to lift a pinkie finger this summer: it'll be my first summer without a job or internship or scholastic requirement since pre-high school. So we've cut a deal: Do moves out in early June and gets to find us a place to live, my family and I pack up all our stuff and load it in a pod, and then my Dad and I drive the car across the country. Don't even talk to me about gas prices.

The father-daughter cross-country drive is going to be a ball. My Dad, characteristically, has gone a head and planned out every day, every stop, every motel. Phase 1 will snake us through the South-East, visiting much of my paternal side of the family (free bed!), a civil war battlefield, a renowned Bar-B-Q joint, and an ice cream factory, before landing us in Austin for a week plus. [My folks have retired to Austin, and I haven't gotten a chance to spend more than a long weekend there]. Then phase 2 will be new territory to me: El Paso, Tucson, Pasadena, Fresno, and finally, the Bay Area. We should roll in to Berkeley in mid-July.

Needless to say, suggestions about places to hit up on the way, food-related or otherwise, are more than welcome!

We haven't yet figured out how/how often we'll be able to stay in touch with you all. We don't even know if you'd be interested in my adventures from the road (mmm, truck stop food. Again.), or in Do's photoless cooking attempts while he crashes in Oakland with a bachelor buddy from college.

I'll definitely at least try to do something. Even this mini-break from blogging has left me really missing you guys.

Finally, tonight, we have a free evening and several dishes on the backburner. Expect some real, food blogging very soon!

9 comments:

Laura Paterson said...

Wow - sounds like an exciting time for you guys... and that's one hell of a roadtrip! I'll definitely be interested in hearing about your adventures!

That Girl said...

Good luck on THE MOVE. I can recommend a great cupcake shop in Pasadena, but other than that I'm fairly useless as a travel planner for you.

However, when you're in Austin you should most certainly take a day trip to San Antonio!

kat said...

Oh man, what fun that you are moving to California, though I know how big a move like that can be. We moved from San Francisco to Minneapolis this past fall. I really envy you the drive there. We took a couple days to do the drive from SF & had so much fun we want to do it again.

Johanna GGG said...

sounds like a big adventure - am sure you will look foward to some quality cooking in your own kitchen at the end of it - but hope you enjoy your time on the wide open road

giz said...

Kind of a double edged sword - moves are always exciting - in the talking phase - and a royal pain in the actual implementation phase. Stress levels are high, ambivalence tremendous and once into it - it's kinda like being pregnant - not many ways out. Thank goodness for dad and his organizational skills - makes life a whole lot easier.

Good luck with the move - we'll be watching for news from your travels.

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow, you will be about 70 miles from me in Berkeley. What a great experience for you!

krysta said...

You guys are sooooo close to me only about an 1 hour and we're going to Berkeley for a campus visit soon. Katie, after years of saying no to Berkeley as a school, has said this just might be the college for her. I honestly can't wait for you to get here and meet up!

PG said...

Wow - that is quite the shift. I definitely vote for roadtrip blogging.

Anonymous said...

I vote for roadtrip blogging, you never know what good food you'll find at a truck stop :) While you're driving through SoCal you definitely need to stop at Sprinkles Cupcakes and Pinkberry frozen yogurt. They both have cult-like followings (like Krispy Kreme) and are fabulous. I live about an hour away from Berkeley in the North Bay, and always look forward to these two places when I visit friends down south (and go through withdrawals once I get home).