On the road

In the last six weeks we have done a lot of traveling, actually visiting 11 states in that time. I knew it would be nearly impossible to eat locally on the road, but we still tried and noticed a few things along the way.

One of my surprises was Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where my husband and I lived when we were first married 25 years ago. While it was a nice town, I didn't remember it as cutting edge. What I found on our visit was that Sioux Falls has grown up quite nicely. There were at least two restaurants I noted that were featuring locally grown and produced food. That may not seem like a big deal since Sioux Falls is in the heartland and has access to some of the best produce and meats available, but not everyone recognizes the importance of supporting local producers.

The other thing that stood out was the ease of recycling. Being on the road means we had a lot of cans and bottles from soda and water. We try to collect them in a bag to recycle when possible along the way. In Sioux Falls there were recycling trash cans throughout the city. That trend continued as we traveled west to Chamberlain, South Dakota, and on to the Black hills. I don't remember seeing that anywhere else in our travels this summer. For example we spent time in Tulsa, OK, a city five to six times larger, and the only evidence of recycling we saw was a recycling center at the edge of town.

In Indiana recycling was spotty, but the Hampton Inn was stayed in used biodegradable utensils and plates (made from potatoes) in the breakfast room. I was hoping to see that at the other Hilton Family properties we stayed at on our travels, but was sadly disappointed.

One of the reasons I try to eat locally is to lesson my footprint on the earth. Recycling is just a part of my daily life and is something hard to give up when on the road.