I know it’s been a while since our last post. We’ve been hanging out with family in Ohio, getting on our bikes when we can, and preparing for the next leg of the adventure.

I did want to report on a few of our outings here–mostly having to do with food, of course. 

The most interesting of these adventures was to Jungle Jim’s International Market. This occurred while Brad and Corrine were still here, so we were four adults and a baby. Jungle Jim’s is a huge specialty grocery store in Fairfield Ohio (they now have another location in Eastgate) that began as a produce stand in the 1970’s. My favorite part is the wide selection of international foods, many in decorated theme areas.



Jungle entrance

Giraffe in the clouds

Other highlights include the cheese and olive area and the fun characters. Hazel did not find the talking corn amusing, since it woke her from her nap.



It is kinda creepy…

Also creepy.

One of the other things I found interesting was the checkout system. It is almost like an airport in its separation of secure and not secure. The check stands are arranged in a U-shape, with only one exit that does not allow entrance. Similarly, we could get into the store from the adjoining sandwich shop, but could only get out to the sandwich shop through a main (i.e. secure) exit. I suspect that this would be a difficult design for most grocery stores to implement, but I also suspect it greatly reduces shrinkage.



Note the check out stands on the left side

One of our ostensible goals for the Jungle Jim’s trip was to acquire a duck or two.  As regular readers know, we had duck at Christmas with Brad and Corrine.  Brad wanted to roast a duck for the ‘rents, so we were looking for fresh ducks. Sadly, the only fresh ducks they had were halved, which doesn’t work for roasting. Thus, a trip to Dorothy Lane Market (the Dayton area’s upscale grocer loooong before the Whole Foods era) was required. It’s a great store and they had both frozen and fresh duck. I couldn’t stomach the 300% premium for fresh, so we went with frozen after all. Here’s a photo of the feast.



We also made two clothes-shopping trips for our upcoming cruise! (Look for posts starting soon!) The first trip was before the family visit–which turned out to be helpful since it meant I had something to wear for the associated “meet the baby” open house. At my Mom’s suggestion and with her company, we went to Middletown to the Elder-Beerman clearance store. While you need some patience, the deals are well worth it. They have some brand-new, non-defective clothing for as little as one dollar. Maureen got a great dress and I found blouses and slacks. This didn’t complete our shopping needs, so we had another girls’ day out with my Mom the following Friday. This time we went to a newer mall, The Greene, targeting Nordstrom Rack. We were able to meet the rest of our dress-up needs there (no $1 items, though) and get to lunch before 11:30. We chose what appears to be the only non-chain restaurant in the complex, Pasha Grill. We enjoyed everything from hummus to tilapia, but I think our favorite dish was the haydari, which seems to be the Turkish word for tzatziki.

We’ve also visited K&G Bike Shop (multiple times), Esther Price candies, and the now almost ubiquitous Costco. 

In addition to shopping adventures, we have made good use of both the Dayton Metro Library system and the local bikeways. Though the weather was not kind to us, we managed to get a few rides in and many walks with the dogs. We ate most meals at home, but enjoyed Burger night at Bullwinkle’s in Miamisburg (note: I do not eat burgers) THREE times. Full disclosure–it is the post-Monday night ride destination and we also ate there when Brad and Corrine were in town. We also satisfied my desire for southern-Ohio style thin crust, multi-topping, square-cut pizza with a trip to Marion’s Piazza. Yum.

It’s been nice to relax and regroup and just live life day to day for a while. Big thanks to my parents for continuing to put up with us. Onward to the next adventure!!