Hobo Chili

YEAHHH... this picture was taken about ten miles from the California border by my riding buddy Richard. We stayed at this park overnight with two other bike tourers that were heading North. We gathered some wood and I made a big dinner of chicken in a red sauce with rice and beans and flour tortillas. I am becoming a very good outdoors, minimalist chef. Did you know that you could use an old shoestring in place of a bullion cube? It makes for some good Hobo chili.

After we crossed over the border we left 101 and headed inland to go deeper into the redwoods. Such an amazing place. At that point Richard and I had been riding together for four and 1/2 days but we were heading in different directions afterwords. The company was nice but my solitude was beginning to get crowded. I learned a lot from him though. Mostly that pop-tarts good. The kid was culinary maniac. This first day we rode, we both stopped at a Safeway. I got Gatorade, apples, bananas, beans, and a loaf of bread. He came out with an 8 pack of donuts and a quart of milk. Then proceeded to consume it all before getting back on his bike. Another time, a few days earlier, we stopped at a store about three miles from camp to get dinner stuff. We went halves on the food and he also bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I wrongly assumed that we would share it for desert until a mile down the road when i looked back to see him steering his bike with one hand and using the other to squeeze the ice cream into his mouth. The pint was finished before camp. WILD! The day after we split up I was cruising back on the 101 when I saw him sitting outside of a convenience store finishing off a whole box of macaroons. The kid was amazing.