Let's Go on a Picnic!

June 27, 2012

There’s just something about a picnic that brings out the kid in me. Picnics remind me of vacations and trips to the zoo. My mom used to load up the cooler with goodies, and we ate on the road. Not only did we save money that way, but since our travels often took us far away from the closest restaurant, we saved time and didn’t have to go hungry while Dad looked for a Denny’s.

Of course, if you are a pessimist, you may remember picnics as squashed Spam sandwiches and salty chips washed down with warm Shasta. I remember the Spam, but the fact that we ate it far away from home and far from the normal dinner routine made that Spam one of the best things I ever ate.

As an adult, I still love picnics. A few years ago, my husband, my sons, and I took a trip to Colorado. I revived the family picnic just for that trip. We were on a tight budget but wanted to give the kids a special trip. In order to do that, we found a reasonably priced cabin at homeaway.com. I pre-booked most of the tickets for the attractions we wanted to visit  and printed coupons for the rest. We went grocery shopping ahead of time to get food for the trip. And while we were in Colorado, we went on picnics. We ate turkey sandwiches and chips at The Royal Gorge. We ate turkey sandwiches and chips at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. We ate turkey sandwiches at Seven Falls. Well, you get the idea.

I have to say, I enjoyed those picnics and those turkey sandwiches, but I wish I had stopped by the Library for more than travel guides for that vacation. A recent search for picnic books only brought up a few selections, but I’ll bet they would have shown me how to make more than turkey sandwiches.

I know we all enjoyed that vacation, and those were some of the best turkey sandwiches I had in my whole life. But, the next time I set off on a picnic, I am going to try a few new recipes.

Tobi K
Antioch Branch