Do or ...donut! -- Day 579

When one spends a lot of time by oneself, one has ample opportunity for the contemplation of the deeper mysteries of life. Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of all of this? Where can I get a really good donut? It is these important questions that drive us, and that give life meaning and color.

As I traverse this vast, sprawling Metroplex, I see many signs for little donut shops. I'm a huge fan of the small business models, and buying local. The excitement of finding a tiny, hole-in-the-wall donut shop with amazing products is the real American Dream. (All that stuff about getting married, buying a house, settling down? SECONDARY TO FINDING A GOOD DONUT SHOP)

Today, I am proud to announce that I have found the BEST donut I've ever tasted. But first, the runners up:

Krispy Kreme
5118 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75206

Now, if you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I'm a huge fan of Krispy Kreme (and if you have never had the basic glazed donut while it's still hot, you have no grounds to argue against them.) But while KK does the simple donut really (REALLYREALLYREALLY) well, it goes against that hole-in-the-wall dream that I have. Still, I wanted to see what they could do with a personal favorite of mine, the classic Boston Creme. The donut was light and flaky, the creme filling was sweet and delicious -- if a little scant. The chocolate icing on top was a bit chalky, and flaked off in shingles. Honestly, I was a little disappointed. 4/10

Shin's Donuts
8251 N Belt Line Rd # 140, Irving, TX 75063


This is the AMERICAN DREAM donut shop. A very nondescript, unassuming, hole-in-the-wall, family-owned donut shop. And let me tell you this: they have the BEST kolaches EVER. More croissant than donut, they are warm with a hint of sweetness that perfectly accents the tangy sausage link in the middle. I would drive out of my way to stop here, but luckily they are less than a mile from my house! I gave them the Boston Creme donut test: the pastry was a little greasy on the palate, and a bit dry. Filling was flavorful, but there wasn't very much of it, and it was so off center that I had to bite twice to get any at all. Despite that, I give Shin's 6/10 and highly recommend that you go get kolaches. Thank me later.



Now, I want to tell you about this donut that haunts my dreams. When I picked it up from the box, the first thing that I noticed was its heft: this donut meant business. It was supple, but not falling apart; it reminded me of a fluffy down pillow. Sinking my teeth into the soft, perfectly cooked dough and being immediately greeted by the delicious Boston Creme, I was transported! The chocolate icing was perfectly sweet, and there was so much filing that it was spilling out onto my hand. THIS was what donuts were supposed to be like!

Where did I find this pastry marvel?

Dunkin' Donuts
14841 S Coit Rd, Dallas, TX 75248

Whyyyyy? This goes against everything that I wanted! Corporate giant, with relatively poor customer service, and the most fantastic donut experience I've had in a long while. I even got six different kinds, hoping that maybe the Boston Creme was a fluke? Nope. Bavarian Creme: delicious. Chocolate Creme: wonderful. Lemon filled: tangy, sweet goodness. Apple filled: better than homemade pie. Vanilla Creme: I'm going to die from a sugar overdose, but I will be smiling the whole time. I give them 9/10, missing the perfect score because the customer services was really poor.




So, there you have it. The Giant has slain David, not with sheer size, but with better skills. I'm just lucky it's so far away from my house, or I'd probably go broke and die in a Boston Creme coma.

I am Home -- Day 296

Many people have written amazing things about the concept of home. I have discovered a deeper truth to that feeling that has nothing to do with a physical place. Often, we associate home with a location -- "going home" -- but for me, home is more of a feeling, a certain level of familiarity and comfort. Living in an RV, I thought, was going to be awesome, because I was going to be "home" wherever we were parked. But there is a deeper feeling that goes beyond being comfortable with the place where I'm going to sleep.

We've been on the road now for almost 10 months, and during that time, we have modified our space and our needs to make the situation "survivable" but I think we fell short of really "livable" in the terms of creature comforts. Finally staying in one place long enough to really get the feel of "living" in the RV has shown us that while we may still only have 250 sq ft of living space, it can really be fun and comfortable.

Here are some tips that I have gleaned over the last 10 months for making your space more comfortable:

• An outdoor rug -- We have an 8' x 10' rug that really defines the space right outside our rig as our personal space. I love that I can walk barefoot on it, without worrying about rocks, or thorns. I would list this as a "must have" item for RVing.
• French press coffee -- If you love coffee, or only like good coffee, I recommend getting a French press. Drip coffee is fine, if that's what you like, but when you really want to feel like someone loves you and that all is right with the world, you should get a French press. Plus, it takes up less counter space than an espresso machine.
• Get a good mattress topper -- I recommend memory foam of at least four inches in thickness. You spend a lot of time asleep in your bed, you should make that as enjoyable as possible. RV beds are designed with the occasional user in mind. People are willing to put up with a poor sleeping experience when they know they get to go "home" to their bed after camping. This is your home bed, act accordingly. 
• Put a TV outside -- Most people don't watch TV while they are camping for the weekend. Some people will go for a week-long vacation, and not turn on the TV. I actually don't even really watch much broadcast television, but I do love a movie now and then, and playing video games. Putting a TV outside allows you to enjoy the outdoors, as well as building something awesome in Minecraft.
• Portable speaker (Bluetooth is a bonus) -- I have two different sizes of speakers that I use outside. One that I carry in my disc golf bag (because my life needs a soundtrack) and one that is larger that we plug the outside TV into. Nobody likes watching a movie with a crappy sound system!
• Ice Maker -- This is the newest addition to the wellness program. An RV refrigerator is usually pretty small, ours is 6.3 cu ft. Which means I can put a jug of milk OR a jug of orange juice in it, but not BOTH. We've gotten really creative with reusable plastic bottles, repackaging things to get them to fit, but there is no room in the freezer for food AND ice. Most people that are camping for the weekend just buy a 10lb bag and put it in the cooler. You only need a couple of days worth, right? Well, we live here and need ice all day, every day. Enter the ice maker! Looks like a bread machine and produces 1lb of ice every hour. All I'm missing is the umbrellas for the drinks ...
• Family -- This sounds like a no-brainer, like who goes off on a trip and forgets their family? But this week my very best friend in the whole world came to visit me. You forget how good it can feel to be around someone that loves you and accepts you and KNOWS you. Good times.

When we started this adventure, I was asked what the end goal was. Honestly, I didn't really have one. I was thinking that we would spend at least a year on the road and see where that takes us. Now that we are closing in on the end of the first year, I'm realizing that I haven't even scratched the surface of this whole thing. I feel like I'm actually doing a lot of growing up, and learning about myself. One of the things that I'm learning is that it is pretty nice to pamper yourself in some small but significant ways.

And now I feel more like I'm at home than ever.