We just got back from spending a week in our house in LaGrande. This was the first time I’ve felt up to the trip in over ten months.
It was a wonderful trip.
It was difficult keeping my calories up during the five hour drive. Moving cars are notoriously challenging for sensitive stomachs.
Consequently, I didn’t eat as much I would have preferred on the trip over or back. This might account for some of the weight loss I experienced from the trip.
None-the-less, while there I ate a steak and eggs breakfast, had a Pizza night, and had Thai food. I don’t recommend LaGrande for Thai food.
Pizza yes, Steak yes, Thai no.
I was pleased with my energy level while in LaGrande.
We did a lot of yard work, which was mostly lawn mowing, weed pulling, and hauling yard debris to recycling. I got a lot more done than I had expected.
We don’t have a weight scale in LaGrande, so I wasn’t able to track my weight while there. When we got back I was appalled to learn I’d dropped from 178 pounds to 173.
I’d lost five pounds in seven days! Yikes!
As I said in my last post, the ideal weight for someone my height and body build is between 167 and 182 pounds. I’m still within that range, but I get nervous when I have these sudden weight losses.
The good news is that since returning from La Grande my weight has maintained at the 173 pound level.
Another positive is I look pretty darned good at 173 pounds. Being forced to buy all new clothes makes me look even better.
Without clothes I look pretty scrawny. Fortunately, there are limited social actives I engage in that do not require clothes. It works out pretty well that way.
I can see the challenge is going to be balancing how much I exercise, eat, and do other activities.
Eating is the primary challenge and some days are more difficult than others.
Occasionally I can eat a relatively large meal in a reasonable amount of time. More often it takes me about an hour to eat a meal or even drink a glass of milk.
Considering I have to eat five or six times a day this can really cut into my plans.
This limits what I can do. For example, I will not be running any marathons any time soon. Of course, I wasn’t running any marathons before, so some things haven’t changed.
Oh goodie, another post! So glad to hear about your trip to La Grande. I have to laugh about the food there. The town seems to have a bunch of cute little restaurants, but ethnic probably isn’t the best….except for maybe Mexican. It’s great to read that you can eat steak, eggs and pizza! We hope that continues to get better and better! Now I’m going to peek at your midcentury modern web site if it’s still there. I hope you’re both pleased with the renovation there! Thanks for the post!
Thanks for the update. I’m sure the stomach will continue to stretch over the next few weeks/months.
As I recall, there are a couple of Chinese restaurants that aren’t too bad. A word of warning, though: Don’t order the baked fish at the Smokehouse! It had the consistency of fish flavored shoe leather. It’s a good place for breakfast, though! We’re looking forward to our trip west!
Hugo
We think the best restaurants in town are Foley Station, Number 10 Depot Street, and Mamacita’s. We particularly like the spaghetti at Mamacita’s which is made with red peppers. Using red peppers to make spaghetti sounds weird, but it’s really good.
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Mamacita’s also has Thai Tuesday where they have a special Thai plate. It doesn’t compare to the wonderful authentic Thai food we are used to in Portland. Oh well.
The Chinese restaurant we’ve tried were pretty good, though one of them was a bit heavy on the meat. We hear there is one we haven’t tried yet that is supposed to be really good.
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We had lunch at the Smokehouse once and it was pretty bad. We never went back. Our favorite place for breakfast in LaGrande is the truck stop. It’s not very classy, but we like it.
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The Mount Emily Ale House is a new restaurant that has local micro-brews and gourmet Pizza. However, for really good Pizza I prefer Big Bear Pizza. Not only is the Pizza very good, but the ambiance is vintage LaGrande.
The Smokehouse has a great breakfast. My dad used to go as often as he could sneak away. The rest of your meals are better spent elsewhere. If/when we ever get back there, we’ll have to try the new Ale House. Good to know about it! Keep eating as much as you can!
What a beautiful home Gary!! Didn’t know you still had a place in LaGrande. Hmm, wonder if all the “work” you did while you were there would account for the weight loss?! cc: Linda H., LOVE breakfast and we will have to add the Smokehouse to our list of stuff to do next year! I am thinking that we will need, oh, maybe a month in Oregon……..
Ok, time for my “marathon” (half-hour walk)!!!!!
Then, my diet breakfast, yuck.
So glad you had good pizza Gary and Anne!!!
We have a blog about the remodel of our house in LaGrande. If you’re interested you can check it out at http://midcenturyhome.org.
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It might take some persuading to convince Linda it’s worth the five hour drive to LaGrande just to have breakfast at the Smokehouse. The breakfasts must be good, but perhaps not that good.
We didn’t make it to La Grande last summer, and we’re unlikely to make it this summer, but hopefully by next summer we’ll be living in Oregon and the trip over wouldn’t be too much driving. I sorta miss seeing the place, and if Louise and Don are really coming, they need to see Anthony Lakes. But breakfast in a sleasy diner in a small town is always good!
I love sleazy diners in small towns.