My trip to the Grocery Store this morning

Where I live in Texas we have 3 Tiers of grocery stores

Highest End - Whole Foods and Sprouts

Highish End - Randall's

Regular (not calling it low) - HEB and Trader Joe's

I only had 90 minutes before my first morning remote meeting. My goal was to restock on fresh items that we've used the last week. I drove to the HEB parking lot. They open at 8:00am and it was 8:02. The line was from the only "entrance" door and went all the way down the long strip center sidewalk. Probably 200+ yards. Nope, no time for that.

I drove a mile further down the road to Randall's. They opened at 7:00am and there was no line. I went in and the first thing at the entrance was buy 1 get 1 free bacon: done. They had plenty of baked goods in the that area: muffins, breads, pastries. The Dairy section was mostly empty. They were stocking up on mile as I walked past. Got two gallons of whole milk. The frozen section was full. Whatever you wanted from there you could get. Frozen fruits, veggies, pizzas, meals, all of it was available. The meat was scarce. They had no fresh chicken. They had some beef, but it was mostly large briskets and roasts. $50 size cuts.

They had some deli meat packages, but not nearly the normal amount. They had some cheese slices and shredded cheese, but not nearly the normal.

Beans and Rices shelves were empty. Canned soup aisle was hit or miss. They had some, but there were some brands that were empty. The baking aisle was sketchy. No Flour, but tons of sugar. The cooking oil was limited to a few kinds and not many. The spices seemed nromal. Canned Fruit and Vegetables aisle seemed normal. Lots of both. Lots of cereals. Lots of salted snacks. Lots of Sodas.

The fresh fruits and vegetables was normal except the berries. Full bins and shelves for most everything else.

I didn't even look in the paper goods aisle. I'm good there.

So, my goal of restocking fresh stuff was mostly successfully except for fresh meat. Got milk and cheese and deli meat (fresh used jokingly). Got sodas and ice cream cups for the kids. So we'll be dipping in the bags of frozen chicken we have, but we can delay opening canned items for another week maybe.

So, even if you can't get everything of a normal grocery run, you can get enough to delay dipping in to your can preps. Everyone seemed courteous and mostly stuck to themselves. Only saw two people wearing masks and they were both young women. I had a feeling they'd be wearing the mask even during normal times.

Stay well and safe everyone!