Traveling

Doesn't everyone start their year off with a 1000 768 mile road trip?  That's how I started mine! 

New Year's Day I left for Virginia for an appointment.  This is the first roadtrip longer than 3 hours long that I have taken in since we moved here in 2010.  I decided that I would pack all the snacks, lunch and dinner for the trip.  This way I won't be tempted by gas station food and we can cut some time off our trip by not stopping as much.  

I have to say that you CAN eat healthy at a gas station.  Fruit is sold at many gas stations these days and there are other healthy snack options.  It is difficult and there are many tempting unhealthy items alongside them.  

I made lunch sandwiches and dinner sandwiches for Mr. Amazing and myself.  I packed apples, bananas, squeeze fruit puree, and some homemade pita chips for me.  Mr. Amazing got Wheat Thin and Ritz crackers, and Slim Jims.  I packed a container of Mio and some bottled waters, and a few sodas. 

I used the Korean BBQ Rub that I found at BJ's. 

Pita Chips
1 package White or Onion Pitas (They have the least amount of fat, 0.5 grams per loaf)
Pan Spray
Seasoning of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut pitas into 8 pieces.
3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with non-stick spray
4. Lay the pitas on a single layer on the baking sheet, spray them with non-stick spray and sprinkle with you favorite seasoning
5. Bake for 7 or 8 minutes until crispy and browned

We were supposed to leave at 8 yesterday morning.  We ended up getting out of the house at 9.  It was a lot harder to say goodbye to the girls then I expected it to be.  This is the first time we’ve been away from Baye for more than a few hours. 

We stopped for a few minutes for gas in Georgia, and South Carolina.  By 6:00, 2 ½ states and 7 ½ hours of driving Mr. Amazing and I were exhausted.  We ended up stopping in Smithfield, NC [I wonder if the ham and the town are related.] We ate our dinner sandwiches in a seedy motel.  For the rest of the nite we watched TV and I learned that when there is DEFFINATELY nothing else to do I munch.  I am going to have some serious work to do when I get home. 

I ended up waking up before 6 [damn earlybirdness].  You never realize how hard it is to be quiet until you’re stuck in a hotel room trying to let your husband sleep.  I did manage to get in 150 situps (the quietest exercise I could think of)  Another thing I realized is that daylight comes later in the North.  At 7 in the morning Florida is atleast slightly sunny.  North Carolina was still pitch black.  So needless to say we didn’t get up and out as early as I expected. 

But, we finally ended up getting to my mom’s at 1:30 after a brief stop at our storage room and Target.  We stayed just long enough to drop off our bags and change and then headed for the grocery store.  I have learned that there is one perk to winters in Virginia.  When you need to make a stop and have groceries in your car you don’t have to worry about how long your other stop is.  It’s 40 degrees out so your groceries will be perfectly fine in your cold trunk!

Luckily my mom’s house is stocked with the staples so I only needed a few things to tide me over while I’m here (soy milk, bananas, etc.)  Here’s my haul:

The local Korean store, Grand Mart, was pure heaven to Mr. Amazing and me.  Imagine giving your child a green light to buy whatever they wanted at the toy store.  That was us here. 

We picked up a bunch of banchan for dinner.  There's Kimchi, bean sprouts, tofu, japchae, fishies, seaweed, radish kimchi, and black beans.  

All we needed was a big pot of rice and dinner was ready!

Well, I’m going to go relax.  It’s nice to be somewhere comfy.