Road Trip!

I have a soft spot in my heart for the city of Philidelphia. It is where my mother was raised and where some of my family still call home. I have traveled to the City of Brotherly Love so many times it would be impossible to count.. It really is my home away from home. The city skyline is familiar and the dialect comforting.."Wooder" instead of Water and "Hoagies" instead of Subs.. Just the little things that connect me to the city that does truly love you back. 

I started my journeys to PA in the back of my mom's Dodge Magnum, a car the size of a small cruise ship, jamming to some 8 Track tapes, chowing down beef jerky and juice boxes all while playing with a doll and pretending she was running as fast as the car..whizzing by the trees with speed and grace. 

30 years later I am still making that same drive with my mother, this time in my hybrid with my little girl nestled in her car seat watching a movie ( that would have blown my mind at 5, a tv that comes with you?!) and my mom and I talking about everything under the sun while listening to some Jimmy Buffet or Pearl Jam, snacking on Coconut Chips and sugar snap peas.  

I cherish these trips. Sometimes they can be challenging, especially with a "strong willed child" and my dietary and health needs but I wouldn't trade a moment of them. 

My amazing cousin ( who wrote the GF Matzo Ball Soup Recipe on the blog) welcomes me into her home that she has filled with all of my favorite items. She plans our meals and even tries to take me to a new resturant that she enjoys. This time we will be going to a new vegetarian restaurant that I am really looking forward to trying. I'll take some pictures and post them for you. As I enjoy my road trip I hope you are having a nice summer as well. 

If you find yourself traveling this summer and you have any dietary needs the #1 key to an easier trip while avoiding being "hangry" is to PLAN ahead. Make snack bags of trail mix, nuts, fresh fruit, popcorn ect. Look up resturants in the area before you head out to see where you might find some food you'd be able to enjoy. If you can, pack items you might even want to enjoy while you are on your trip, not just on the way there and back. You never know what the local stores might have (or not have) for you.

Most importantly enjoy your time. Enjoy the journey. The anticipation of arriving, the easy feeling of returning back home and each and every moment in between.