I took the first shift of our drive, and it was beautiful and sunny the whole time – perfect weather for driving!  Because we had our oatmeal so early in the morning, we were hungry for lunch around 11am.  I scarfed the first of many PB&J’s, and am happy to report that the Dave’s Killer Bread is AWESOME! – two thumbs up!

I also snacked on orange slices, and ended up eating the whole container – whoops!

We talked and drove for hours, eventually putting on my fun nutrition podcasts.  We listed to ten our so different shows from the Compassionate Kitchen – a vegetarian and vegan podcast.  Really good stuff!

Somewhere in the snowy hills of Virginia, we stopped to get gas and switch drivers.

The mountains were soooo pretty to drive through – so much snow up there!

Back in the passenger seat, I was hungry again.  PB&J round two.

And then a nice looooooooong nap in the sunshine…

While Casey battled the mountain driving (which I hate – I get so nervous!)…

Woke up, hungry again.  Granola time!

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies… 

One of my favorite things about driving long distances is seeing how the landscape changes over time and miles.  In half a day, we went from scenic Carolina, to snowy mountain tops, to rolling Kentucky horse farms…

And before I knew it, we saw the beautiful Queen City herself right in front of us!  (This one is for you, Blake and Jen!)

Home, sweet wonderful home.

I got to my mom’s house and found her hard at work on dinner.  It’s so hard for me to sit and watch other people cook – I always want to jump in and help.  She was glad to have a second pair of hands, and we had fun prepping tons and tons of vegetables together.  

Since I was helping her cook, she insisted that she had to go get me one of my birthday presents to open…

A FRONT BURNER apron!!!  So adorable!

And look who else came to play – my bestie LINDSEY!  Love this girl.

We all chatted and caught up in the kitchen, and finally we were ready to sit down to dinner.  We had a big bowl of roasted acorn squash, zucchini, carrots, eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, and more – delicious!

With crispy sautéed tofu and an Indian spinach sauce that my mom picked up at Trader Joe’s.

My mom made really yummy Indian basmati rice too, mmmmm.  Love peas.

It was so nice to be back at home for a family dinner – it has been way too long!

After dinner, we moved to the living room and sat and talked some more.  Lindsey gave me a few more birthday gifts, including this awesome Charley Harper Ohio mug – so great!

Now it is super LATE, and I desperately need to go to sleep!  Hoping to get a good run in tomorrow before the family fun continues…