CRAZY, CRAZY SUMMER!!!

Oh my gosh, it seems like forever since I have written anything in this blog! all I can say is that it has been a crazy, crazy summer (In a good way)!! Before summer even started we were busy with end of the school year things for both my husband, Michael and my daughter Autumn. Michael is a teacher and always has so many activities at the end of the school year. This was my Autumn's last year in elementary school. 6th grade, wow, time sure flies by. There were end of the school year parties, field trips, and a big graduation.

After Michael and Autumn finished school/work we head out on a cross country trek from California to upstate New York to visit our son Daniel, his wife Sarah and our grandson DJ. Daniel is stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York. He will be deploying for Iraq on October 1st, 2009. His first time since being in the Army. Along the way we stopped at many beautiful places. We stayed nine days visiting with our son and his family and seeing some of the many beautiful sights in upstate New York. Then we headed back to California, again making many more stops along the way.
Please check out our photo album, just click on the link: http://ourcrosscountrytrip2009.shutterfly.com/

But let me tell you first and foremost I would like to discuss the extremely high anxiety I had because my daughter and I are both Celiacs. Travel for Celiacs, even just short jaunts in your own hometown have to be planned out to the letter. We need to pack tons of food, and know where every restaurant (fast food, casual dining and fine dining) are located. Not to mention where every great bathroom is as well. So how do you do that in unfamiliar territory? The more I thought about the many states we would be driving through the more the fear and panic would take over. So I told myself, you can totally immobilize yourself, or you can be proactive. I decided go with the latter. I began researching each state that we would be driving through and expanded my search to all of the cities that we would be passing through to locate gluten-free restaurants and grocery stores that carried gluten-free items. Luckily for me I happened upon a great website called "The Gluten Free Registry". At their website you can click on the state and then it gives you a list of all of the cities that are registered with them. These registries are based on chefs, restaurants, grocery stores, health food stores and consumers who have written in with their sources of great gluten-free food. Again, not all restaurants have been completely examined, so be advised. We were 95% successful with their recommendations. I also contacted several of the local chapters of the Celiac Sprue Association and Celiac Disease Foundation for guidance on this same matter. It was well worth the effort. I had accumulated data for each state and printed a version for us to take on our trip. We were pleasantly surprised in most states as to the variety that we found and in some states we drove very quickly so we could avoid having to eat all together. All in all, we were very successful and we had a fantastic time. Albeit some of our days were too long (drive wise), but a lesson learned for my husband for next time. Yes, I am daring to say next time because it was absolutely incredible to see how beautiful and diverse our country truly is. I am ever proud to be an American!! It feel that is so easy to become complacent with our minute surroundings and never really grasp the wondrous world that we live in. So I say venture out, see the world if you dare! But don't let being Celiac hold you back. I will update with highlights from various states in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!!

Needless to say, I am so glad to be back home and in my own bed. Not to mention, having our own delicious home cooked food and the diversity of fresh produce that we have here in California.