Today was the final major push before we leave tomorrow for our road trip to Charleston.
Which means:
very few photos today.
I was fully in “work mode” all day trying to get everything staged and ready so tomorrow morning can run smoothly.
Morning — Final Prep Day Begins
I got up, showered immediately, and then we got breakfast moving for the kids.
Normally on Saturdays I tend to make a bigger breakfast, but today was much more practical:
- leftover bacon
- toast
- cereal
I also made:
- eggs for Chris to eat this morning and tomorrow morning
- a breakfast burrito for my teen for tomorrow
The plan for tomorrow morning is:
wake up early, heat breakfast quickly, and have everyone eat in the car once we’re on the road.
By the end of today, I had the entire van loaded except for:
- the cooler
- food
- final cold items
That alone feels like a huge accomplishment.
And yes… I’m trying very hard to fit two giant kites from Costco into the van because I think flying kites on the beach sounds way too fun not to attempt.
Chris looked at me like I was slightly unhinged when I brought them out.
But I still think they’ll fit and I’m the one doing
Midday — Climbing Gym + Clean-Out Lunch
Two of the kids headed to a climbing gym this morning while the rest of us worked through final packing and kitchen prep.
Lunch today was very much a “clean out the fridge before vacation” kind of meal.
We finished:
- leftover pizza
- chicken nuggets
- the last of the grilled chicken thighs
I also cooked a package of Kevin’s Natural Foods cilantro lime chicken. Some of it was used for Chris and Fiona’s lunches today, and some stayed aside for my newest road trip food strategy:
thermos meals for the car
Afternoon — Full Road Trip Food Prep
Most of the afternoon was dedicated to prepping road trip food.
- cut vegetables
- prepped fruit
- assembled cold snack foods
- packed wraps
- built snack containers
- I like to put fruit and veggies into bags and then in lidded containers to keep them from being smashed in the cooler
I made:
- Italian wraps using homemade beef summer sausage
- mini charcuterie-style snack bags with meat, cheese, crackers, and olives
And then I started planning tomorrow’s hot thermos setup.
Daphne was my helper and put cookies into baggies (but she also sampled some)
The Thermos Car Lunch Plan
Tomorrow morning, I’m planning to:
- preheat multiple thermoses with boiling water
- dump the water out
- fill each thermos completely full with hot food
Current thermos lineup (I’ll pack each thermos with ONE food so it’s easy to portion out into bowls):
- rice
- taco meat
- leftover beef stew from tonight
- Kevin’s cilantro lime chicken
Then I’m bringing:
- Solo cups
- shredded cheese
- salsa
- toppings
So at lunchtime tomorrow, everyone can basically build bowls directly from the thermoses while we’re driving.
The food only needs to stay hot for about four or five hours, which these thermoses can absolutely handle if I preheat them and pack them to the top with HOT food.
Then all the cold foods I prepped today will become:
- afternoon snacks
- evening food
- “second dinner” once we arrive
Because realistically, after a full travel day, everyone will probably want:
- lunch in the car
- random snacks
- then another meal once we get to the hotel around 7pm
And this setup means we don’t HAVE to stop for meals unless we want to.
We’ll probably still stop for:
- gas
- bathrooms
- maybe burgers and fries as a fun travel snack
But I don’t want hunger to force unnecessary stops if everyone is doing well in the car.
That flexibility makes long travel days so much smoother.
Evening — Mass + Family Dinner
After all the prep work, we headed to Mass and then went to my parents’ house for dinner.
I also came home with leftover beef stew, which is immediately getting repurposed into one of tomorrow’s thermos meals.
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s packed and ready now:
Cooked bacon for travel mornings
Breakfast burrito
Kevin’s cilantro lime chicken
Cooked taco meat
Cooked rice
Homemade beef summer sausage wraps
Charcuterie snack packs
Cut vegetables and fruit
Thermos meal components
Leftover beef stew
The goal is to be on the road by 7:30am, and thanks to all the prep work this week, future travel us should be eating really well with very little stress.