Yesterday was visiting day at my daughters’ camp. It’s about a 3 hour drive away, and the camp visiting hours are 10 AM until 5 PM, so it was a very long day. I’ve been doing this for a few years now, so I know to pack enough food to eat during the drives there and back, plus snacks for the day itself. We always eat the lunch the camp provides, but breakfast and dinner are eaten in the car. My ex husband comes over the night before and he does the driving.

I packed about a dozen hard boiled eggs, 2 bags of baby carrots, and a large package of sliced muenster cheese (for the Bs) in a cooler bag with 2 large ice packs. In a separate bag, I packed a canister of raisins, a bag of almonds, and 2 packages of rice cakes. I also packed a box of Clif bars for the boys to eat for breakfast, plus a few things the girls asked us to bring up to camp for them.

Most of the stuff was packed up on Saturday night, but we had to actually put together the cooler pack on Sunday morning and load the car. We also had to make sure the dog was settled with my Mom. She can’t handle the walking around camp, so she doesn’t join us in visiting the kids at camp. She volunteered to watch Robbie for the day so I didn’t have to take him with us on the long drive.

The drive there took us 2 and a half hours, as expected. I slept most of the way, and wasn’t very hungry for breakfast. I had a hard boiled egg and some iced tea in the car, then some almonds and raisins before lunch. Camp lunches are always a compromise, nutritionally. I let my son eat whatever he wanted, including things with tomato sauce. I also let him get a small slushie at the canteen. He’s healthy enough to handle one day of imperfect food, and I want camp to be a positive experience for him.

I made the best choices I could, which is still less wholesome than I would have eaten at home. I had some tuna and egg salad, not worrying about additives in the tuna or what kind of oil is in the mayo. I had a large plate of iceberg lettuce, but skipped the salad dressing because I wasn’t sure WHAT was in those. I also had some canned beets, not worrying about sugar or corn syrup that might have been in them. Beets are a “beneficial” food for me, and I knew I needed some carbs with the meal or I wouldn’t feel satisfied. I also had some chickpeas, which are a “black dot” for me. This means that I can eat them once in a while, but aren’t the healthiest choice for me. I’ve found lately that I do well eating beans at lunchtime, and I decided that the negatives of eating a “black dot” were outweighed by the necessity of having enough food for the meal. The meal was satisfying and, unlike last year, I didn’t need to eat a few rice cakes after lunch to feel full.

I did some snacking in the mid-afternoon, and didn’t make the best choices then. Even though I had plenty of hard-boiled eggs in the cooler, I still reached for the Muenster cheese. It’s so yummy on rice cakes! I did the same in the car ride home for dinner. I ate a couple of eggs, and plenty of carrots, but I still had several more slices of cheese with rice cakes.

When we finally arrived home, after 4 hours of driving in heavy rain and traffic, I wasn’t feeling satisfied. I had some leftover peas, rice, and turkey breast, and a glass of wine before going to bed. I also had to settle down a very unhappy doggie that’d missed us all day. None of us slept particularly well last night since Robbie kept waking up barking and we had to take care of him. At 5:00 AM, I took him out of his bed, let the boys hang out on the sofa in front of the TV, and went back to bed for a few hours. I think Robbie just needed some extra re-assurance that we still love him after we “abandoned him” all day yesterday.

I’m not feeling too well today, and neither is Jack. I’m sure part of it is due to the amount of time we spent in the car yesterday, part is due to messed up sleep, and part is due to poor dietary choices yesterday. I’m trying to eat extra-well today, along with taking it easy.