Memorial Day weekend is this weekend! I’m especially excited this year because I get to meet my new lil’ niece (technically second cousin) Sweet P. She lives in Sacramento and it’ll be our first trip up to meet her and probably our last road trip before our own lil’ bundle is born.

It’s also our first getaway all year.  Between the new job, family emergencies and trying to save all the vacation for when Baby Lou comes we just haven’t had a chance to get away. I’m so looking forward to the this time with “A”.

The particular route we are taking isn’t super interesting, LA to Sac via the 5. Anybody who has done it, knows you only do it because it’s the fastest way between the two points. Even still I want this to be special. The next time we make this trip we’ll have a demanding third passenger and we’ll be beholden to her needs.

But this time, it’s just us and while our drive/ destination isn’t super romantic there are a few things that I’m going to do with “us” in mind.

We’re heading out super early so I’m going to prepare some soyrizo and egg burritos (sample recipe can be found here) to get us through the first leg of our trip. Maybe a little ghetto but “A” is a sucker for chorizo/ soyrizo.

One of the best parts about a road trip is the road snacks, it’s an excuse to eat the junk that you don’t normally stock in your pantry. Pre-pregnancy that haul might have included Cheetos, sour peach candy, beef jerky and Snapple. I can’t help but laugh out loud at that list. It’s so juvenile, but man first loves die hard. I said pre-preganancy but truth be told, I couldn’t tell you the last time I indulged in such a way.

With baby and overall health in mind we’re making different choices for this trip. I’m packing cucumber slices, carrots, and edamame with hummus singles for dipping. I’m also creating a nut and dried fruit mix and I’m going to tweak this recipe for Homemade Cheez-Its. The white cheddar flavor is literally my crack. It can get pretty gross. I  usually stuff all our snacks into our Trader Joe’s thermal bag, throw in a gallon of water and refillable bottles and keep it all handy behind the drivers seat.

The drive is about 6 hours and we plan on making a stop for lunch so we don’t need  to go to heavy on the snacks. But if you are looking for some more ideas this post has some great suggestions.

For lunch we are stopping at Pea Soup Anderson’s. It is something I always did with my mom when I was a little girl. Now, even though “A” could care less about the soup, it’s something that our lil’ family does too. The soup is good. Mine is better. But it’s a non-negotiable. I have great memories of this place as a child and I love that “A” and I have already made a few of our own. We still laugh about the first time I took him and he saw how much the sides (another non-negotiable) were. One day Baby Lou will have memories too and that makes my heart smile. Have you been? Do you have someplace similar that has become a tradition for your family?

With lots of air space to fill I’ve got a few podcasts I’m excited to catch up on. This one from Gretchin Rubin the author of The Happiness Project, which I read. It was good, but I heard that the podcast is really good. WTF by Marc Maron, he’s a comedian who interviews iconic personalities. It’s completely new to me but it came highly recommended as something “A” could get into too. The last one comes recommended from my pre-natal yoga instructor, The Longest Shortest Time. It’s kind of a mommy podcast but I’m hoping I get “A” into it long enough to start some really good conversations about our impending parenthood. Sneaky? Maybe, let’s just hope it’s effective.

Sidenote: Last week I was having some extreme anxiety about becoming a mother (moms, you know the stuff) and listening to this podcast didn’t ease any of those fears but knowing that all moms are dealing with something did make me feel better. I don’t know if it’s just his personality or naivete but “A” is so casual about the whole thing that I worry when Baby Lou is here he is going to go into complete shock because he won’t be prepared for the complete wrecking ball/ BLESSING that is coming our way. Fingers crossed, The Longest Shortest Time will help make a subtle introduction.

Okay so admittedly not the most exciting road trip ever but I still wanted to write about it because it’s still going to be super special. As Baby Lou’s birthday approaches I’m savoring every minute  of our little 2-person life. It’s been a good run and I want to properly see this era off. Do you get that? I hope so, at any rate, thanks for letting me share.

Hope you’ve got something memorable planned for the long weekend. I’ll post picks from the road.