We’re planning a 600-mile road trip next week. This doesn’t sound so special, but after living on an island for 3 years it’s pretty exciting for us! Our final destination will be T’s parents’ lakeside camp in Maine, but along the way there are visits with other family members and even a school reunion. The biggest challenge of the trip, of course, involves having an 11 lb. cat with us — this will be Kiowea’s first big road trip. He’s a seasoned flyer now — having come here from Hawaii — but he had “big sis” Haiku to mentor him through the ordeal and she did a great job. Now that Kio is solo, we’re hoping he will adapt quickly on his own. To help, we’ve started putting Dr. Bach’s Rescue Remedy drops in his drinking water, and his kennel is out in the living room so he becomes familiar with it again.

I’ve heard rumors that there are moose in the area where we’re headed. I say “rumors” because for all the times I’ve visited the state, I’ve only seen statues of moose other people claim to have seen... This is now a running joke between my MIL and FIL and me — they say the moose leave when I get there. Ha ha. My mother-in-law swears that there really are moose in Maine and right now she is boosting her claim by giving away on her blog a beautiful full-color book all about these lumbering but majestic creatures. You can enter to win the book, “The Moose Watcher’s Handbook,” simply by leaving a comment if you follow this link to her site, Maine Musing, or clicking on the photo of the book (at right).. The giveaway closes on June 30, 2009 so there’s still plenty of time to enter!

But back to the road trip... I don’t know why being locked in a car for long periods of time has always signalled that it’s OK to eat junk food, but let’s go with that! I’ve already started collecting some of our favorite munchies — plenty of salty crunchy things and some sweets thrown in for good measure. But it’s been a long time since we’ve done a long trip so we’re a little out of practice, and I feel like we’re probably missing out on some good stuff. We would love suggestions for snack and junk foods — what are your must-haves when you’re hauling yourself around on the road or long train trip???

If anyone has any recommendations for good eats along U.S. I-95 between DC and Boston, we would welcome those, too — truck stops, cafes, restos, we love them all!! We’re familiar with the drive between Boston and our destination and are already planning to stop at Dysart’s near Bangor, ME either going to or coming from the camp. But we don’t really know the corridor between Boston and DC so would love to hear from more seasoned travellers. Thank you!

Maybe Kiowea will see a real moose on this trip...

Tags: Travel