Gluten Free Travels to the Happiest Place on Earth...

For my travels to Disney I loaded up my bag with my arsenal of snacks ready to take on the week. I had heard that Disney was going to be gluten free friendly but there's always a level of uncertainty that goes into traveling. Plus I hit a small snafu along the way- Whole Foods was closed on Easter Sunday. I've been living in a place where stores are open 365 days a year to serve a tourist population and didn't expect this. I wasn't able to round out my snacks but had enough to get along with.
As I waited for the plane in Boston I tried a new (to me) gluten free bar and I settled in for some airport knitting.

The Pure bar reminds me of a Lara bar and has a similar composition but with more nuts. I like Lara bars but only in small doses and felt the same way about this Pure Bar.
 Our first big meal in Disney was in Epcot at a Canadian Restaurant, Le Cellier Steakhouse. I felt good about this, it was a planned meal and I had called the week before to let them know that there was one gluten free person in this party of 11.

They brought me gluten free rolls and my own plate of butter to prevent cross contamination. I then enjoyed a perfect Fillet Mignon on a bed of risotto. Between this and my trip to Quebec City I may forever associate risotto with Canada.

I finished my experience that evening with a Champagne Sorbet that was a nice light finish to a wonderful meal. 

We finished the meal and strolled out into the streets of Epcot in time to catch the evening's firework display.

How did the rest of my trip go? Was it as magical as the first dinner? It's a bit too much information to squeeze into one post so stay tuned for the rest of the details.

Airport survival

We're getting good at airport survival. It's my third flight east of the year and Dave's fourth so we're navigating the trials of airline travel. Last week we had two flight cancellations and it made me thankful that I do overpack snacks as our 8 hours of travel time doubled and instead of landing in Boston at 3pm it was closer to midnight....and we felt lucky as one itinerary of the 5 we had during the day had us landing in Boston the next morning.

This morning I'm enjoying a banana, Luna gluten free protein bar and a Peter rabbit peach and apple fruit snack. I know those fruit snacks are trendy with the 7 and under set but I need my fruit too and I'm really picky about how it looks. I'm pretty impressed with the flavor and these might become a staple for long road trips as well.
I'm also getting some quality knitting time in too and have made great progress on a sweater for my four year old nephew.

roller coasters and more East Coast travel

It's been a doozy of a winter for us, in the addition to the normal craziness of ski town winter life we've also been dealing with some very hard stuff. Dave's mother fell ill in December and without going in details it's been a hell of a ride for her and the whole family. Instead of the happy recovery we had all hoped for the roller coaster derailed and she lost her arduous fight.
The bucket of things I can't control overflowed and the little things at work and home were pushed aside. My need for action had me booking tickets, setting up dog sitters, packing for us as we were East Coast bound once again in a 24 hour whirlwind. As you know a glutard must not only pack the usual clothing but also food. I knew some items I could find but had others I wanted plus snacks to navigate the poor selection of airport food with. I set up an email list of friends to keep folks informed of what we- specifically Dave was really going though. We had flown to Boston in early February when one round of complications had us all terrified and spent time visiting her in the ICU. A month later we were back on the plane and it was time to say goodbyes that no one was ready to say.

I have a little travel buddy that's sort of a good luck charm. The turtle found us in the winter of 2007 and has been on many road trips with us. I brought him along this round in hope that he'd bring some good luck on a difficult trip. 

From Droid think outside

 I made only one questionable choice during our airport navigation as we grabbed dinner at Wolfgang Puck in DIA. It ended up being fine but I was a touch nervous that my desire for a warm meal had me making questionable choices.

From Droid think outside

 We spent a lot of time in the hospital and had just one visit to the cafeteria where they had a number of GF options for snack time. This was a goodbad snack- good juices in the Odwalla but the brownie was very bad for me despite it's fudge like yumminess.

From Droid think outside

Each morning I'd have a bowl of Cinnamon Chex and a banana to ensure the energy to make it through the day and make good eating choices despite what the day held in store for us. I'm a person that needs to eat to maintain blood sugar levels so I can deal with life with a level head even when I have a heavy heart.

From Droid think outside

Goodbyes were said by all- It was hell and all I wanted to do was bake but the family isn't a group of stress eaters and my whoopie pies and cookies couldn't fix the real issues as three grown sons, their father and families dealt with the loss of the beloved cruise director.

I had two excellent cookie helpers (ages 8 and 6) and it gave all three of us something to do for a while during a very rough day in a stream of many rough days. They creamed the butter with sugar and mixed in eggs- I like to think that these actions provide mediation and are therapeutic for others like they are for me. Plus I love the smell of fresh baked cookies. I had packed bags of gf flour measured out and labeled with all the dry stuff added in. Dave was convinced that TSA would find them in our checked bag and think I was up to no good so I threw in some prepackaged mixes as well to assert my flour bag needs.
I come from stress eaters so it was an adjustment for me to not have people wanting to eat. All the kids (ages 13 to 5) are well aware of my gluten free needs and each time I ate anything I'd have a small voice (not my own) asking if that was gluten free. I was exceptionally careful (with the exception of DIA) because the last thing I needed during our 10 days on the East Coast was a glutening. I even managed to sneak in a few meals that I love by hitting Flatbread Pizza Company who offer a gluten free crust and organic products.

We also ventured out and hit Not Your Average Joe's in Newburyport. They had a gluten free menu and it was a decent meal- great to know it was safe but it's no PF Chang's.

It was a hard trip but we both needed to be there and were very lucky to have understanding from all back in Telluride. We also had some great dog sitters so I didn't have to worry about my furry monsters even when our trip was extended. Now comes the readjusting to life after a big loss... bills still need to get paid, dogs and people both need to be fed and walked daily and we both have jobs we have to return to... thankfully the furry monsters are helping with the ongoing therapy for both of us. Let the comfort food cooking begin...

Winter waves on a New England beach

and of course we hit a PF Chang's...

 Our checked bag arrived on Thursday afternoon, a mere 4 days after us. It was an exciting moment to be able to have wardrobe options again plus a more pragmatic pair of shoes then the Danskos I wore traveling and the flip flops I had tucked in my carry on as area was getting pounded with snow and the snowbanks stood 5 feet high.  I had lots of time to work on my knitting and finished a few projects during our visit.

From Droid think outside

On Saturday we packed up and jumped on a bus down to Boston- the roads were getting slick and our early flight on Sunday didn't leave much of a margin for error. We packed our bags with my gluten free snack festival and headed into a hotel near the airport. We checked in and asked about area dining and if the in house restaurant had a gluten free menu- the uncertain look had Dave convinced that my idea of heading to PF Chang's wasn't so crazy after all.

From Droid think outside

 I had used my droid navigation while on the bus to figure out that we could easily take the hotel shuttle to a T stop on the blue line and swap to the green line and end up a block away from PF Chang's. It was a Saturday night and the place had a 50 minute wait so we opted to eat at the bar so we could make it to bed at a decent hour. We even walked through the city a bit after dinner, grabbed Dave breakfast donuts at Dunkin's and made it back to to hotel within 3 hours. There wasn't much time for sleep as we were up at 3:30am and on a shuttle soon after.

From Droid think outside

The best part about our 6am flight on Sunday from BOS to ATL to MTJ was that all worked out we arrived by noon in the mountain time zone, hit a quick food shop were reunited with our monster puppies back in Telluride before the lifts closed at 4pm.

snacks... don't leave home without them

This week we booked tickets on Sunday and Monday were traveling east. That's not a lot of time to pack, find dog sitters for our two monsters and leave with a clean house so one of the dog sitters could stay there plus formulate a quick plan to be absent/work remotely this week and research GF options for our Atlanta Airport layover on our trip to Boston.
Thankfully we left early enough on Monday to stop at Natural Grocer's for some gluten free travel food for our carry on. I pounded an Odwalla since TSA isn't fond of their liquid nature and grabbed a box of Glutino Blueberry Breakfast bars, Glutino Chocolate Covered pretzels and Enjoy Life Chocolate bars.  (see-I really needed that Odwalla to add a bit of balance to my day)
I had done a quick search on ATL to see what options I had and found this... at Wolfgang Pucks I had hoped to find a sit down location but it was a grab and go. When I asked the attendant if she had a list of ingredients she looked at me funny. When I asked if things had gluten she picked up a sandwich to read the ingredients to see if gluten was listed. I thanked her and ran walked away.
At Chick-Fil-A I asked about the fryer for the waffle fries since their website lists it as being just for the fries and gluten free friendly. Again- a funny look but she called her manager over who told me that nothing else used that fryer but "we do use peanut oil". I explained that I wasn't allergic to peanuts- I'm just not able to eat gluten. I ordered the fries and the lady asked me, "What is the gluten?" as she rang me up. I gave the quick explanation that it was a protein found in wheat, barley and rye and that my body wasn't able to process it.
At Chili's Too they had the Chili's Gluten Free menu so I ordered a bun less burger with a side of plain mashed potatoes. They didn't have potatoes so I had oranges instead (funny combo but desperate times....) my food arrived- with a bun. I explained very politely that it was not gluten free and that I wasn't able to eat a burger that had even touched the bun due to my "allergy". She brought me a fresh burger with my strange side choice and I was sure to inspect it after she walked away. She was very kind and sincere about wanting to get it right so I felt safe but I wasn't very trusting at this point!  I haven't had a burger from a chain in a while and it was greasy, not exactly a great feeling. I think next time I'll find an overpriced airport Odwalla drink and just be happy for safe options.
I had stashed some Ancient Harvest Pasta in our checked bag but as of Wednesday night it hasn't show up yet due to some massive snowfall that's halted air travel to Boston. Thankfully we headed to Stop and Shop and found some of my staples like Chex Cereal, Thai Kitchen soups and Udi's Bagels along with naturally gluten free foods. It was a decent selection but not as good as my Natural Grocer in Colorado. We fly home early Sunday morning and you can be certain that I will have a stocked pile of snacks in my carry on as I can't face the ATL airport options again.

Travels

We're not spur of the moment kind of travelers but can be if needed. Trip booked less then 24 hours ago and almost ready to board the first leg of our flight to Boston. Dogs are with friends and away messages have been set. Thankfully we had tome to stop for some glutaded snacks despite all the chaos as it's a long day of traveling.