Road Trip Food|Pad Patter 7.31

[bestcee]

I just returned from a quick weekend roadtrip. I had two different approaches to food.
On the way, we had a good breakfast, and some snacks in the car. The snacks were mostly fruits and veggies. Then a picnic for lunch that I'd packed at home.
On the way home, we had Fast Food for lunch, and then DH had made dinner when we returned home. We had snacks, but they were mostly chips and candy.

I preferred the first trip food, but munchkin preferred the second!

What about you? What is your go-to road trip food? Do you pack a lunch/dinner or is eating out part of the fun?

 

[littlekiwi]

If it’s just a day trip I take snacks for the bus ride but eat out when I’m there. If I’m gone for a few days I’ll do roughly the same but go to a local grocery store to get dinner/breakfast which is usually a prepared meal or sandwich for dinner and bakery item and fruit for breakfast.

 

[IntenseMagic]

We just got back from the beach on Sunday. It's about a 5 1/2 hour drive, and going down we ate a good breakfast before we left and then loaded up on snacks for the car. I don't like to stop on our way down, I just want to get there! Coming back, we ate a good late breakfast, but we also stopped for a sit down dinner at a little diner about an hour and a half from home. That way I don't have to worry about whether there is food at the house when we get there haha. Also, I'm not quite as anxious to get home as I am to get there. We very rarely ever stop for fast food on a road trip, DH is not a fan so we usually opt for a nicer restaurant meal, if we stop at all.

 

[GlazeFamily3]

It completely depends on...

1. How much time and thought I have to give it before we leave
2. What time of day we are traveling

Usually we just grab something on the road. But sometimes I cut up fruit and things to take along. My daughter is so picky I almost always have some kind of snacks for her, just maybe not for everyone.

 

[BevG]

We take a mixture but my favorites are carrots, nuts, and apples. I also take chips, crackers, and cookies for the kids. We also take a small cooler with cokes for my DH. A few times we also included some yogurt cups ( just remember to pack some spoons). We only stop once for real food, even if doing a 10 hour drive.

 

[AnneofAlamo]

My kids are old enough now. I give them a bag of snacks. This is for thee ride there and back. You decide. bhawhaha.
My one son hoards it all until the way home, the other spaces, none of them eat all at one time (any more) lol.
It is my husband that is the issue. Every restroom stop, he buys something. I try and go to rest stops without stores if possible! ha ah

 

[berniek]

Road trip? I'm definitely the unhealthy kind.
But the longer I'm on the road, the more I crave for fruits and veggies and actual food. But let me be honest, that's probably only after a week or so.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

If I'm by myself (like driving across the state to our oldest dd's) I usually don't stop. It's under 3 hours door to door. My gas tank is full and I always have water and a big cup of coffee in the car. Occasionally, I'll stop before I get to
Alligator Alley (cause there's no place to stop on there).

When I go with my youngest dd and gs - we stop two or three times. It drives me crazy! Asher always has snacks in the car and if it's my car - no open containers (of drinks) are allowed for kids. But he has his cups filled with juice. I honestly don't know why we have to stop so much, so I usually go alone. LOL

When we drive long distances, neither DH or I like to stop. We only stop to get gas/use the rr/and get something to drink/eat and we're on the road again. We call ourselves "Road Warriors". LOL We just want to get there.

 

[EHStudios]

When we drive long distances, neither DH or I like to stop. We only stop to get gas/use the rr/and get something to drink/eat and we're on the road again. We call ourselves "Road Warriors". LOL We just want to get there.

This is me! Though tomorrow I start my honeymoon roadtrip, so I think we are going to take a more casual approach & stop at anything that interests us on our way to the cabin. It's our first trip together, so I'm not going to torture him with my style of roadtripping which involves getting to my destination in as few stops as possible. And dehydrating myself so I don't have to stop as often

 

[Cherylndesigns]

This is me! Though tomorrow I start my honeymoon roadtrip, so I think we are going to take a more casual approach & stop at anything that interests us on our way to the cabin. It's our first trip together, so I'm not going to torture him with my style of roadtripping which involves getting to my destination in as few stops as possible. And dehydrating myself so I don't have to stop as often

You made me laugh. Yes, don't torture the poor guy on your first roadtrip. You'll have to work up to being Road Warriors. LOL

 

[EHStudios]

You made me laugh. Yes, don't torture the poor guy on your first roadtrip. You'll have to work up to being Road Warriors. LOL

I built up the Road Warrior doing the 8.5 hr drive by myself a least 2 times a year to visit college friends. When I have others in my car I have to remember that not all of them are prepared for that! And they may be humans that need a break!

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I built up the Road Warrior doing the 8.5 hr drive by myself a least 2 times a year to visit college friends. When I have others in my car I have to remember that not all of them are prepared for that! And they may be humans that need a break!

Isn't that the truth about thinking of others who might be in the warrior vehicle? I built mine up driving from Michigan to Indiana to see my parents and sister. My husband got transferred to the Detroit area for GM and I went back "home" a lot. I rarely stopped and if I put the peddle to the metal, I could get there in 3 1/2 hours. It took others at least an hour longer - my cousin said it took her 5 hours. I asked her if she drove 35 mph all the way. She wasn't amused.

 

[djp332]

We got stuck for hours once when the girls were little - no food or drinks in the car since it was supposed to be a short, one hour drive. Ever since, I always pack sandwiches, apples, baby carrots, and lots of water. Sometimes we just eat it in the car, but we can usually find a nice park or picnic area to get out and walk and eat. So much healthier than fast food. We’ve even been know to find a grocery store and order sandwiches from their deli.

 

[sakura-panda]

We always pack a lot of snacks and a cooler filled with bottles of water, but we don't eat most of the snacks. (We do drink a lot, but we don't finish what we bring in the cooler either.) Honestly, if we brought one bag of pretzel rods and a box of snack crackers, we'd still have food leftover. But we always bring those, plus about seven other types of snacks. We never finish anything.

We sometimes add sandwich fixings to the cooler, depending on how long we are staying and what we are doing. If we are mostly onsite, then we might have a snack (sandwich) for lunch, but if we are mostly sightseeing, we'll just eat something from wherever we are.

As far as road trips, for me the destination is just the direction to point the car -- it's all the stops along the way that make it interesting. LOL Sometimes we don't stop at all, although we do try to stop every 90-120 just to get up and stretch our legs. (And refill our bottles from the cooler.) I could go longer, but I would be much tireder at the end, and that isn't any fun for me.

One of my favorite things is to look for some new place to eat, one that isn't part of a familiar chain, and I always take a picture of everyone at the table when we're on the road! (It's one of the "things" I do that doesn't have any practical purpose; I just started it one day and have kept it up for fun.)

My dad used to do the "drive 11 hours without stopping except for gas" method of travel, and I'm okay with that too, but half my fun is in the exploring.

 

[jesskab]

A road trip must include cheese puffs, beef jerky, & a giant icy Diet coke. I know I'm weird. My mom drove to my Aunt's house a lot. That's a couple hours of winding roads. We always stopped at this little country store & I always got Planters Cheese Balls. On the way back she'd always stop & get us 2 slices of pizza from this little tiny place in the mountains. 2 things that aren't even around anymore, that pizza place & Planters Cheese Balls.

Anyway, with my little family, we stop at Sonic whenever we can. We don't have one near us, so it's always exciting. We alternate between fast food & sit down restaurants. Breakfast is usually McDonald's. The car is always stocked with apples, bananas, fruit snacks, water, & Capri-Suns. I will buy produce during the trip because bananas are a total must with my monkeys.

 

[bestcee]

a local grocery store to get dinner/breakfast which is usually a prepared meal or sandwich for dinner and bakery item and fruit for breakfast.

This is a great idea! We have lots of grocery stores that have ready to go food. Much better than fast food restaurants!

I don't like to stop on our way down, I just want to get there!

Yep. But my bladder never lasts, munchkin definitely doesn't! And of course, my gas tank is about 40 miles short of the whole drive. I try to keep it to 1 stop - unless I drink a lot of water.....

But sometimes I cut up fruit and things to take along.

This turned out well for us this time!

my favorites are carrots, nuts, and apples.

Oh! I'll have to try this combo.

This is for thee ride there and back. You decide. bhawhaha.

I picture this looking something like....

But the longer I'm on the road, the more I crave for fruits and veggies and actual food.

This is always the case for me! Always! And yes, after about 5-6 days!

 

[bestcee]

I honestly don't know why we have to stop so much, so I usually go alone.

This is so true! I stop less when it's just me, or me and the boy. Somehow, we always have to stop more with DH. I think it's because he's taller, and needs to stretch more than short little me.

We only stop to get gas/use the rr/and get something to drink/eat and we're on the road again.

This is how my dad drove us as a kid. In fact, we were afraid to drink too much until we asked where we were stopping for gas, and figured out on the map about how far that was!

And dehydrating myself so I don't have to stop as often

I used to do this all the time! I've decided I would rather make one extra pee stop, and not spend the next day gulping down gallons of water.

But we always bring those, plus about seven other types of snacks. We never finish anything.

This is me too. We always have too many snacks! I think it's similar to Donna @djp332 . When I was a kid we sat on the side of the road for hours after hitting a deer - nothing to eat or drink! And as an adult, the 4 hour drive from Vegas to LA took 8 hours because of traffic. Luckily, that one we had supplies because we brought water and treats for Disneyland.

Anyway, with my little family, we stop at Sonic whenever we can. We don't have one near us, so it's always exciting.

We do this with Chik-Fil-A currently. It's always fun to have something "normal" to everyone else! It used to be In-N-Out, then it was Del Taco when we lived out East. Now, it's Chik-Fil-A. Someday, I'll go somewhere with a Whataburger and try that.

 

[IntenseMagic]

Yep. But my bladder never lasts, munchkin definitely doesn't! And of course, my gas tank is about 40 miles short of the whole drive. I try to keep it to 1 stop - unless I drink a lot of water.....

We usually stop once, to top off the gas tank and take a bathroom break but no dilly dallying around LOL I can make it on a tank, but I like to fill up before we get there and then don't have to worry about it until the return trip.

 

[gonewiththewind]

If it's a short trip to see my aunt on the Florida/Alabama line, just a few hours, then I usually make sure I have a huge Diet Pepsi and bottled water. I try to make sure I eat before I leave.

It really depends on longer trips. Now that we have such a small car, it's hard to include a cooler into the mix especially if we are going to be gone for several days and have lots of luggage and bedding. We usually always like to have at least a small cooler with drinks that we can refill as needed on the road.

When I was growing up, my mom and grandma ALWAYS packed food. Like a cooler plus a picnic basket. My mom would have fresh tomatoes that she would slice when we arrived at the rest stop. Usually there was fried eggs sandwiches for breakfast and for lunch, it was cold fried chicken, potato salad, etc. The last time I traveled with my mother and she did that was back in 2003 when she went with me, Jay, and Olivia to Disney. I took photos of the concrete table with her tablecloth on it. Oh yeah, there were always tablecloths, napkins, real silver utensils. It was a pain in the arse to unload it all, but it was such good food.

 

[bestcee]

It was a pain in the arse to unload it all, but it was such good food.

I bet! But based on photos, totally worth it for your mom's food!