Awesome suggestions! Keep 'em coming! Thanks!
Awesome suggestions! Keep 'em coming! Thanks!
About a gallon or two of lemonade tea from WaWa, some jerky or mixed nuts and a legit meal stop at a roadside rest-stop during a gas stop. I usually hope to find a Sbarros there.
I like to drink a lot of liquid, but it doesn't normally affect stops to drain, I am very good at holding it and am not above pulling over to the side of the road if its an emergency. Also, avoid anything high in fiber the night or morning before to avoid having to poop at a rest-stop.
I recently drove Kalamazoo, Michigan to Fayetteville, GA in 13 hours. 2 stops for fuel, one stop for the Corvette Museum (included one fuel stop at this stop). other than that, i did not get out of the car. I was eating ham sandwiches, goldfish graham crackers, and caffeinated water.
If you're trying to make time, watch your fluid intake - especially caffeine which is a diuretic. A poorly scheduled large coffee can cost you a lot of time in an unfamiliar area looking for a restroom.
Sounds like you're going solo, so you have fewer options than if you had a co-driver to feed you. Anything dry, without fiddley packaging that you like is good. You can also decant snacks into covered bowls which are easier to pick from than bags - as long as the bowl is reasonably stable. If you put a towel or sweater/jacket on the passenger seat and nest the bowl into it, it's not going anywhere.
If you're not normally a grazer, don't lose too much sleep over road snacks. You don't have to munch the whole trip. Maybe you just need a lunch. My car can't go 9hrs on a tank, maybe 1/2 that. I usually schedule my meal with my fuel stop, so I have more options. You can take 10mins to eat something "normal" that would be too messy or difficult to eat while driving.
Normal can be good on a road trip. The salt, sugar, fat and other crap in snack food can make you feel lousy and take away from the following day's enjoyment of the destination. I don't know how old you are, or your junk food tolerance, but I feel the effects of eating too much stuff like that now.
akamcfly wrote: If you're trying to make time, watch your fluid intake - especially caffeine which is a diuretic. A poorly scheduled large coffee can cost you a lot of time in an unfamiliar area looking for a restroom.
Huh? It only costs about 5 minutes to arc a 1/2 gallon over a guardrail and get back underway. If its the "other" problem... 10 minutes and make sure there is TP in the car.
I did 730 miles from STL to our cabin (about 90 minutes south of buffalo, NY) with 2 stops. 
(one at the 300 mile mark, peed, filled up with gas, powerade, and jerky, one at 630 miles, same thing)...
10 hours and 30 minutes... 
Joe G said: Eat with a toothpick if you don't want to get you hands messy.
Well la-dee-freakin-daa!
Can't help you with the healthy stuff. Required road trip foods for me are: Payday bar, Bigass slim jim, Chick-fil-a, and Mountain Dew. I don't eat/drink any of this stuff normally, so road trips are an excuse to indulge.
Stay away from the spicy guacamole pringles, unless you want to leave a 5 dollar bill with "sorry" written on it for the hotel maid.
walterj wrote: Huh? It only costs about 5 minutes to arc a 1/2 gallon over a guardrail and get back underway. If its the "other" problem... 10 minutes and make sure there is TP in the car.
I'll tell my wife that next time. 
dyintorace wrote: I would love to try to make some jerky. How do I do so?
Here's Alton Brown's approach.
The "marinade" step is optional, but does add flavor. I usually use less soy, some Worcestershire sauce, and a little liquid smoke. Experiment.
You can do the same with fairly lean ground beef - I even have a grease-gun style jerky shooter to shape the strips.
I use a fruit/jerky drier. You can do it in an oven on low, with the door propped open. AB's fan/filter method is probably better. Mainly, you want to dry the meat, not really cook it.
Kits, tools, and seasoning/cure mixes are available at outdoorsy-type hunting/fishing stores.
Cubed cheese, pickles, ham, cherry tomatoes, crackers and fruit are my staples, if I eat cruddy fast food I start to feel like crud myself. That said I have and do pee my coffee back into the cup it came from, you rent it anyway
For some reason, the only time I really dig McDonalds is on a road trip -- the 2 cheeseburger value meal deal thinger is the ultimate road food -- burgers you can eat that don't get messy and slide everywhere, fries are usually always decent, and their coke usually seems to be the best and consistent from store to store.
Plus, there is always a drive through and they seem to be located near the entrance/exit to the interstate.
dyintorace wrote:slantvaliant wrote: I like home-made jerky (less salt), nuts, water.I would love to try to make some jerky. How do I do so?
Making jerky while driving is probably a bad idea.
^^ Depends on which hand you use.
First thing in the AM I'll have a big cup of coffee but after that it's water. No Cokes or any of that crap. I like peanut, cashew and M&M's type trail mix and good ol' H20. Sam's Club (the evil Wal Mart) has big resealable bags (purple label) for $4.95, a damn sight cheaper than the $3 Planters' brand in much smaller bags you find in the inconvenience stores. I will occasionally get a big bag of black pepper flavored beef jerky. The kid loves it too.
I find this thread quite topical as I'm about to make the 15 hour drive to Lincoln Nebraska. Does US spec Mountain Dew have caffeine?
Joe Gearin wrote: On long roadtrips I usually grab one of those pre-cut fruit containers from the grocery store. Eat with a toothpick if you don't want to get you hands messy. I also munch on granola bars. I tend to drink bottled water, unless I'm sleepy and I'll go for the Red Bull. I can't do fast food anymore.......that stuff makes me feel poisoned.
Excellent choice. It's gotta be healthy for me anymore and one of my absolute conditions is not to have to touch the food or get sticky hands from the food. That would satisfy both requirements. I also like a bag of trail mix and bananas. I also recommend some moist wipe- its, some anti-bacterial hand gel and a bandana. No I am not a germaphobe it's just that when you are on the road you will be stopping at rest areas and getting gas, both of which have had thousands of other people there right before you touching the same things you will..
Having recently done a 1,000 mile trip from Florida to Texas, and a 1600 mile trip from Texas to Colorado and back, I can weigh in on this a little.
The jerky comments are right on the money. I also eat dried fruit and cashews.
For beverages, I do water and Propel. Oh, and those 5 hour energy drinks. Though they make my eyes twitch.
mw wrote: Does US spec Mountain Dew have caffeine?
It sure does.
slantvaliant wrote: Kits, tools, and seasoning/cure mixes are available at outdoorsy-type hunting/fishing stores.
CABELLA'S!!!
Best store ever if you like guns, knives, camo, and camping...and they have a huge DIY jerkey/sausage tools, seasonings, and cookbooks section.
mw wrote: I find this thread quite topical as I'm about to make the 15 hour drive to Lincoln Nebraska. Does US spec Mountain Dew have caffeine?
apparently much more than cdn spec.
I love doing long distance motorcycle rides. I bring salted peanuts, like cocktail peanuts, beef jerky (and good stuff if I can help it, not that Jack Links crud with all the sugar that goes into their seasoning) and something like Propel or similar sports "water". Throw in a pack of sugarless gum to keep teeth clean and I'm set.
gatorade in 1-qt bottles -- the wide mouth works for other purposes. crunchy foods are supposed to help keep the brain awake, but i can't verify. for the MI to GA run, I'll go through:
I'm a fan of peanut butter on wheat and lots of black coffee. These make you poop, but I stop every 200-250 miles anyway.
poopshovel wrote:Joe G said: Eat with a toothpick if you don't want to get you hands messy.Well la-dee-freakin-daa!
Hey Poop, I understand your hands are already sticky from "winding the trucker clock" but some of the rest of us like to keep our hands less gross.
I'd also agree with the rag, or wet wipe idea. (but not so much for germ avoidance) Between gas fill-ups and checking the oil, my hands are always a mess on long trips. Then I get oil on my shirt, and pants, and wheel....etc.
Koala steaks straight off the rally car hood...hey wait wrong thread
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