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Thursday, August 22, 2019

Road Food



I’m generally pretty frugal when on a road trip. However, there’s one area where I tend to blow the budget. I eat too much road food.

It’s really bad when one considers that for many of these road trips I’m going camping. Food and cooking gear is right there with me. So what’s the problem?

One of the big issues is the weather. Often I’m traveling during the cold of winter or when it’s raining. That’s not exactly picnic weather. Sure, I could have a sandwich and munchies in the vehicle, but that’s not much of a break.

A lot of my travel is done during the night. Traffic is lighter. A 2 a. m. picnic at a rest area would be pretty odd and often uncomfortable. It’s so much easier to pull into a 24 hour truck stop and get a nice plate of fat, salt and preservatives.

My food travel stops are more than about food. At least half of it is for a physical and mental break. A walk to stretch the legs is not just nice, it’s necessary. Being waited on is pleasant. If we stop at a Cracker Barrel, my lovely wife will check out the store part to see what’s on sale.

While I’m not going to totally eliminate stopping for road food, my plan is to cut back on it. At the very least it should be easy to start off with some sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. Cooking up a dehydrated Mountain House meal is quick and easy with little mess. The food’s of pretty good quality too.

Maybe stopping for just coffee now and then would be enough of a break and a lot easier on the budget.

-Sixbears

12 comments:

  1. lol - You might cut back, but you ain't gonna quit! It's TOO tempting!

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  2. Cracker Barrel ???
    You Yuppie U...

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    1. There's always room to park a vehicle with a trailer. Restrooms are clean. They are everywhere and allow overnight parking. . . and the food is generally pretty unhealthy.

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    2. Do you know it takes 11 Cracker Barrel Restaurants to make it from NH to AZ. Always a restfull quiet night in their RV parking spots! Love it!

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  3. What about 'knosh' foods like miscellaneous nuts mixed with raisons and chocolate chips (we aren't barbarians after all, lol) and other dried fruit ? A little zip lock bag tucked in pocket is easy to munch on for the middle meal. A water bottle to wash it down.

    When we travel, Its mainly breakfast and supper we make stops for. Lunch is grab and run.

    I take it you don't travel with animals very much. I concur - as much as I like them, the trip becomes all about them, seeing to their comfort.

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    1. We often travel with our dog. Those restaurant stops are also a chance to walk her. When we had our ambulance/camper conversion the heavy insulation keep it cool for a long time so we could go inside and she'd be Okay. We even ran a 12volt fan for her. This winter she might be staying with one of my daughters and her family.

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  4. A little walk is good to shake the cobwebs out and some coffee is always good!

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  5. When doing long-distance, wifely unit and I always cooked breakfast and prepared lunch for on the road. Dinner at a restaurant only.

    Breakfast before leaving, lunch on the road (usually during a loong fuel break and systems check - tires, fluids, clean windows, walking the dog. Or at a strategic sight-seeing location.)

    Usually our go-to is some meat place like Longhorn or such. Or a local eatery that we've looked up (Amish food in Amish territory, real seafood joint in seafood areas, German steakhouses in central Texas (yes... 28 ounce steaks or schnitzle... yum...)

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    1. Not a bad plan. In my travels I like to check out Greek places. There's none near me so it's always a treat.

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