Snacks for road trips

My wife will bring any fruit we have on holiday with us - a couple of apples or a banana that's turning brown and so on. They will get to travel to other countries to be thrown away just before we fly home.
What makes me laugh/scratch my head is (and I’ve mentioned this before in other road trip topics), anywhere we’re driving, it’s between 6-7 hours for the day, tops. Once we get where we’re going, it’s officially Vacation Food Time, so that means restaurants.

For a 6-7 hour drive, that (to me, anyway) means an easy packed lunch of a sandwich, some chips/crisps, maybe some kind of “side,” like grapes/carrot sticks, some little treat, like a snack cake or bit of candy/chocolate, and a drink. Maybe throw in one or two things for boredom snacks along the way.

MrsT, however, packs like we’re going on an expedition and we need to be provisioned for a month, and keep in mind, she’s fully aware that as soon as we arrive 6-7 hours later, she’s not eating anything we packed. Any non-perishables will likely survive for the trip back, but any of the fresh stuff…nope, it’ll get tossed, and she’ll bring loads of fresh stuff - grapes, apples, bananas, celery sticks, carrot sticks, dairy-based dip, lunchmeat, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, as well as pickles and olives, much of which would be fine to hang out in the fridge for a week (it does at home, after all), but the night before, when we’re packing to come home…into the trash it goes - or worse, she fits it in somewhere, we bring it home…then into the trash it goes, “This stuff is old, get rid of it!”
 
I go to a 7-11 type store and get a sampling (1 or 2) or a big bag of some munchy (example:slim Jims, pork rinds, cheese doodles, jerky) stuff. Whatever grabs my interest at the time. Coffee, and cold drinks also. There's always another service area/gas stop. When I get where I'm going as long as the room has a micro and fridge, I look for a food store and get a few things each day. Cereal, milk etc.
When I worked and was driving between Nevada, Arizona, and Utah I just about lived out of 7-11. Those chicken wings they had! 🤤
 
We discovered Love's Truck Stops.
Great coffee and cut-up fruit bowls at the ready.
If you find one with a Chester's Chicken you have to get some! I'd be coming back from AZ and stop at Love's and buy all the chicken tenders they had. That have, or had IDK now, several different flavors. The chicken on the skewers is good too! 😋
 
If you find one with a Chester's Chicken you have to get some! I'd be coming back from AZ and stop at Love's and buy all the chicken tenders they had. That have, or had IDK now, several different flavors. The chicken on the skewers is good too! 😋
Haven't tried that yet ...
 
We discovered Love's Truck Stops.
Great coffee and cut-up fruit bowls at the ready.

Love's has super nice facilities here. Their main competitor Pilot is not nearly as nice. We also have TA truck stops here and the one closest to me is very old and run-down. But I "love" Love's!
Been to all those from NJ to AZ to Fla. I also like Loves the best.
 
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When we've taken longer road trips, I've brought along our thermos and an isolated coffee cup to fill along the way.
First at the hotel before blast-off and then again about mid-way through that days drive (usually 6-8 hours/day).
Now that I do all of the driving, it's more like 4-6 hours a day, that's all I can do.
 
When we've taken longer road trips, I've brought along our thermos and an isolated coffee cup to fill along the way.
First at the hotel before blast-off and then again about mid-way through that days drive (usually 6-8 hours/day).
Now that I do all of the driving, it's more like 4-6 hours a day, that's all I can do.
I remember the days (in my 20s) where I could drive 10-12 hours with only a few stops for food and facilities. Nowadays I am like you, 6 hours tops. And I also do all the driving. But I actually like driving.
 
I also did all the driving. The one and only time hub drove … I wound up in Kingston, AZ hospital for seven days and almost lost a foot. Took seven days for car repairs. I learned a lesson.
I used to go to bathroom before I left home (NJ) to go to FLA and drove through to GA before stopping for food/bathroom. The longest I ever drove straight was 24 hours on way to AZ. Stopped for 1 day in TN and slept most of the day. Left next day and drove to TX. Spent another day there. Man we drove diagonal through TX thought we would never get out! Then to AZ.
 
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