Friday, November 21, 2008

Hungry and on the Road?

I always get the munchies on road trips.

By now I'm sure it's an association with being in the car, but nonetheless, my stomach growls soon after I hit the road somewhere. Sometimes I feel hungry in the car even if I've just eaten a big meal. I try to ignore my hunger, but I always keep snacks in my glove box, just in case. I like to have almonds and other mixed nuts for hunger emergencies.

Yesterday, on an extended road trip, my husband and I found ourselves 7,000 feet up the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere and it started to snow. We had breakfast hours earlier and my hunger was mounting as we crawled up the rocky slope of P--- Mountain. Eventually, I just became plain hungry and grouchy. For some reason I had packed the car with snacks, but yesterday we took the truck. No snacks. I looked in every compartment hoping for a hidden bag of peanuts or macadamias or pistachios. I found nothing except two half-frozen bananas which I ate and did not enjoy. It did nothing to stop my stomach from growling, and I don't even like bananas.

We made it down the mountain okay but I was hungrier than ever, as several hours had passed. I appeased myself by imagining what kinds of snacks I would like to stock the truck with. When we drove into town, I spotted a health food store and we stopped to go in. I ate a giant lunch before grabbing a basket to fill with all kinds of snacks for the truck:
  • fruit leathers
  • Panda licorice
  • Nana's cookies
  • Pamela's ginger cookies
  • Nut-thin crackers
  • grain-sweetened chocolate chips
I decided against spending an arm and a leg on organic almonds. Trader Joe's has organic almonds must cheaper. Though my snack choices are mostly sweet-tooth centered, they are at least white refined-sugar-free.

Before setting out on a road trip again into the great unknown, next time I will plan ahead so that I am prepared with more than just sweet snacks. It would have been nice to have grapes or sliced up vegetables.

If you are caught hungry on a road trip and stop somewhere to get gas and then go inside the little gas mart, you are more likely to buy and eat unhealthy, sugary treats. It always pays to plan ahead!

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