To New York and Back
Hi folks, it's Karen here. I hope you are enjoying your summer! I just returned from a road trip to upstate New York. I am originally from that area, and my mom, dad, sister (and her family) still live there. Summer is a great time to visit because it can snow anytime from October to April ;) It takes about 11 hours of drive time to get to there from Kentucky, so you need to put some planning into the ride (entertainment, supplies, food, etc.) Before we left, I had been hearing stories that food outlets near the major highways were very busy, and had unusually long wait times. Not wanting to risk extending the already-too-long day in the car, I got serious about making sure the family had enough food to eat to get us to New York.
My family members (me, my husband, 12 yo daughter, and 9 yo son) all have fairly different standards and needs when it comes to meals on the road. We all agreed on sandwiches, but there was not much agreement beyond that. The idea of buying an assortment of sandwich items did not seem like a great option to me. If I had leftover stuff, it'd be sitting around for a week while we were gone. Plus, I am lazy with my grocery shopping, and mentally resisted the idea of an unplanned, last-minute trip to the store (yep, I own my laziness).
What to do? Then I remembered that Walmart has a large selection of prepared foods, including sandwiches. So I stopped at the Walmart Neighborhood Market near me, and JACKPOT!!! They had a ton of different sandwiches to choose from - wraps, sandwiches, subs - with a variety of fillings (and not just boring cold cuts with cheese - the Chicken Caesar Wrap was awesome!) The subs and wraps (which are huge) cost just $5 each, and the sliced bread-based sandwiches were $2 each. That is a deal in my book. And we were all impressed with how fresh they tasted too.
On the way back to Kentucky, we obviously needed to refresh our sandwich supply. We found a local gas station with the best mom-and-pop store attached. It even had it's own deli and sandwich counter. JACKPOT AGAIN!!! To save time, we selected some of their prepackaged sandwiches and hit the road. We had other food with us too - I had about a dozen water bottles, beef jerky, SkinnyPop popcorn, applesauce pouches, and chewy chocolate chip granola bars, A nice variety of tastes and textures to satisfy whatever people wanted. The kids did beg to stop for a "treat" a couple times, but they survived (hey, being the kid of a dietitian is tough).
I hope this helps inspire you for your next road trip!