On the Road Again With Snacks

If you are reading this post (unless you work the early morning shift) we are on our way to California to kick off the Thanksgiving festivities. It seems like we were just making the reverse trip way back in September to settle into our apartment in our new city. Thanksgiving seemed like an eon away and I still can't believe that it's already almost here. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon packing and planning the menu for our near twelve hour drive. Menu you ask? Well, yes, we have a menu and thought quite a bit about it. Jesse and I have traveled together enough to know that full bellies make for a happy marriage.

I remember the first fight we had at an airport when I refused to take off my flip flops (I forgot socks) at the security line and the TSA employee made me step into the plexiglass room to be patted down. Jesse was quite embarrassed and refused to talk to me for at least an hour. (For the record, it is not illegal to refuse to remove your shoes, you just have to go through the extra steps of having all your stuff searched and your body checked for explosives. I gladly chose the long route in lieu of a rare foot malady from the thousands of bare feet that walk on those mats every day.) Anyway, ever since we have packed lots of food, which usually consists of turkey sandwiches, nuts, fruit, M&M's for emergencies, as well as four mini-bottles of gin or bourbon for long layovers (all TSA approved of course). This time though, we won't have the turkey sandwiches.

Since we are driving this time, we left behind the bourbon shooters, but put together an array of snacks (both substantial and light) to fuel the trip. Last night we made vegetarian Runsas for dinner with plenty of leftovers for the trip. Nightrain was worried about the lack of meat, but they are actually quite hearty and delicious. The wild rice has a nice chew and the mushrooms make everything delicious. It took a lot longer to make the vegetarian version, since I had to cook all the veggies in different stages to ensure the right texture and prevent the ending mixture from being too soupy to be contained within the delicate dough. Unfortunately, I forgot to put in the cheese, but they are tasty even without.

In addition to the Runsas, we have Pirate's Booty, Cheetos, mixed nuts, bananas, apples, some seltzer water, and of course, we brewed iced coffee last night to make sure we got out of the door with partially functioning brains. In addition to snacks, we have over 30 hours of audiobooks on our iPod, so I think we're set. If all goes as planned, we should arrive in Santa Cruz just around dinner time!