So instead of making dinner tonight, we did this:

Shane got a pair of tickets to the Pistons – Cavs game for $25, so after work, we hopped in Richard Simmons, grabbed some ice cream, and headed to Detroit.  It was hard to tell which team had more fans in the house – the dudes behind us were chanting L-B-J and M-V-P, but somehow Shane was the one who got popcorn thrown at him?  It was a great game, but the Cavs pulled it off in the end.

On our way home, we stopped at a gas station for a soda and I perused the snack offerings while Shane hit the bathroom.  The trip to/from Detroit isn’t enough to justify really quality road snacks, but we did share a mint 3 Musketeers – delicious and not terribly bad for us.  Most road snacks, however, meet only one of those two characteristics – the delicious part.  I know, I know – you can pack fruits and veggies, drink lots of water, all of that good stuff – but nothing says ‘road trip’ quite like the radio turned up loud and your hand in a bag of something salty.  I haven’t given this much thought, not nearly as much thought as I gave the candy selection last night, but in a pinch and in no particular order, here are our top 10 road snacks:

1. Chex Mix.  I could take up the rest of this list by ranking the flavors, but I won’t.
2. Combos.  Always solid.
3. Chicken McNuggets.  Our enjoyment of nuggets is balanced though not justified by the guilt about factory farming that we feel when not eating nuggets.
4. Jerky in a variety of forms, some of which we should explore making on our own.
5. Dried fruit, especially pineapple, regular apple, and apricots.  And other fruits that include an ‘ap’ sound, though I can’t think of any at the moment.
6. Munchies – a beautiful mélange of Cheetos, Doritos, pretzels, and Sun Chips, each noteworthy snacks on their own.
7. Gummy candies – Swedish fish, gummy peaches, etc.  Good because they take time to eat.
8. Coffee and lots of it.
9. Granola/protein bars.  A few years ago, I set out to conclusively decide which bar offered the best balance of calories, flavor, and protein.  I’m not sure if I decided anything other than that I don’t like eating protein bars all the time – but we do like Clif Bars in general, and the chocolate chip bar in particular.
10. FRUIT AND NUT, which came into our lives thanks to our first trip to Bonnaroo with Mark and Mike.

I think I need a snack.