Road Trip Reminiscing: What We Ate in the Back of the Woodie

by Sarah J. Gim (Subscribe to Sarah J. Gim's posts)
Posted Jan 26th 2006 8:19AM
Filed under: Lunch, Breakfast, Dinner, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Dessert, West Coast, Vegetarian, Grains, Vegetables, Nuts/seeds, Beef, Fruit, Lists, Southern States, America, Comfort Food

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When my sisters and I were in elementary school, my Dad insisted that we learn about the United States by taking road trips for our vacations. At the time, I didn't even care about it being educational, but I realize now that it was totally a way for my Dad to get out of paying for expensive holidays for a family five to Disney World or Busch Gardens.

We had a Woodie, just like you and you and every other family in your subdivision had - the Buick or Oldsmobile station wagon that had a wood panel that ran along the bottom. After my Mom very skillfully packed the back of the woodie with our bags and other stuff that would put a Tetris champion to shame, we'd pile into the Woodie and be on our way to Birmingham, Alabama. Or Louisville, KY. Or El Paso, TX. Don't ask me why my Dad thought these places were hot vacation spots. I thought they were pretty hot at the time, too. Actually, they still are. Just ask Rachael Ray.

The best part of the road trips, of course, was getting to eat "road trip" foods. It was cool to be able to eat in the car or, if Dad wasn't hell-bent on getting to the next diamond in the triple-A triptik that was wedged into the visor, gathered around a dusty, dirty picnic table at one of the rest stopsoff the freeway. Most of the things I can totally understand as "road trip foods," but some of the stuff we ate was just...weird.

Gim Bahp - Being an Asian family, we didn't have sandwiches, which is the most obvious road trip food on the planet. We had gim bahp, which is a Korean version of Japanese futomaki - sushi rice, meat, and vegetables wrapped in nori. They were just easy to eat with fingers. Mom always made it the night before we left, of course, but nowadays, you can buy two to three entire rolls of 10 pieces each at your local Asian grocery.

Beef Jerky - There are those long skinny sausage types, but there ain't nothing jerky about a Slim Jim. I'm talking about the flat, hard beef that could really jerk the teeth right out of your head. If you're ever on the drive up the I-395 from LA to Mammoth for skiing, stop at the beef jerky place in Bishop. It's pretty damned awesome.

Half-frozen Capri Sun - Do they even make Capri Sun anymore? I remember thinking Capri Suns were God's liquid gift to children. Since Mom was smart, she froze them the night before to double as "ice" in the coolers. Sitting in a warm car on summer trips, by the time lunch came around, they were slushies (remember, we left the house before 5 a.m., so that's already 7 hours).

Candy - For some reason, all rules of family health and nutrition went out the passenger side window when it came to travel, so we were allowed to have more candy than usual. Obviously, in the summer it was never chocolate, which would melt into an embarrassing mess,and nothing in boxes that could shake and make noise and annoy Dad while he was driving (Nerds were absolutely out of the question), but for some reason, Twizzlers were big. We ate lots of Twizzlers.

Vienna Sausages - This is nasty. I cannot believe my Mom even allowed us to eat this crap, but we ate Vienna sausages right out of the pull-top can. Gross. I shudder even thinking about it. Of course, at the time, I thought it was awesome.

We don't do big family road trips anymore. I think we're a little too old for that, and besides, Dad sold the Woodie last year. Oh, alright, he sold it 20 years ago, but I swear, he still talks about how reliable it was as if it were still in his garage right now.

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1-26-2006 @ 8:53AM

suburban misfit said...

Oh yeah they still make Capri Sun! They actually make a no-sugar added version now that I let my kids have occasionally.

As for Vienna Sausages, they were my food of choice for a day at my neighborhood pool. I know; gross.

We never packed much food on family road trips. But every time we stopped for gas, I'd convince my dad to get me chips and soda and just plain crap. What *was* it about road trips that really did make all nutrition go out the window??

My husband's mother would pack all kinds of food for their road trips; salami sandwiches, meatloaf sandwiches, fruit, water, crackers, cheese, etc.

1-26-2006 @ 9:04AM

Brian said...

They definitely make Capri Sun! My daughter loves them (when I let her have them).

Brian

1-26-2006 @ 11:54AM

Myron said...

Please post a recipe for Gim Bahp, with some hand holding for those intimidated by an Asian market. My college roommate's mother used to bring these in a care package and I recently had some at a restaurant. The ingredients seem simple but I don't know what to get once I'm in the store. And how is the rice prepared?

1-26-2006 @ 12:48PM

sarah said...

gim bahp recipe/suggested techniques will be up this afternoon!

thanks for asking!

1-26-2006 @ 5:47PM

Nik said...

I cant help but chuckle when I read woodie. Immature, I know.

1-26-2006 @ 7:24PM

Gloria said...

Ahh! My parents did that to me too - three summers of roadtrips to "explore the country", they said. We did tours of the Northeast, South, and West (conveniently leaving out the Midwest). We'd fly out to the part of the country we were going to visit, rent a minivan, then do this big gigantic two-week loop. It wasn't horrible per se, especially not back then (when I was around 10-12 and my sister 5-8), but I would never do it now. But we did have lots of capri sun and ginger candies (so that hopefully, nobody would get carsick).

1-26-2006 @ 10:05PM

Robyn said...

I still like Vienna sausage. Has to be cooked though. I think the browning is very important.

This makes me want to do road trips when I hve kids.

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