Best Laid Plans
This weekend, Memorial Weekend, is the unofficial start to the summer season. With the kids almost out of school, the beginning of the Road Trip season is also upon us.

In fact, our family was supposed to embark on our first summer road trip this weekend—through the desert to Las Vegas. That’s 10+ hours of family fun and harmony… Due to circumstances beyond our control, the trip has been scratched. This may be a blessing in disguise. But, never fear! We are still going to load up the truck and head out on the road. And, it will be a more manageable 3-hour drive to spend time outdoors in Northern California.

All kidding aside, road trips can be a lot of fun. And, no matter your destination, anytime you stick people in a confined space for more than an hour or two, someone’s going to be touching someone else, or crossing over an imaginary line, or the dog is going to try to get in someone else’s lap. And, things are going to get tense. Having drinks and snacks at the ready can go a long way to preventing a migraine.

I am a big fan of nut mixes and trail mixes. I have a huge canister at home for when I just need a handful of something to get me through until dinner. I make it myself and the ingredients change depending on my mood.

My trail mix always contains multiple varieties of nuts. But, the other ingredients change each time. Sometimes I’m feeling tropical and add macadamia nuts with some dried mango, bananas and coconut chips. If I have a sweet tooth there are chocolate chunks in it. And then there is the kitchen sink mix that has a little bit of everything (usually comprised of reminders of things from past baking projects).

Any of these options is great for road trips because you can make a lot of it for sharing with everyone. And, it’s definitely portable. Beware the chocolate ones, though…It’s best to keep them in the cooler with your drink supply. They don’t do so well in the hot car when you have to stop for the 50th time because someone has to go to the bathroom…again!

This trail mix recipe is a suggestion. There is no real recipe for something like this—just your imagination and your taste buds.

Trail Mix Recipe
Yields 5 cups

Ingredients
approximately 3 cups of dried fruit
approximately 1 cup of mixed nuts and seeds
approximately 1 cup of granola

Directions
Combine the dried fruit, mixed nuts, and granola in a large bowl and mix well.

Place the trail mix in an airtight container, preferably glass. Your trail mix will keep in a cool, dry place for up to one month.