Wednesday Medley

Road Trip Medley...

Hosted by Terri!

Everything below this line is from the National Day Calendar website.

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NATIONAL ROAD TRIP DAY – Friday Before Memorial Day

NATIONAL ROAD TRIP DAY

The Friday before Memorial Day is declared National Road Trip Day and serves as the official kickoff of the summer road trip season. With two-thirds of leisure travelers (64 percent)* planning to take vacations this summer, it’s clear that the open road calls when long weekends and Fridays roll around. We pack up, fuel up, stock up and then crank up the tunes. In fact, 63 percent** of road trippers say that having good music, audiobooks and/or podcasts to listen to are the most important parts of a successful road trip. Additionally, three in five road trippers (59 percent) say that having good snacks and drinks for the road, finding great places to eat on the way and finding clean bathrooms to use while traveling are their most important parts of a successful road trip.

Whether we’re seeking adventure, visiting family and friends or making a business connection, road trips are often a rite of passage. Sometimes we endure them, often hearing, “Are we there yet?” And other times we never want them to end; sometimes getting lost can be even more fun than the original plan.

Getting ThereRoad trips that begin and end with happy passengers are always the best. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

•  Plan ahead. Even a spur of the moment trip requires a little planning.
  • Two in five (42 percent) road trippers find travel apps very helpful when planning their trip, and mapping out your stops ahead of time can be a great way to save both time and money.
  • One way to do so is with the Pilot Flying J app’s enhanced trip planner feature. The trip planner helps users create their route and find Pilot and Flying J locations along the way, showcasing specific amenities, fuel prices and more.
• Vehicle maintenance is vital to any successful road trip. Beyond the routine maintenance like oil changes and sound tires, other simple checks will keep you on the road.
  • check your wipers and wiper fluid
  • make sure your spare tire and jack are in place
  • all lights and signals are working
  • condition of your brake pads
  • registration is current or not about to expire
• Plot your course. Consider construction, fuel and snack stops, shopping and the interests of the other travelers.
  • Road trippers prioritize convenience and efficiency, primarily (58 percent) wanting to stop at all-in-one rest stops (offers gas, food, drinks, coffee, bathrooms, and more.).
  • Specifically, the top “road trip essential” snacks are chips and salty foods (52 percent), freshly made, grab-and-go foods (50 percent) and fast food options (49 percent).

How do you travel? There are two kinds of people who take road trips. If you’re going together, you might want to discuss a compromise before hitting the road! The tourist takes their time getting there and doesn’t mind taking backroads to see long-forgotten ghost towns. On the other hand, the pilot enjoys seeing the country from the car, sets a course and frowns upon unscheduled stops or side trips.

No matter the destination, road trips include an element of expectation, and they rarely disappoint. The best road trips bring us closer to people over a stick of beef jerky and car karaoke. They connect us to places through memories, a postcard, and the kindness of strangers.

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Everything above this line is from the Natonal Day Calendar website.

I decided to skip ahead to Friday for today's Medley.  It IS a holiday weekend for us in the USA and lots of folks do take road trips on long weekends.  Let's see where we can go with this one!!

1.  Have you ever done a spur-of-the-moment road trip?   Only to travel about 100 miles up into the mountains of SW Virginia  to visit family.

2.  If time and money wasn't an issue, what roads would you choose to travel and how long would you be gone?  

I want to do a redo of our fall foliage trip to New England...  We missed the color   the only time we did this..  The maples were  already down and the oaks were yet to set..   not that great. In early October  we'd travel I-81N to I84E  to I87 North to I90 east into MA.  Then I91 N to Brattleboro, Vermont. 

 Stay at a lovely Band B nearby 

Chesterfield Inn

then  meander east as the will takes us  through Vermont, New Hampshire,  and into Southern Maine. Head North to Kennebunkport 

and  stay a several nights there at one of my all time favorite B and B's , Bufflehead Cove Inn .

  Then we'd head south to Boston area to visit with our daughter and family!

  

3.  When you go on a long road trip, what snacks and beverages do you take?  Do you pack a picnic? Does the back seat turn into a nest?  When we go visit our daughter it is a two day drive for us.  We pack nabs, peanuts, cold water,  and  a sandwich each.. We drive about 5 hours   to  Maryland  and stop at a  Sheetz    for   a rest break...  Hubs likes their coffee. We  eat our lunch in a shady part of the parking lot and  walk around a bit. then  back into the car and drive on into Pennsylvania  north to right outside of Scranton...  we  stay over night at Montage Mountain

 which is a ski resort area.  We  stay at a Hampton Inn  there.  Dinner that night at Longhorn Steak House.. Then we're up  and going again E though New York to 87N and north to  I90 almost to Albany.  We like  to stop  at the service plaza's ..  the facilities are nice and  there is food.. We  usually  get a bite at McDonalds..  usually an Egg Mc Muffin and a Dr. Pepper for me.  Then  we  drive across Ma  to  I 495 South and head on over to Amanda's  We usually get there around 2-3pm.

4.  Please tell us about something interesting or strange you have seen on the side of the road.

Can't think of anything but  I am always sort of  tickled everytime we drive right past the Woodstock, Ny exit.. not that I was there  but  the eent occurred during my college days, and I wouldnt ever have gone,  but I did love the music!

1970's


today
Complete serenity there today!

5.  Who does the driving when you head out in the car?  Do you stop in the rest areas along our Interstate highways when you have to use the facilities, or do you choose a fast-food restaurant or gas station instead?.  Not TMI... inquiring minds want to know! I sometimes  start out driving  and will drive about 3 hours...  then I pass it on to HUbs for the rest of the day of driving.   We  like to stop at Sheetz  stations...  like I said before good coffee and  nice bathrooms.

6.  Please share something with us about your week so far.

Well, this is a week Ive been dreading..  I have  some eye issues and I had an eye appointment   this morning to take the visual field test...  I passed it  swimmingly and  my eye pressure was good!  Hurray! But next week I do have to go to an eye surgeon who deals with plastic surgery  following reemoval of lesions ..I have some kind of lesion on my eye lid that  he needs to address...  I am praying it is NOT another  skin cancer  , which I've had two plastic surgeries for  spots on my nose in the last two years.