I was in the middle of writing a long, detailed post telling you all about my weekend (AKA, the reason I haven’t posted in several days). It was going to include lots of great photos and some bullet points, a few humorous asides and a deep thought or two.
In short, it was going to be great.
Then I got up to refill my giant cup with ice water and promptly dumped it all over my living room floor.
As I mopped up the mess I glanced at the clock and decided I was done. That post? It’ll wait. My bedtime, though? It will not. So instead, let’s talk about a very important matter: road trips.
What’s your road trip routine?
What do you…
…pack?
…listen to?
…eat?
How fast do you drive? Do you use cruise control? Take the back roads? Plan your pit stops?
And do you prefer to road trip alone – or with others? If others, who?
Here’s my Road Trip Rundown:
- I pretty much always pack the morning of a trip. Partly because I procrastinate and partly because my wardrobe isn’t that big so I’m usually washing the clothes I want to wear and take at the last minute. Because I just wore them.
- If I’m alone, I like to eat Cheez-Its and M&Ms. And drink Coke. I’m healthy like that. AS YOU KNOW.
- Because I tend to drive too fast (or, strangely, too slow at night), I definitely use cruise control. Every mile I can.
- Back roads? Pit stops? Whew – too many possible answers here! It depends on where we’re going and who’s going with me.
- As for what I listen to, well, I use these things called CDs. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? In a history class? Heh. Seriously, my car doesn’t have a way for me to hook up my phone or iPod, so I really do listen to the radio and CDs. On the way to Arkansas last weekend, I listened to loud, kid-unfriendly pop music on the radio until the stations turned into static. Then I jammed to my Mamma Mia soundtrack and most of Mark’s Guns ‘N’ Roses greatest hits CD. I have confusing taste.
- Last but not least, these days I really, REALLY enjoy the solo road trip. In the past, however, I’ve had great road trips with Annalyn – and I look forward to the day when Mark and I can hit the open road together, alone, again. (But…yeah…for now? Seven hours all by myself in the car? PURE BLISS.)
So, how about you? What’s your road trip routine?
(And now I’m going to peel off some wet socks that, apparently, absorbed more of that spilled water than the seven towels now sitting next to the washing machine.)
Happy Friday Mary!
You have a wonderful way of making the everyday funny.. that is a great trait!
Road trips? Well, my husband and I try to make Sundays our day away from it all. We pack up the highlander and head to the beach. I am always the last minute “oops, I need this” packer and thankfully he has gotten used to me. Russ knows my rule is this – wherever we go we must be within walking distance of a potty (portable is okay) and we must have “something crunchy” to eat. It is now our little joke for each trip. =)
Russ has a fancy speaker thing that uses Pandora or YouTube through his phone and we take turns picking a song. It is a lot of fun given our different tastes!
Our youngest daughter now lives 4 hours away so when I go visit her solo my routine is a bit different. I listen to KLOVE Christian radio the whole time bouncing from station to station along the way. I pack the night before. And I have been know to have a wonderful catharsis with God along the way!
So, road trips and realizations along the way… Have a great weekend!
Lina
LOVE this topic! I’ve got road trips on the brain since we are gearing up (ok…we are still 4 months out) for an 8 1/2 hour trip (each way) trek down to Disney world. In our day-to-day life, we are commuting SNOBS…we value spending as little time in the car as humanly possible. So my girls get REALLY itchy after about an hour in the car. Needless to say, I’m freaking out about this road trip. I need to work on getting a serious game plan together with more ideas than I could possibly need for how to keep everyone fed, entertained and generally happy.
1. I always pack ahead. ALWAYS. We wear weird things the day before we leave, but I have to have things done or I can’t sleep.
2. I don’t eat much in the car and never when I drive. I do like my black coffee, though. If we need to stop for lunch, though, we tend to get McDonald’s or Taco Bell, just because I know their menus enough not to have to stress about it.
3. I’ve never used cruise control in my life.
4. I used to be able to go a ridiculously long time without needing a pit stop– my family called me “Camel.” Not so anymore. Boo. :(
5. CDs, mostly. I hate having to find a new station.
6. I hate driving. HATE IT. I mean, I don’t mind driving around my own town, but I cannot STAND driving on the highway. So, I don’t love solo road trips. I make a better passenger than a driver. And I am a total rockstar of a passenger– I navigate, find music, open drinks, heck, I’ll even pick the lettuce off a taco for the driver. ;)
I cannot believe you have never used cruise control. WHAT???
Road trips are my JAM!! Love them with the family. Love them with the hubby. Don’t really love them by myself. Good soundtrack, good snacks, good company. OOH and good destination.
I am not very good for driving long distances alone. And I can’t imagine not taking my kids somewhere now, pretty much. I do drive to my parents’ house with all 3 kids in tow by “myself.” It is the worst. How do you go potty when you have three kids in tow? It’s not fun.
I am just not a big fan of driving – usually my back gets to bothering me. But when I do have to take a long trip, I like a large gas station Diet Coke with a STRAW, some candy to indulge in and keep me awake, and either really old-school pop (late 90s) or Broadway tunes. We have a Sirius satellite radio now which is awesome. 90s on 9! On Broadway! We like The Message and The Highway stations, too.
Did I actually answer any questions? I don’t love the road trip but I like getting to the destination. :)
I’m late to the party, as usual.
With six of us, I kinda have to pack ahead. I start washing laundry and as I put things away, I set aside trip stuff.
Our snacks have changed over the years. It used to be cheez-its, and doritos and jerky and a loaf of french bread and the cheap sandwich cookies, and of course, the favorite pop for everyone. Now I’ve tried to lighten it up a bit. Still the jerky, but now fruit and individual bags of crackers or cookies. I try to have sweet and salty, so that we’re less tempted to buy stuff at the gas station.
We do use cruise control a lot, because our trips often start with either I-80 or I-70 across KS/NE.
CDs are still good. Some stuff for the adults, some for the kids. We like to listen to Oddessy stories, or better yet, the Narnia Reader’s Theater from FOTF. But when I’m alone, I’m jamming to musicals or 90s bands.
Sweet AND salty – that is the trick, isn’t it? And…hmmm…maybe musicals and 90s bands is another perfect combination, too?! :)