Summer vacation driving gives you a lot of time for thinking and snacking

Summer vacations are a great way to spend time with family and build special memories 🙂

The vacations, though, also include a lot of time driving or sitting in a car while your mind wanders and you try to pass the time. Here are a few things that run through your head on a family summer trip.

• Wow, a lot of people drive red or burgundy SUVs. Look around next time you are on a long drive and you will see that they are all over the highway. Why are there so many?
• It is too hot in here and the sun is right in my face.
• Is there really a need for this many jerky outlet stores? One sign we saw advertised 100 types of jerky at one jerky superstore. Is that possible? If so, why would anyone make 100 types of jerky? Can I get shark jerky? Ant jerky? Turkey jerky? I actually would order that last one just because it would be fun to say. Jerky is fine to snack on, but how is there a whole store devoted just to jerky?
• Is there a whole outlet store somewhere devoted to 100 types of Goldfish Crackers?
• Do you think either store sells goldfish cracker jerky?
• All of this talk about jerky and gold fish crackers is making me hungry.
• Good Lord, it’s been at least 20 minutes since I last snacked! How can I be expected to drive without continuously eating junk food!?!
• I would like to stop soon, but need to find a gas station with that looks like it would have the pop I like to drink, the right type of snacks and a restroom that is not too disgusting.
• Gas stations where they give you a key to use the restroom are always frightening.
• Who lives in this town near the gas station? What does anyone do here? How can they stand to live here? The gas station doesn’t even sell Ski Pop or Grape Crush?
• I bet they think I am some mysterious stranger from a big city stopping in their town. If they only knew…
• That was a nice place to stop, walk around, get a snack and use the restroom, but it’s good to be back on the highway again with all of these candy apple SUVs.
• Are they wine colored? Is mauve good way to describe them?
• It is too cold in here now but the sun is still in my eyes.
• I have to go to the bathroom again. They are going to hate me in this car if I say I have to stop again, I will try to hold it for a while longer.
• Why do people drive right behind me on a four-lane highway? It makes no sense. If I am going too slowly for you blue car, just go around me. The other lane is right there! Maybe I’ll slow down for a while to make you go around me.
• Why are you slowing down, too, blue car? Fine, I’ll speed up to get away from you.
• Why are you speeding up now? Do I know you? Are you mad because I took the last strawberry pop at the last gas station?
• I’ll duck into this rest area to lose that blue car and will tell everyone that I just want to run in to throw away some trash. I really have to go to the restroom. It’s been a whole 15 minutes since we last stopped! Here’s a nice parking space in between all of these maroon SUVs.
• I hope I can get in and out of this rest area without touching any part of the building and facilities with my hands.
• Ok, back on the road again and feeling much more comfortable. I wonder if I can catch up with that blue car and sit right behind him for a while?
• Speaking of sitting, I think I am sitting on some old Chex Mix pieces. I think I can reach them without smashing them.
• Got ‘em! Do I eat them? Is this even a question? Of course I’m eating them.
• How can the sun be in my eyes when I am driving one direction, but when I turn another direction it is still in my eyes? I am too hot now.
• I love this four lane divided highway where I can’t even see the two lanes going in the other direction. Why would I want to be bothered with the rabble in that lane? They are going the wrong way. I don’t want to know anything about them!
• I see another town down there. What a strange place to choose to live. I should stop down there to ask some of the residents why they chose to live in the middle of nowhere.  Maybe they are all in witness protection programs. I need to find out. Also, and more importantly, I have to go to the bathroom again.
• Why did I drink so much pop? And why do I get more pop every time I stop to go to the bathroom? It’s the circle of life.
• Now I am too cold.
• Why is this stretch of highway so noisy? Didn’t anyone test the pavement before they put this down? Is it noisy on purpose? Everyone finally fell asleep and now they are going to get woken up by a road.
• I hope they all sleep for a while to make the trip shorter for them and so they can relax, but mainly so I can listen to what I want to on the radio.
• Please don’t wake up, don’t wake up. Curse this pavement!
• Now I’m too hot again.
• Now I’m too cold again.
• Part of my body is too hot and part is too cold.
• How many times can I mess with the air conditioning before everyone in the car yells at me?
• Look at that house that is so close to the highway! Why would anyone stay in that house? How do they even talk to each other with all of this noise? Do they just yell the whole time? Do they need to have noise in order to sleep? Do they work for a rock band or NASCAR? It would be bad enough to live by any highway, but it’s even worse to live by one with this awful pavement that is so noisy.
• I am roasting in this car.
• Sigh, it won’t be too long until we get there. I’ll just sit behind this crimson SUV, snack on some jerky and enjoy this amazing sunset. It would be better if it wasn’t blinding me because the sun is right below the visor and is probably causing permanent eye damage, but that color is spectacular. Is that color magenta? Or is that scarlet?