Pet Peeves While Traveling

I was going through my blog posts and noticed that this one never got published from last summer....what a gem! Now that I have cooled off from all the traveling it seems like this might be perfect time to post it for all those friends of mine that will be PCSing (permanent change of station for all those civilians out there) to let them know that everyone has "those" days when one the road for long periods of time.

Written August of 2012
This seems to be our summer for many adventures with lots of time driving on various roads across the US. I started this list at the beginning of our trip as a way to vent, hope you don't mind a little negative Nelly coming out in me.



Motel 6 while you allow our dog to sleep in our room, you really have crappy beds, disgusting carpets, small rooms and the other clientele that stays here make it feel like spring break...not something you want when you are actually needing to sleep.

We have now discovered several other chains of hotels that are also pet friendly, the Drury Inn being one of the nicer ones that also have a hot breakfast and also a "social hour" so that you can drown your sorrows from the days travels. Unfortunately, they do not have one on the Hwy 50...the "Loneliest Highway" that we traveled on.

CA drivers. Not all CA drivers, but it seemed that once we hit the Nevada border we had less incident where cars were weaving, switching lanes without blinkers and passing on the right shoulder...I'm sure we will come across more reckless drivers on this trip, but let's just say I have some anxiety about cars speeding up behind me and showing no effort in slowing down or passing me. On our drive out to CA I was rear ended by a drunk driver who was going at least 85 in a 70 zone and failed to move over and pass me in the right lane in time.

I stand by this remark...having now been settled for 6 months drivers in IL and MO are far more observant and less aggressive.

People trying to use coupons in the drive-thru, really you think this a good "quick" idea? You have enough time to yell at the clerks about your coupon, but not enough time to get out of your car and order it to go inside?! Really?!?

Haven't ran across this again so mark it as a fluke that I was lucky enough to witness this 20 minute argument over the use of a coupon.

Little boy bladders and their need to pee on trees and tires. Love my boys, but when I ask you to use the bathroom use it! This leads to another irritation...rest stop and gas station bathrooms. Gross!! I guess this is why my little boys would rather "water" a tree or "wash" daddy's tires. I have no guilt about not buying anything from your store when you bathrooms are nasty, but if you keep them clean you bet I'll buy my boys a candy treat or even top off the gas tank.

The boys still ask to "water" daddy's tire when we are on a long-ish trip someplace....gas station bathrooms are still gross.

Major road construction + GPS = major confusion. If you can avoid driving around DFW International Airport do so. I ended up getting the $2 tour (thanks to the toll road that goes through DFW) because of the confusing lane construction and poor signage and a GPS that had no idea what  I was doing driving in a field instead of the major road 20 feet over....ya its a mess! If you know the area you know that there really aren't any side streets, this area is made up of only 4 lane highways and freeways.

No that winter has sort of hit IL/MO traveling on the interstate has gotten better, but trying to get to the west side of St. Louis had been a nightmare ALL summer. I hope once things warm up again we can keep that to a minimum!

That wraps up this segment of Traveling Pet Peeves, I'm sure that in a couple of years I will get to start a new list as that is the life of a military family...so stay tuned ;)