Scariest Thing on the Road EVER

This is a photo of the scariest thing I have ever seen on the road. What's scarier is that it's inside my own minivan! This may look harmless to you, but you are not sitting in the middle of this heart clenching scene where I was when I took the photo and was completely white-knuckled. Don't see what I'm talking about? Look harder.... It's....

...... MY TEENAGER behind the WHEEL!


That's right. His driver permit was obtained today.

Learning to drive is such a huge rite of passage, for the teen and the parent! Is any parent ever ready for this? I swear it was just last week when he was in kindergarten.

Seriously though, I am signing him up for a Driver's Ed road training class, and he is taking a safety course as well. Not only that, but he told me himself that he plans to be a "good driver". I guess we all were new drivers at some point, and I'm not going to last very long if I hold my breath every time I hand him the keys now, am I? It's time to cowboy up and accept the fact that this day has finally arrived.

ATTENTION DRIVERS OF NORTH AMERICA: A new driver has taken the wheel. You have been warned.

Roadside Oddities and pranks - Zombies attack!

Yesterday, right around the corner from where I live, was a rather remarkable roadside oddity. Apparently someone was playing a prank and hacked into the digital construction sign and changed it to read, "ZOMBIES AHEAD".

The construction company was not amused --- but I was. Zombie humor really tickles my funny bone. As a testament to my love for zombies, a month ago I participated in a huge community zombie event for Halloween. (A photo of my zombie persona is posted at my friend Devra's blog).

After a quick search, I have learned that this road side prank is not unique. Apparently construction sign hackers in cities around the country have been pulling this stunt for a while. For example:

Zombie sign outside Austin, TX
Zombie attack warning Fairfax, VA
Zombie sign Cadillac, MI
Zombies in Lattingtown, NY

The zombie road sign warning made our evening news.

As for me, having recently posted an article about roadside attractions and oddities, I am thrilled to have an "oddity" of zombie humor caliber right in my own backyard. Meanwhile, I will keep careful watch and listen for the cries of the undead in my backyard

Truckload of Turkeys

Here's a truckload of turkeys going down the highway in South Carolina, April 2009. I took this picture with my cell phone while on a road trip a few months ago.

Roadside oddities abound, and occasionally they are on the road instead of along side it. Read more about where you can find strange and wonderful roadside attractions to help make your road trip smooth sailing in my new article Roadside Oddities.


Speaking of turkey -- Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers. I am so thankful to have had so many loyal readers over the years who helped not only make my website a huge success, but also a wonderful resource for traveling parents everywhere. I could not have done it without you.

A Few Products for the Road

Occasionally companies send me their products to try in hopes they'll get a mention on my website. Here are a few that I've tried recently:

That Gunk on Your Car was a funny reference book that I enjoyed on a recent road trip. It's a field guide to insects that have likely splatted against your windshield. It was a cute book for older children or adults. I especially enjoyed the color photos of the splats to help identify some of the insects. It was divided into chapters regarding each of the more common insects. It's not something you would necessarily read straight through, but made a great reference guide.

Along with that book, I tried a product to help me remove those sticky bugs from my car windshield. It was Prestone Bug Wash windshield washer fluid. I poured it into my windshield washer reservoir and hit the road. It actually did a great job removing bugs after I slammed into them, mile after mile. It did such a good job that I had my teenager clean the front of the minivan with it when we got home.

Finally, I tried the Energizer 15 minute battery charger for AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. It really worked in only 15 minutes, although it was a little louder than I expected it to be because of the fan that runs while it is working. It's a very small unit, but the plug adapter is as big as the unit its self. It did come with two pairs of batteries to get you started, and also a car adapter plug so you can use it on the road to keep those video game remotes charged and working. After a few uses, this unit would pay for its self, although it's a little bit of an investment for starters. You can't beat the 15 minutes to charge though!

Flair for the Road

I recently tried a new product called Glam Bags. These reusable travel bags claim that they will add a little bit of glamor and style to your life while you travel. Now, I am not normally a super fashion-conscious traveler, but I have to admit that I did feel a little bit more luxurious with my precious pretties in these designer bags than I did carrying them around in those old sandwich bags.

The pretty-factor makes me want to reuse them as much as I can too. They are convenient and attractive and that little bit of flair that they add to your trip really makes them worth it! I'll definitely be taking these along on all my trips from now on.

Printable Bingo Cards - Reuse them!

A MomsMinivan reader, Barbie, posted a picture (above) on her blog Mamaology showing how to re-use the printable bingo cards from the printable car games page on Momsminivan.com.

She wrote, "I made some games from a website called... momsminivan.com. The Bingo game above is from there. You can print it out for free, place it in a ziplock bag and use dry erase markers to check off the items you find, then erase it and use it again. I plan to give lollipops to the winner of the games."

These bingo cards are the perfect size to fit into a quart sized freezer bag. The dry erase markers work perfectly on them. Fantastic! Thanks for sharing, Barbie. I hope you had a great trip with all of your adorable girls.

Virtual Hide and Seek

One of my readers recently sent me this game that her family plays. They call it "Virtual Hide and Seek". It's a great game for the car that only requires your imagination.

Pick a place inside your house to hide, and imagine you are there. You can be any size, so you can hide in the silverware drawer, inside the toilet, in the dryer, wherever you can imagine! The others ask yes/no questions only, such as "are you in the kitchen" until they narrow it down to the room, area and then....find you! Kids love this game because it's so fun to hide in places you'd not really fit into.

You may have to clarify no hiding between walls and in plumbing! (Submitted by reader, Beth K. Thanks!)