Stopping for a crazy road side attraction is something we love to do on a long car trip.  Take a break and give yourselves something to talk about for the next leg of your journey.  I’ll tell you where to find these amusing sights and how to make the most of your stops…

Read the entire article and see some of the crazy road side photos I’ve taken with my family at Oddities Attract – Side tracks Remind You that Half the Fun Is Getting There.

What weird roadside things have you seen lately?!

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More fun ideas for the road — check out this video of some travel games you can make with paper plates!  Make them in the car, or make them at home to bring on the road with you.

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It’s time to share some of YOUR favorite car travel activities!

“We enjoy passing around a fake mike, as we take turns being the solo singer to the radio or cassette tunes! Sometimes we will unexpectedly lower the sound to make the singers voice really stand out.”  (Lin)

“A great car activity for children ages 5 (with adult help) and up, is to make a pot holder on a weaving loom! My 3 sons, ages 5, 10 and 12 all three enjoyed picking out their own colors and designing their own pot holder to give as gifts to grandparents and friends when we returned home from our trip!  They also make neon colored material for the weaving looms. You can buy a whole bag for under $2!” (Johna)

“Whenever we hit the road, we are always sure to grab a bottle of bubbles.  We turn on the car fan, hold the bubble wand in front of the vent, and voila! A car full of bubbles.  The bubbles generally go straight toward the back of the car, and are barely a distraction to the driver.  This is great fun in traffic, when we not only amuse ourselves but so many drivers alongside us.  And their happy grins
are a great amusement in themselves!” (Elaine)

Thanks Readers!  Keep sending in your ideas!  ~~Laurel (Roadtrip Mom)

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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

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 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.

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!)

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Someone finally put all the fun printable car activities into one big fat ginormous printable book. It’s the Ultimate Road Trip Games book, that you can download and print. I love it!

It’s over 140 pages of stuff to do in the car. Print just the pages you want, and as many as you need for all your kids, and print more for your next trip.

A few activities are similar to the printable car games that I have available on MomsMinivan, but they have taken them to a whole new level, and included many many more, in an easy printable format.

We’re excited about the “secret mission” game. This one sounds just right for my school age children, and we can’t wait to play it on our next trip. None of the activities require any extra materials other than a pencil and the printed sheets. Use it over and over for every trip you take.

Overall, I think it’s terrific! It’s definitely worth the purchase price, and I feel really good about recommending it to my readers. You can find it on their website at Ultimate Road Trip Games!

Meanwhile, make sure you stock up on printer ink! Here’s a place I love to get mine – use the coupon I found for a discount! 15% Off Compatible Inkjet Cartridges – use Coupon TAK658W
(Expires 09.30.09)

Happy travels!

My cousin Kirsten is taking a road trip with her kids this weekend in Oregon and found some great new products she recommends! They are called “Flip to Win”

Here’s what she says:
We got Hangman and the Travel Bear Hunt – and both are good. Memory looks fun. There are No parts to lose except the pen on Hangman (which has a clip to store the pen when it’s not being used).

Here’s More:

• These fabulous, travel-style games bring new fun and convenience to old family favorites
• Innovative flipping pieces won’t get lost
• Includes one game board with erasable whiteboard, self-storing marker and eraser
• Great for the road and at home

Sounds great! Definitely worth checking out “Flip to Win“.

Thanks, Kirsten! Have a great trip!

~ Road Trip Mom ~
Momsminivan.com

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Shop and Save for road trip gear!

On St. Patricks day the coupon code: 3STPAT09 will save Family Travel Gear customers 15% on every product except the CARES (Child avaiation restraint) harness. The coupon code can be used on both March 16 and 17, 2009.

They have great stuff to help make traveling with kids easier, and MomsMinivan.com gives them two thumbs up on service and quality! Shop at Family Travel Gear!