Travel Games

We are safely back from our vacation to the midwest. The time there was great and a much-needed respite. The drive home was long. Our first two days of driving were not bad and we did not encounter the rain we thought we would. Maine was eerie as the mist was hovering over the snow-covered fields. The roads were clear but the sky was grey.

We have decided that the province of New Brunswick is basically Arkansas. The roads are crap and it feels like no one lives there. I swear, I think we doubled the population when we drove in. There are about 8 exits along the TransCanada Highway in NB and not one of them is anything other than an exit ramp. No gas station, no rest stop, no bathroom, no signage. On the way down we encountered a blizzard in this province and on the way back it was fog. Correction, FOG. Serious, thick, spooky, Hound of the Baskervilles FOG. We had about 2 feet of visibility and the road is not well-marked. No reflectors, no reflective paint. Just occasional signs warning you to pay attention to moose(s). Fortunately, we did not see any. I was afraid we’d have a Toyota v. Moose incident. We drove through FOG for about three hours.

Along the drive, we invented some new (to us anyway) travel games to keep ourselves entertained in the car*. Next time you’re on one of those long drives, when the kids are watching something in the back and you can’t listen to your own music because it will interfere with their show, try one of these. One is kid-friendly, the other … not so much.

1) Alphabet-geography game. Basically you replace each state in the US, or every country you can think of, with a certain letter or group of letters. For example: Cralabama, Crentucky, Croklahoma… Some of my recent favorites include Spelgium, Quussia, and Flafghanistan.

2) Innuendo. In this game, you simply add parentheses to certain words or phrases you see along the road. You can instantly turn something wholesome and sweet into, well, smut.
Like “Fresh Fudge” or Grandpa’s “Cheese Barn” or

Entering
“Manhurst” County


* These may have been funny only because we were very tired and stir crazy.