A shot of our truck from the side of the road in Grand Teton National Park.

ONE:  Hotel patrons who arrive, unwashed and disheveled and barefoot and sometimes even in their PAJAMAS (grown-ups AND children), to partake of the hotel’s breakfast.  You’re not at home.  Groom yourself, or at least put some clothes on.

TWO: Long stretches of highway that contain nary a rest stop.  We don’t want to have to pull of at some random exit, guess at which direction to turn, and drive for an unknown distance, in order to find a restaurant or gas station or handy gully in which to do the necessary.

Filling station

THREE: Gas stations with either a) no air hose; or b) a non-functioning air hose.  After driving for 1000+ miles, more often than not the tires could use a top-up.  In one town, we went to four different gas stations before we found a functioning air hose.

FOUR: Hotels convenient to the highway, but featuring stained sheets, moldy shower tiles, broken air conditioning units, and no hot water.  I know it isn’t the Hilton, but it IS a well-known hotel chain and should AT LEAST maintain a clean, well-repaired establishment.  Days Inn in Midvale, Utah, you’re on notice.

FIVE: Road construction that offers no alternate route; also, road construction that interferes with more than one of a park’s entrances.  Yellowstone, I’m looking at you.  Yes, I know there’s a limited window to conduct road repairs before winter sets in.  All I’m saying is that you might want to re-think simultaneous construction along the south entrance AND the east entrance.

The "bar stools" at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

SIX: Tourist traps.  There’s some in every town – the handful of places that get the most advertisement, that the hotels tout the most, or that are located at or near a landmark.  They’re generally packed and overpriced.  Much better experiences can be had by asking the locals where THEY like to go, and then following their advice.

SEVEN: Passing through major cities during rush hour.  It happened to us through Salt Lake City, and then again going through Denver.  That was pretty much our fault, but when you’re hauling along on a twelve-hour drive, you don’t want to stop somewhere prior to the city and hang out between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. And because it happened to me, I get to complain about it.

EIGHT: I-15 through Utah. That has got to be the most boring stretch of road I’ve ever experienced – it’s just one loooooong straight line through countryside that is not particularly scenic, so the driver tends to get mesmerized with driving… and driving… and driving. Pair that with tractor trailer trucks dragging up to three trailers along behind them (it’s not good enough, anymore, to tow one at a time?), making abrupt lane changes in order to pass other tractor trailer trucks that aren’t bailing along at quite the same clip… well, you can imagine. It’s unpleasant.

Note, this was all from my perspective, after what often turned out to be twelve hour days in the truck, so I think perhaps my tolerance for annoyance was rather low.

Photo Credits (in order of appearance):
- Truck, photo by Laura Charon of Snerkology, on Flickr.
- Filling station, photo by Robb North, on Flickr.
- Saddle barstools, photo by Laura Charon of Snerkology, on Flickr.