“Hey kids, this is a gas pump,” is what I hope to say in the near future as it joins my explanations of, and introductions to, the home telephone, the record player, and the planet Pluto. Except it won’t be this actual pump because I probably won’t be in Winfall, Virginia. But you never know.

I’m spending hundreds of dollars per month on gas and I work at home! Frankly, I’m against it.

We may actually have to cancel our upcoming holiday plans due to the cost of fuel. That ain’t right. However, if it’s a choice between presents for the kids and driving 800 miles, that’s a gimme.

Take a good luck, everyone. Hopefully they will all look like this soon enough.

Are gas prices affecting your travel plans?

This post is a Wordless Wednesday entry with a tangent-filled rant directly beneath it. You probably noticed that part.

Photo: nannetteturner via Flickr

Summer is winding down, but that doesn’t mean that road trips need to take a backseat. See what I did there? I know, clever.

Valero Energy Corporation and Last Exit Group have teamed up to create The All-American Road Trip website. It gives users the opportunity to plan trips and share the tales that follow them home. The site, if it says so itself, uses “eye-catching graphics, and thorough descriptions of destinations near and far. Along with detailed route maps, destination finders, driving directions, and itinerary tools, visitors will find tips, tricks, and time-savers to make planning any size trip easy and fun. Listings of local restaurants, hotels/motels, campsites, rest stops, and of course, Valero gas stations, are all at travelers’ fingertips.”

What? I think Valero showed quite a bit of restraint.

You can follow The All-American Road Trip on Facebook and Twitter. You can also follow UpTake on Facebook and Twitter, because we’re cool like that.

Enjoy the open road!

They went. They jumped in a lake.

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and in addition to the real reasons that this holiday exists, there are a number of other reasons to stop and think for a minute (or more if you can spare the time).

No, I’m not talking about shopping and no financing until August, although that’s a great deal. I’m talking about travel and the increased risks that accompany a long weekend.

People are celebrating the end of school, the turning of the seasons and the day off of work, many of them by drinking. I don’t judge. However, some of these revelers sadly fall into the idiot group and will follow said celebrations by climbing behind the wheel of their car. This is where the judging starts.

There is a lot of fun to be had over Memorial Day weekend, don’t ruin it by doing something careless. If you’re on the road be safe and sober, people!

As you may have deduced by the photo of children playing in Washington’s Lake Sammamish, this post is part of our Friday Family series.

Photo by W. Honea

Upper Falls, Yellowstone National Park

I’ve been thinking about the lessons I’ve learned while traveling throughout the United States during my adult life. In this article I offer the first three, in what will probably become a series of observations that I have collected along the way. Some of them are more helpful than others. None of them are particularly profound.

One – I never, EVER need as much as I’ve packed. I have yet to master the art of light packing, because I have yet to even try mastering the art of light packing. I find comfort in lugging around at least half of the clothing I posses, even coughing up overweight fees at the counter. Fifty pounds of clothing is A LOT OF CLOTHING. What’s even more ridiculous is the fact that I always do laundry while on a vacation that lasts for more than a few days. I freely admit to washing and re-wearing clothes, while leaving a huge amount of unworn clothing untouched in the suitcase for the entire trip. Clearly, there is something wrong with me. Maybe I’ll buy a smaller suitcase and force myself to pack only what will fit in it.

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