Don't Hit the Road Without It...

I drove to Austin yesterday to meet with a UT advisor and also to look for a place to live (I found a cute condo - whoohoo!). It is a 3-hour trip one-way, sometimes really congested with lots of semis, but altogether not a bad drive. So, I thought I would impart my sage advice on road trips, seeing as how I have made quite a few in my lifetime. Some road trip highlights: 4-week family cross-country road trip, back and forth to Utah from Texas a bajillion times, trips from Provo to St. George, Yellowstone Roadtrip with Mom and Aunt Leslie (never again!), Late Night Canyon Drive with J&R (remember that crazy night?! "Let's go driving!" "But it's 10 pm!" "Who cares! Let's go!"), Las Vegas Road Trip 2006 with J&R, Kamikaze LA Trip 2007 with R and Deb, Family Reunion Roadtrip 2007 with Jen and Ethan (remember the goats in the back of the Subaru?! Crazy stuff.), Move to LA Roadtrip 2007 with Mom, Back to Utah Drive 2008 with R, Exodus from LA 2008 with Mom and Dad....and many more. Wow. I spend a lot of time in the car. Good thing I love my truck...

ROAD TRIP ESSENTIALS 101

1. Plenty of water - Yes, that is a 6-pack of Dasani Water. What can I say? I get dehydrated really easily.


2. Something chocolaty - I usually prefer Peanut M&M's, but I decided to go with the Hershey Nuggets on my latest road trip to Austin.


3. Canned chips - Again, I usually prefer Pringles, but the mini-mart I stopped at along the way didn't have the cheese-flavored ones, so I opted for Lays. Not as good as Pringles, but they served their purpose


4. A blanket - I like to turn the air way down and have the car be really cold and then bundle up nice and warm in a sweatshirt and then have a blanket over my legs.


5. Rock-out music - I can't listen to anything too slow or too soft or else I want to fall asleep, so I will crank up the hard alt-rock and sing along at the top of my lungs. According to my mother, I can make Evanescence sound less suicidal and even enjoyable for her to listen to as long as I am singing along to it. Go figure. On my last few trips to and from Austin, I have been rockin' out to Mayday Parade, Paramore and October Fall. All great bands. I also enjoy anything from Eve 6, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Breaking Benjamin for road trips.
6. A fun road trip car - Oh yeah, baby! Me and Leona (see photo below) make a great team, going 85 mph down I-35...

*What are your road trip essentials?*