Road Trip Traditions

Provo to Vegas. Vegas to Provo. Provo back to Vegas. It's a six hour car trip that I've made many, many, times throughout these last three years of college, first as a passenger with my older sister, then as a solo driver, and now driving with my little sis.

As Sarah (little sis) and I made the trip Saturday afternoon/night, I thought about all the traditions that are such an important part of the whole experience. And Sarah decided to be an awesome photographer and document the journey.

Here are some of my road trip traditions, some old, some new.

1. Always, always, always, call mom once we've merged onto the I-15 in Provo to tell her we've hit the road. This is the passenger's job. (or the driver's, with the help of iPhone earbuds)

2. Moan about the Utah construction that is EVERYWHERE just south of Provo. (three years and still going strong.)

3. Every time we pass fragrant farm land, it is essential to exclaim to one another, "Was that YOU or 500 cows?!?" Mature, I know.



4. Gotta pack peanut butter sandwiches. Even if we plan to stop for lunch in a few hours. It puts my mind at ease in case we are stuck in the middle of nowhere.... we. will. have. nourishment.


5. Other snack essentials: Honey Teddy Grahams and mini Ritz peanut butter crackers.

6. Saying "SAYONARA!" to the snow in the winter and excitedly looking forward to the beautiful desert ahead. If not verbally than certainly in our hearts. Hate it!


7. Driving exactly 8 mph over at all times. Which makes the 80 mph test sections pretty sweet.



8. Drinking Dr. Pepper. I kinda got obsessed with it during my solo road trips this summer. But since soda isn't healthy and I didn't want to become a soda person, I pledged to only drink Dr. P while on the road. #worthit.



9. Singing the entire way. Listening to songs over and over again to learn the words.

10. Getting off in Cedar city for gas, potty break and lunch. Exit 59 every time. And we always have to stop at the same gas station with the clean bathrooms, which used to be called Flying J's and they always played awesome music, but now it’s a Chevron and they play country, and not the good country either.

11. Seeing people we know at the gas station. It happens surprisingly often for random encounters in the middle of Utah.

12. Put on my reading glasses for night driving. I have terrible eyesight. (we usually never drive at night, but because I hurt my back and other shenanigans, we left like... 5 hours later than planned...)


13. After many road trips, my car is stocked with TONS of mix cds. Sarah is such a roadtrip singing diva!



14. Cloud watching. This one looked astonishingly like the contiguous 48 states!



15. Changing the clock in the car when we reach the Nevada state line!

16. Passing casinos means we are getting closer to home! A strange thing to invoke familiar feelings, I know.


17. Getting off in Mesquite, Nevada for an unplanned second potty break has sadly become my own personal tradition. I blame the Dr. Pepper.

18. New tradition this trip: Screaming, "My ancestors BUILT this town!" while driving through Mesquite, Nevada. It's really true, fools.


19. Singing our wonderful state song, "Home Means Nevada" while passing the sign that says Overton, because that's the town our grandma grew up in.

20. Another new tradition formed this trip: listening to the Killers as we get close to Vegas. (Because they are from Vegas, duh.)



21. After you pass the first bridge and then the check station, you HAVE to start counting when you pass under the second bridge, because once you get to twenty, the entire Las Vegas valley comes into view and it is breath-taking. I believe this is a law. But you have to count kinda slow, I have found.

22. We ALWAYS turn the radio on to Mix 94.1 once we get into the city, because the familiar DJs and sound effects of that station makes us officially feel like we've arrived. (and we catch up on new music because Utah radio officially is the worst ever.)


23. Say hi to the Strip as we pass!


24. Call home when we get off the I-15 to say we'll be there in three minutes.

25. Pull into the driveway, where both parents are always, always standing there waving, with a home-made welcome sign taped to the door.


Driving here is half the fun, but I really, really, love being home. Yay for the holidays!!

If you read this whole thing, you are a champion. Congrats! Thanks again to Sarah for her awesome photography skills. What are YOUR favorite road-trip traditions?