I'm really fortunate that Steve likes to be the one to drive if he is in the car for a long time. That gives me time to do other things!
1. Knit! - My favorite thing to do on a long car ride is knit. I get sick if I read in the car but fortunately I can knit on the highway. Regular roads? Not so much.
2. Audio books - We love listening to audio books and I especially enjoy the ones we can all listen to together. Our favorites have been the Artemis Fowl books.
3. Podcasts - We try to avoid buying audio books and the library doesn't always have something that my husband wants to listen to. (He's picky!) So we've turned to podcasts like The Splendid Table and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. NPR has a lot of great podcasts. And LibriVox has lots of great things available, too. Our favorite has been Frankenstein.
4. Trivia - This one is a little tough since I get carsick while reading but we enjoy quizzing each other. This is one of Steve's favorite things to do while on a trip. I think it takes his mind off of all that driving.
5. iPhone - Steve has one and it's great to be able to look up things or check email.
6. Scenery - I really enjoying seeing this beautiful world while we travel. Living near the North Georgia Mountains, it doesn't take us long to see some scenic landscapes if we are traveling north.
7. "I Spy" Games - When I was little we would play games like trying to find license plates from all over the US or finding letters of the alphabet in order. Or what about the memory game where you had to name a series of items based on the alphabet? Like "My mother went to the grocery store and she came back with artichokes, bacon, cookies,..." I still enjoy games like this but I think I may be the only one in my family who does. :)
8. Planning - I am throwing this one in for Steve. He loves to plan in the car. What should our yard look like? What do we want the bathroom to look like when we remodel it? This drives me insane!!! I can't do anything about it so I don't really want to talk about it. I can't walk into the yard to look at a flower bed and I can't measure the bathroom. Just let me knit. ;)
9. Stop to see things - I rarely get to do this. There are always signs for museums that I'd like to check out but we're always on a mission to get somewhere by a certain time. But I think we're going to stop in at an apple orchard when we take our camping trip this fall.
10. Stop for lunch or dinner - Many times we drive through and grab fast food but sometimes we do stop for a meal. It's nice to have a chance to stretch our legs. Our current favorite drive-through place is Steak 'n Shake. They have a nice variety of food and it tastes a little more like a sit-down restaurant than some of the other places we stop.
Here's a little tip for long car rides... Keep a small notebook in your car's glove box. Write down exit numbers and pertinent information about those exits - gas stations, restaurants, good bathrooms, etc. It's great to have this info for the return trip or for the next time you're on that route.
What do you do while on the road? Sign up on Carole's blog to get Ten on Tuesday notices. While you're there, share your ten things for this week!
Your list is so detailed! I love it.
Posted by: Carole | October 12, 2010 at 05:12 PM
cool game ideas! really, twenty questions can get old! sara likes to bring along "table topics" cards and some other game that has a deck of questions. they're a fun way to pass 50 miles or so :-) (p.s. I have really been enjoying the "you might also like suggestions"!)
Posted by: Mary | October 12, 2010 at 07:26 PM
I love long car rides for knitting...my hubby doesn't like to be a passenger which is lucky for me! We have an 8 hour trip planned soon to NC and I am planning my project.
Posted by: karen | October 12, 2010 at 07:43 PM
I love your post, and I love road trips! I knit a lot in the car too (Chris can only nap in the car -- if he's awake and a passenger, he often gets queasy!).
Have you tried Knitmap on the iPhone? It's great for finding knitting shops wherever you are. There's one for used bookstores too which I can't resist.
We haven't had much luck with audiobooks, but Chris downloads the Old Time Radio Shows on to his iPod. We love the detective mysteries after the sun goes down and we have a long ride back home.
Posted by: Debby | October 12, 2010 at 09:32 PM
I can knit but can't read without getting sick too :)
Posted by: erin | October 12, 2010 at 10:28 PM
the kids LOVE the "I went to the grocery store and bought something that starts with a . . " game!!! we played it just saturday for the 45 minute drive there and back! :) good tip on the notebook in the glove box!
Posted by: vanessa | October 13, 2010 at 07:29 AM
some great ideas on this list. i can't knit on the exit curves, but it's one of my favorite things to do on long drives. i really like listening to music on long rides or podcasts. 2 of our cars have satellite radio capability which i love, but only one has a current subscription, my next car will have it
Posted by: lydia | October 13, 2010 at 08:55 AM
I agree with keeping a notebook. My husband and I like to note Starbucks, flea markets and LYS's.
Posted by: Robin | October 13, 2010 at 06:05 PM
Sing-alongs! Until our kids hit the tween years, we'd enthusiastically sing "You Are My Sunshine", "Workin' On The Railroad", and similar songs. Sometimes DH joined in. Sometimes he endured.
:)
Posted by: Pooch | October 13, 2010 at 10:45 PM