Favorite road trip games

[bandit957]

Also, we blurted out stupid parody lyrics to songs that were on the radio. The line in the Madonna song that said "She's trouble" became "She bubbled."

[kurumi]

I had fun making Mad Libs for the nieces and nephews, because they would also be the star of the story, and you could tease them relentlessly.

Example: "Then (niece's name) said: 'By the way, my favorite color isn't purple anymore; it's ___(color)__.'"

Good result, even if purple is the choice :-)

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I liked to give new meanings for the signs. For example, this one...


... which means 'no overtaking', was always taken by me to mean 'red and black cars only'. Although technically, since it's a prohibition sign, it should have been 'no red or black cars allowed on this road' .

[GaryV]

We had to hold our breath while passing a cemetery.

We also thought it great fun to trail a length of string out the station wagon tailgate window (back when those things could move).  Sometimes with Kleenex tied to them.

My mom got mad at us one time for tossing ice cubes out the back, just to see them bounce and shatter.  We were supposed to save them to help us to cool off in those pre-air-conditioning days.

[US 81]

I liked to give new meanings for the signs. For example, this one...


... which means 'no overtaking', was always taken by me to mean 'red and black cars only'. Although technically, since it's a prohibition sign, it should have been 'no red or black cars allowed on this road' .

We used to do that.  Along the same lines, we'd have fun when signs were missing letters, or perhaps a lighted sign had some burned out letters. We would create bizarre mispronunciations from whatever was left of said sign. "Outback Steakhouse" might have "Teeback Khoowse." It was a good day when the "G" had fallen off a "gas" sign....

[1995hoo]

For some reason we only did this on the Belt Parkway: We'd read the BGSs phonetically as they appeared. "Ocean Pkwy" was "Ocean Pickway" and "Shell Rd" was "Shell Rid," for example.

[slorydn1]

For some reason we only did this on the Belt Parkway: We'd read the BGSs phonetically as they appeared. "Ocean Pkwy" was "Ocean Pickway" and "Shell Rd" was "Shell Rid," for example.

Same here with the changed pronunciation.  FL-858 was always Hallandale Beach BLIVID to us, for example. Or, if we were feeling really froggy and thought we could dodge dad's backhand quickly enough we would call it Hellandale Bitch Blivid.

[vtk]

For some reason we only did this on the Belt Parkway: We'd read the BGSs phonetically as they appeared. "Ocean Pkwy" was "Ocean Pickway" and "Shell Rd" was "Shell Rid," for example.

Same here with the changed pronunciation.  FL-858 was always Hallandale Beach BLIVID to us, for example. Or, if we were feeling really froggy and thought we could dodge dad's backhand quickly enough we would call it Hellandale Bitch Blivid.

I remember a trip to Clearwater Beach, Florida, where Dad felt it wasn't inappropriate for us kids to hear him pronounce Bearss Ave as "Bare-Ass Avenue".  Mom expressed disapproval but I think she was entertained nonetheless.  I think I was about 12 or 13 at the time, and my brothers within 3 years of me either way...

[peperodriguez2710]

I remember that whenever I was in the car with my cousins (being a looong road trip or a fifteen-minutes drive), and sometimes in the street, we always played a game called "Coche amarillo" (Yellow car).
It consisted that when you saw a yellow car, you had to say ¡Coche amarillo!, and the first one who said it was allowed to give a colleja (untranslatable, a quick slap on the back of the neck) to the rest. We always ended fighting, and drove our parents crazy.

I also remember when I was like 4 me and my cousin also played in road trips a game which consisted in being the first to identify the brand and model of every car in our carriageway.

Then there are some other classical games in my country for roadtrips, like "Veo veo" (I see I see [Yup, the name is kinda weird]). In that game you said "Veo veo una cosa que empieza por la letra X" (I see I see one thing starting with the letter X) where X was the first letter of something you had seen and the others had to guess the thing you saw. Then, the one who guessed it was who was next.

I liked to give new meanings for the signs. For example, this one...


... which means 'no overtaking', was always taken by me to mean 'red and black cars only'. Although technically, since it's a prohibition sign, it should have been 'no red or black cars allowed on this road' .

We also did it, I remember saying this sign:

which means that the road stretches in both sides, meant "Danger because of bottles",
and with the yield sign with the "ceda el paso" (the direct translation would be something like "give the way", though it simply means yield) inscription

we said it spelled "ceda el vaso" (that translated means "give the glass") and added it was a special sign for drunk drivers...
Old good times 

[chays]

For some reason we only did this on the Belt Parkway: We'd read the BGSs phonetically as they appeared. "Ocean Pkwy" was "Ocean Pickway" and "Shell Rd" was "Shell Rid," for example.

Same here with the changed pronunciation.  FL-858 was always Hallandale Beach BLIVID to us, for example. Or, if we were feeling really froggy and thought we could dodge dad's backhand quickly enough we would call it Hellandale Bitch Blivid.

I remember a trip to Clearwater Beach, Florida, where Dad felt it wasn't inappropriate for us kids to hear him pronounce Bearss Ave as "Bare-Ass Avenue".  Mom expressed disapproval but I think she was entertained nonetheless.  I think I was about 12 or 13 at the time, and my brothers within 3 years of me either way...

I have a friend whose first language is Spanish, and he always just pronounced it "Bare Ass" as well.  It is kind of a weird name...I just followed his lead.

[1995hoo]

On the topic of goofily-pronounced town names, back in the 1970s when we drove to Nags Head my mom always referred to two towns in North Carolina as "Barfo" and "Slimeo."

[roadman]

When I was a kid, road trips with my older brothers and sisters would always begin - once we got on the highway - with Mom leading us in reciting a Catholic rosary.  After that, Dad would keep us entertained by giving each of us, in turn, short quizzes on our favorite subjects.  While my brothers' and sisters' quizzes usually had to do with sports or current events, my quizzes were always about something relating to roads, bridges, and the like.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I remember that whenever I was in the car with my cousins (being a looong road trip or a fifteen-minutes drive), and sometimes in the street, we always played a game called "Coche amarillo" (Yellow car).
It consisted that when you saw a yellow car, you had to say ¡Coche amarillo!, and the first one who said it was allowed to give a colleja (untranslatable, a quick slap on the back of the neck) to the rest. We always ended fighting, and drove our parents crazy.

Then there are some other classical games in my country for roadtrips, like "Veo veo" (I see I see [Yup, the name is kinda weird]). In that game you said "Veo veo una cosa que empieza por la letra X" (I see I see one thing starting with the letter X) where X was the first letter of something you had seen and the others had to guess the thing you saw. Then, the one who guessed it was who was next.

I also played these two. However, I did a variation on the first one, as we tried to hit each other's shoulder every time we saw a Mini car.

[1995hoo]

... a Catholic rosary

As opposed to a Jewish or Protestant rosary? 

[roadman]

... a Catholic rosary

As opposed to a Jewish or Protestant rosary? 

Yah, I know - Department of Redundancy Department and all that.  However, I presume there are readers here who are not familiar with the term 'rosary'.

[kphoger]

When I was a kid, I had this one book which had a version of the license plate game where you got points based on the state you were in when you spotted the license plate.  It was higher the farther away the state was.  I think it was always 1 point if the plate you spotted was a neighboring state, so if we were in Wisconsin (which happened a lot when we went between Minnesota and Illinois), we got 1 point each time we saw a Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, or Michigan plate, but there would be a lot more if it was a California plate.  I'm not sure how Canadian provinces were scored, but I think there was points in that, too.  I just wish I knew what happened to that book.

I'm now going to invent my own game based on this idea and have my son play it when we travel.  Thank you.

I'm well underway in making this.  The structure is all there; I just have a little more data input to do.  This is in advance of a family vacation to Colorado and Utah we've planned for next year.  Here's how I've developed it:



This includes all US states (plus DC), Canadian provinces and territories, Mexican states (plus DF), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the USVI.  I shall here refer to all of them as 'states' for the sake of simplification.  I rounded down on all figures; that is, 6,720,401 became 6 million, and 1665 miles became 1600 miles.

Distance

For Canada and México, distances are based on the most populous city in each state.  For the USA, distances are based on the most populous city in the most populous county in each state.  These are calculated as from the state you spot the license plate in, using the primary routing on Google Maps.  I'm using Wichita as the reference point in Kansas (because that's where we live), Denver for Colorado, and Moab for Utah (because that's our general destination there); reference points would likely change for each trip.

States less than 300 miles away = 1 point
States between 300 and 600 miles away = 2 points
States between 600 and 900 miles away = 3 points
[continue pattern]
States between 3000 and 3300 miles away = 11 points
States between 3300 and 3600 miles away = 12 points

Because you cannot drive to or from the following states, I assigned a flat number of points to them; these would be adjusted for travelling closer to the coast, but they suffice for this neck of the woods.  They are intended to represent how far away they are from the coast.

Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands = 3 points
Nunavut = 4 points

Shipping bonus

In addition to the points assigned above, states from which a driver must ship his vehicle by air or sea also receive bonus points based on the cost of doing so.

Hawaii = 12 bonus points
Puerto Rico & Nunavut = 13 points
Virgin Islands = 14 points
Guam = 16 points

Population bonus

It's more exciting to spot a plate from a small state than a large one, because you don't see them as often.  For example, in Cleveland it's still more exciting to spot Rhode Island than Texas.

State pop. greater than 9 million = no bonus
State pop. between 6 million and 9 million = 1 bonus point
State pop. between 3 million and 6 million = 2 bonus points
State pop. between 250,000 and 3 million = 3 bonus points
State pop. less than 250,000 = 4 bonus points

Border bonus

Crossing a border is a hassle and therefore deters people from driving internationally.  Some borders are more of a hassle than others.

Most of the USA - no bonus
Alaska - 1 bonus point
US Territories - 4 bonus points
Canada - 5 bonus points
México - 12 bonus points



I might tweak it here and there, but this seems good so far.  Examples:

Texas, spotted in Kansas = 1 point
Texas, spotted in Colorado = 3 points
Illinois, spotted in Kansas = 2 points
Illinois, spotted in Colorado = 3 points
New York, spotted in Kansas = 4 points
Delaware, spotted in Kansas = 7 points
New Hampshire, spotted in Colorado = 9 points
Alaska, spotted in Kansas = 15 points (although they are surprisingly common here)
Hawaii, spotted in either state = 17 points

Manitoba, spotted in Kansas = 10 points
Ontario, spotted in Kansas = 8 points
Prince Edward Island, spotted in Kansas = 16 points
Northwest Territories, spotted in Kansas = 16 points
Nunavut, spotted in either state = 25 points (shipping is no piece of cake)

Chihuahua, spotted in Colorado = 15 points
Jalisco, spotted in Kansas = 17 points
Quintana Roo, spotted in Kansas = 22 points (and I've spotted this one here, too)

Puerto Rico, spotted in either state = 21 points
Guam, spotted in either state = 26 points

[paulthemapguy]

Also, we blurted out stupid parody lyrics to songs that were on the radio. The line in the Madonna song that said "She's trouble" became "She bubbled."

I also have a huge affection toward intentionally botching radio song lyrics.

When taking a road trip with my friends, ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" became "I've got the runs."

Let me explain.

"I TOLD YOU BEFORE
THAT WHEN I SHIT ON THE FLOOR
I've got the runs."

[US 81]

Kphoger, may we play your game? Looks fun.

We can be your betas...

[GaryV]

State pop. less than 250,000 = 4 bonus points

So none?  Or were you considering territories and PEI here too?

[kphoger]

State pop. less than 250,000 = 4 bonus points

So none?  Or were you considering territories and PEI here too?

Answered in the same post. Not that anyone can blame you for missing something in that mile-long post.

This includes all US states (plus DC), Canadian provinces and territories, Mexican states (plus DF), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the USVI.  I shall here refer to all of them as 'states' for the sake of simplification.

[inkyatari]

Not so much games, as activities, but we always stocked up on fun pads, and those Yes & Know books with the invisible ink pen.