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[Scott5114]

What type of road we were on would always play a factor.  On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X.  On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.

Heh, even the state would play a factor. In Oklahoma, they screw up and put "JCT" on freeway signs enough.

That was the version we played on Scout trips sometimes. I remember one time getting stuck on J and then realizing that our mirror had the standard "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR" and trying to claim to J in OBJECTS, which caused a huge argument as to whether that was a valid play or not.

[dlsterner]

Even back then I was a budding roadgeek.  I was too busy with my nose pressed against the window, following our travels on my (hand-me-down) maps.  I didn't want to risk missing anything by playing some sort of game.

[frankenroad]

Not a one-person game, but another one we learned from our mother (who had spent a lot of time travelling through Wisconsin), was "Cow Poker".  I 'm curious if anyone else played this, and if the rules were the same.

It worked on 2-lane roads, but was more difficult once we started using the interstate system.  One person takes the left side of the road, and the other the right. 
The rules are as follows:

Establish an end point for the game (a certain time, a certain landmark, or when you make a stop).
You get 1 point for each cow you see.
if you pass a school, add 20 points.
If you pass a church, double your current score.
If you pass a cemetery, go back to 0 (all your cows died).
Whoever has the most points at the end wins.

This kept me and my sister occupied on many a road trip.

[Scott5114]

Geez, around here you'd probably get to five digits pretty quickly.

[kphoger]

What type of road we were on would always play a factor.  On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X.  On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.

Heh, even the state would play a factor. In Oklahoma, they screw up and put "JCT" on freeway signs enough.

That was the version we played on Scout trips sometimes. I remember one time getting stuck on J and then realizing that our mirror had the standard "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR" and trying to claim to J in OBJECTS, which caused a huge argument as to whether that was a valid play or not.

When I was a kid, road signs didn't count.  I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.

[kphoger]

When I was a kid, on road trips our family often played that geography game where one person says a place name and someone else then has to give a place name that starts with its last letter (e.g., I say "Cochrane," you might respond with "Estonia," my brother might then say "Annapolis," etc.). That game would sometimes go on for over an hour.

Another spelling game:

Start with a four- or five-letter word.  The next person comes up with a new word by changing only one of the letters.  And so on.

For example...

bike
bake
bale
bile
bill
till
toll
tall
tail
rail
bail
ball
wall
will
sill
soil
boil
bill  * NOPE, that one was already used! *

[Fredddie]

What type of road we were on would always play a factor.  On a 2-lane highway, you were never far from a J on "JCT' signs or a "Z" on "No Passing Zone," but good luck finding an X.  On a freeway, the X was no problem because it's in "exit" but you'd more rarely see anything with a J in it.

Heh, even the state would play a factor. In Oklahoma, they screw up and put "JCT" on freeway signs enough.

That was the version we played on Scout trips sometimes. I remember one time getting stuck on J and then realizing that our mirror had the standard "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR" and trying to claim to J in OBJECTS, which caused a huge argument as to whether that was a valid play or not.

When I was a kid, road signs didn't count.  I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.

Oh that's too bad. The pennant shaped "No Passing Zones" often came in with clutch Ps and Zs.

[Scott5114]

When I was a kid, road signs didn't count.  I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.

You guys had turns? How civilized. Ours was a free-for-all, where everyone started on A, whoever claimed a letter first got it, and it was first-to-find-a-Z-wins. I think once someone claimed a letter that whole word (or maybe even the whole sign!) was out of play.

[Fredddie]

When I was a kid, road signs didn't count.  I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.

You guys had turns? How civilized. Ours was a free-for-all, where everyone started on A, whoever claimed a letter first got it, and it was first-to-find-a-Z-wins. I think once someone claimed a letter that whole word (or maybe even the whole sign!) was out of play.

With my brother and I, we always work together so there was no ultimate winner or loser.  Present tense because we still play the license plate game and the logo game at sporting events.  That's when you go to a baseball game and try to find every MLB team's logo in the crowd.  Scoreboards don't count.  The best we ever did was in 2020 the day before the panorama shut everything down. Every MLB team except for Miami, plus Brooklyn, NY Giants, and Montreal.

[Roadgeekteen]

When I was a kid, road signs didn't count.  I distinctly remember getting the letter 'X' and then being passed by a vehicle with a Sears X-Cargo box on top shortly after my turn started.

You guys had turns? How civilized. Ours was a free-for-all, where everyone started on A, whoever claimed a letter first got it, and it was first-to-find-a-Z-wins. I think once someone claimed a letter that whole word (or maybe even the whole sign!) was out of play.

With my brother and I, we always work together so there was no ultimate winner or loser.  Present tense because we still play the license plate game and the logo game at sporting events.  That's when you go to a baseball game and try to find every MLB team's logo in the crowd.  Scoreboards don't count.  The best we ever did was in 2020 the day before the panorama shut everything down. Every MLB team except for Miami, plus Brooklyn, NY Giants, and Montreal.

How could a panorama shut the world down? Did it reveal the existence of aliens causing humans to freak out?