Friday, July 3, 2009

road trip observations

great job Gina and Melissa in getting Illinois correct yesterday!

We enjoyed a wonderful visit and some great barbecue with our friends Jenny & Scott.

Now, onto some road trip observations:


Before this trip my opinion was that I didn't really like to stop at rest areas for bathroom stops.
I'm picky about a clean bathroom, I'll admit.

My top choice was to have bathroom breaks coincide with antique store sightings. Why not, right? I could take a spin through and see if anything caught my eye, use a bathroom hidden away in some back corner after going through a maze to find it. Why once there was even merchandise in the bathroom just waiting to be bought and I might not have even found those treasures! AND it was all half price!

Anyway, I am digressing.

We didn't have time for leisurely shopping/bathroom breaks on this trip. We had many miles to go.

We ended up stopping at many roadside rest areas in lots of different states and I must admit they are better than I remember. Some of them were very, very nice. What a great surprise. I don't remember them having soap before but they sure did. Many of them are indoors now and not open air and there is air-conditioning! I had to take a picture of the one above with those butter yellow hand dryers and the vintage looking green tile floors. :) Have you ever seen colored hand dryers? I haven't. Only white or black or silver.

Also, a big hooray goes to Wendy's. We stopped there one day and in their bathroom they had installed something on the door called a "step and pull". At the bottom of the door there is a simple little ledge. You put your foot on it and use it to open the door instead of having to touch the door handle with your hands or try to open it using a wad of paper towels, etc. Genius!

Have you seen any "step and pulls"?

Where do you like to stop on road trips?

Kelly

p.s. One other fun fact: There is an iphone app that will tell you how far till the next rest area, where it is and what amenities it has. Pretty neat.

edited to add: you know what my smart and observant grandma just pointed out?

There is a hand dryer next to nearly every sink. I hadn't noticed before she mentioned it. No more dripping wet hands across the bathroom floor and then having to do the "shuffle by the other people who are waiting to use a stall/sink/only dryer". Yea for this rest stop! Way to go guys. Kelly

5 comments:

Tiffany said...

Rudy's has the step and pull. My dad just about won't use a bathroom that doesn't have them or he waits until someone else opens the door. Or so he says.

Vanessa {Bloom Right Here!} said...

Step and pull! I've not seen one, but what a great idea. I can't think of the name right now, but there is a website that lists good and bad bathroom stops all over the U.S. Actually, I think it is worldwide. Wish I could remember the name.

The Chatty Housewife said...

The first thing I noticed was the high amount of hand dryers in the bathroom, usually there is just one and everyone either stands in line or wipes their hands on their pants and leaves! I love that you take photos of bathrooms, I do the same! Once I saw some really cool guys and girls door labels, the man was in a suit and the woman was in a fancy dress.

M.L. @ The House of Whimsy said...

So funny...you could get a group of women to go off all day discussing public restroom. A love-hate relationship.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment about my mom's big transition. All went smoother than expected. I have a lot to be grateful for.

jamie said...

Great post! I can't wait to tell my husband about it. He brags about being able to go into a public restroom and not touch anything with his bare hands. He would love the step and pull! So funny!