One of the best parts about road trips are all the snacks and treats you are totally validated in eating because you are on the road. Plus all the fast food stops you are bound to make along the way. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned a great way to save money on a trip is packing a picnic or stocking up on all your favorite snacks before you hit the road. This can save you quite a bundle as convenience store prices can sometimes double the price you pay at a grocery store. Plus you have the ability to pack along some healthy snacks as well.

Another awesome part of road trips are the games you play. The license plate game is a favorite, but also twenty questions, mad libs, and who could forget slug bug? It’s just enough fun to drive you crazy! I also like the notion of letting every passenger choose a random stop along your journey. You are bound to wind up at some random locations and see some cheesy touristy things along the way.

To celebrate Unofficial Road Trip Week I wanted to do my first ever giveaway on this blog. Memorial Weekend is coming up rapidly and I’m sure some of your plans include a road trip. I wanted to give away some of my favorite road trip treats to one lucky reader to enjoy. The giveaway includes: a bottle of Coke and Dr. Pepper, licorice, honey roasted peanuts, chocolate covered pretzels, two cans of Pringles, ranch sunflower seeds, and shocktarts and sweetarts (to help you stay awake). If you are interested in entering for a chance to win this fabulous giveaway leave a comment either with your future road trip plans, why you deserve this giveaway, or why you love this blog and your favorite post. I promise winners will be chosen fairly! I plan on picking a winner this Thursday morning (my birthday) so stay tuned!

How quickly can a rocking road trip become a complete nightmare? A blink of the eye it seems. While there is no way to prepare for every situation and sometimes things are unavoidable but there are a few things you can do to keep the trek from coming to a screeching halt.

I’m no mechanic by any means and I’m not the best person to get advice from when dealing with cars (hence this is a travel blog not an auto blog) but I did live 10 hours away from my school so any journey home involved a lengthy road trip. Some of these tips are unfortunately from personal experience.

*Bring a spare car key- who hasn’t locked their key into their car at a remote rest stop in the middle of nowhere? And keep it somewhere accessible because nothing is worse than locking BOTH keys into your car.

*Get your oil changed and fluids checked before you leave- peace of mind is worth a lot.

*Make sure your tires are in good condition and have proper amounts of air- hopefully you do this anyways.

*Make sure you have a spare tire and your jack is in working condition- we found out way too late that my jack had rusted over.

*If you have an older car bring extra water and coolant- arghh can we say Las Vegas in July? Happened to me twice.

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In honor of this being unofficial Road Trip Week- I have pulled together some of the 10 best places to road trip to across this fantastic country of ours. Of course this is personal opinion and opinion gathered from others, so this is by no means a comprehensive list. Just a list of awesome locations that people from all over the world visit each year.

Grand Canyon: Of course the quintessential Grand Canyon trip that must be done in every American’s lifetime. Since the closest airport is a few hours away from this natural wonder- it must be done by car and most preferably an RV. Riding burrows down the canyon is also a long standing tradition that musn’t be missed.

Yellowstone: Who doesn’t ride in a car for hours to see Old Faithful erupt in a big mass of watery awesomeness? Yellowstone (not to be confused with Jellystone) is the perfect place to encounter wildlife, camp, hike to waterfalls, and enjoy nature at all it’s finest. Just don’t forget to stop by the stink pots.

Mount Rushmore: A big rock carved into heads of the founding fathers of our country? Who can pass on such a wonder? Located in beautiful South Dakota, Mount Rushmore stands as a tribute to Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and T. Roosevelt, but there is much more to this park then carved mountains- there are many different species of beautiful wildflowers to look at along the path.

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Sometimes living in Utah we tend to overlook the mountains of our great state. While people from around the world flocking here to get a taste of our fresh Utah powder, we’re complaining about all the snow we have to shovel off of our driveways.

I have a friend from out of state that happens to be one of those flocking to Utah. Actually, the highlight of his year is his annual trip to the Wasatch Front. So naturally when he came into town a few weekends ago our plans were centralized around the mountains, more specifically, Solitude Mountain Resort. Solitude is a local favorite that prides itself with short lift lines and plenty of terrain to enjoy. 

After taking some warm up runs on freshly groomed, wide open trails, we headed to the more adventurous edge of the resort and found some hidden powder stashes left untouched from the previous week’s storm. The snow was great, the staff was super friendly, and due to a bad fall by my friend, we found out first hand that the ski patrol and on mountain clinic were great too.

Solitude truly has a wide selection of terrain and although the mountain has plenty of runs that suit the beginner or intermediate skier, it has some steeps that are sure to give even most advanced skiers an extra dose of adrenaline. If the in-bounds terrain isn’t enough of a challenge, Solitude offers a program called Backtracks, a guided tour that takes you out of the resort’s boundaries and into the untouched Wasatch back country.

Seriously, the hype that surrounds utah and it’s claim to the greatest snow on earth is true. Visit www.skiutah.com to schedule your trip and check out Solitude and Utah’s 12 other world class ski resorts.