Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Staying Awake

So I'm just curious what other road trippers do to stay awake on those long stretches between activities and accommodations, those stretches of road that are rather devoid of interesting things to look at or the ones that just can't hold your attention after a long day of seeing the sights.

I've found that eating sunflower seeds helps out a lot, especially the flavored ones (hot or bbq are my go-to's, but be sure to have a "wet wipe" or something to clean the seasoning off your fingers or else you could end up with funny colored stains on your duds). The act of getting the seed out of the shell and the necessary crunching seems to get my face involved and keep my eye lids open.

Another favorite is peppered beef jerky, I'm pretty partial to the Jack Links brand on that. They pepper theirs up to the point it becomes a bit spicy, which then forces me to start downing beverage...preferably something caffeinated, my choice being Dr. Pepper usually.

My strategy for an overnight drive from Tuscaloosa, AL to Oklahoma City, OK was pretty simple. Stop at the next stop at the top of the hour, whether I needed gas or bathroom or not, and run a few laps around the car in the parking lot or rest area. I was also hitting the aforementioned Dr. Pepper pretty hard that evening, but I'm still alive to tell the tale.

Let me know what other strategies you have for those long stretches.

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