When you pull into a rest stop to refresh, include a 3-5 minute jog or brisk walk.
It helps relieve the stiffness from sitting in the car and gets the blood pumping. It also provides children an opportunity to run and scream.
When you finish, do a quick stretch. Now you can be awake and alert for the road.
[Photo: Flickr | MikeBaird]
Like Virginia, Georgia is also closing rest stops. The number of closings is not as dramatic as Virginia’s almost half. In Georgia only two are to be closed so far, but they do point to another problem besides budget woes–safety.
Two rest stops on I-85 in Georgia are being closed because of the increased activity in vandalism and drug use at them, particularly at night and on weekends. According to this article in independent mail.com, it’s too hard to maintain these two rest stops to make them safe for motorists.
Considering that rest stops were made to make travel safe for motorists, an unsafe rest stop does not make a lot of sense.
The article also points out what I surmised earlier in the post about the closings in Virginia. The need for rest stops is diminishing because of the number of commercial establishments for people to find a toilet and food elsewhere. The rest stop closings are just another indication of how travel is changing.