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Ah, the joys of the road: new faces, new places, panoramic panoramas and wind in the hair, the freedom to move.
Yes, let's go, or maybe even whatever – as long as we move, let's go somewhere: "Nothing behind me, everything in front of me", as Jack Kerouac described in "On the Road" .
"Sal, we have to go and never stop doing it until we get there." "Where are we going, man?" "I do not know, but we have to go."
And we'll do it – close to 50 million of us, according to the AAA's Thanksgiving travel forecast, spending at least part of our vacation on American roads. This is an increase of 2.5 million, almost 5% from the previous year, and its highest level since 2005.
Some 25 million people will be flying this week, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The agency expects Sunday to be one of the top 10 days in its history.
"Consumers have something to be grateful for this holiday season – higher wages, higher disposable income and growing household wealth," said Bill Sutherland, senior vice president of AAA Travel, in a press release. "This translates to more travelers starting the holiday season with a Thanksgiving getaway, building on a positive year for the travel industry."
College football fans have an additional incentive to hit the road in Washington this week: The annual Apple Cup competition between Washington State University and the University of Washington takes place in Pullman on Friday night.
Attention, however. The Washington State Patrol plans to conduct patrols during the holidays to check who is mean or nice.
Whether you are in a car or a plane, the busiest days of travel are Wednesday and Sunday. Given the congestion, AAA estimates that it would take four times longer than normal to reach a destination, especially for those traveling in or across major metropolitan areas.
Road warriors should see a little respite at the gas pumps: nationally, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped about 25 cents a month last, to reach 2.64 dollars, according to gasbuddy.com.
The decline has not been as pronounced in the Pacific Northwest, which is the most expensive region in the United States. The average price in Washington last week was $ 3.43 a gallon, according to gasbuddy.com. It ranked third in the nation, behind Hawaii and California. Idaho ranked seventh among the most expensive states, with an average price of $ 3.02 per gallon – and prices in north central Idaho were about 20 cents higher than that. .
Regional weather conditions should cooperate early in the week, before rain and / or snow arrives for the weekend.
The National Weather Service's forecasts predict dry, partly sunny conditions in eastern Washington and north-central Idaho until Wednesday, with diurnal temperatures ranging from 30 to 40 years. Areas west of the Cascades may experience wetter conditions as of Tuesday night. This storm front will move gradually in the state; The precipitation probabilities in southeastern Washington and north central Idaho will climb to 40% by Thursday and stay there until the weekend.
In the hope that they will be heading this week, travelers will keep Kerouac's excitement and avoid the pitfalls of John Steinbeck's characters in "Grapes of Wrath":
"The people in the air headed for the American Highway 66, sometimes in a single car, sometimes in a small caravan. All day long, they drove slowly along the road and at night they stopped near the water. During the day, the old radiators fleeing sent columns of steam, rods loosened and hammered. And the men driving the overloaded trucks and cars listened with apprehension. How far between cities? If something breaks – well, if something breaks, we camp here as Jim goes to town and gets some of it back and goes – and how much food do we have? "
Oh yes, the joys of the road.
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