Rest Areas – Closed
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I drove to Tucson, Arizona, to be with my family. It’s about an eight-hour drive (500 miles), with about half of that distance in the state of California and half in the state of Arizona. We traveled along the freeway for most of the trip, and we noticed one thing: Many of the rest areas were closed.
A rest area (also called a rest stop or service area) is an area next to a freeway or highway that has, at the very least, restrooms and drinking fountains. Some rest areas are a little more elaborate (fancy; with more things), with such things as grassy (with grass) areas around the buildings where children can play, picnic tables (long tables with benches attached used for outdoor eating), and vending machines (machines you put money into to buy snack food or drinks). These basic rest areas are a public service maintained by the government. With the current bad economy, however, many states are temporarily closing many of their rest areas to save money.
That’s not to say that there is no place to stop on an eight-hour drive to use the restroom–thank goodness! While many rest areas are maintained by the government, many other service areas are formed by a collection of privately owned businesses catering to (designed for) travelers. These service areas include restaurants, gas stations, and even hotels or motels. In fact, I’ve made the drive between Los Angeles and Tucson so many times now that I have a favorite place to stop that’s about half-way (in the middle), a service area in a very small city called Quartzsite, to buy a sandwich, fill up on gas, and of course, to use the restroom.
Rest areas should not be confused with truck stops, which are areas near freeways designed specifically for truckers, men and women who drive large trucks to transport goods from one place to another. These truck stops have restaurants and restrooms, but they also have gas stations with diesel fuel, the gas that most large trucks use, and specially designed fueling bays (areas) for large trucks.
In many movies, the truck stop is depicted (shown) as a seedy (not very nice; shabby) place where small-time (minor) criminals and prostitutes (men or women who sell sex for money) gather. While no doubt some truck stops are better than others, this is not an accurate (correct) picture of current truck stops, which are for the most part relatively modern, clean, and safe areas.
If you plan to take a road trip in the U.S., keep in mind that you may see fewer open rest areas than in previous years, and a little more planning may be needed.
~ Lucy
December 8th, 2009 at 7:37 am
HI, LUCY AND JEFF, I AM 66 YEARS OLD AND I FIND A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO LEARN ENGLISH I KNOW, I KNOW, OLD DOGS DON’T LEARN NEWS TRICK, BUT I TRY. WHEN I FOUND YOU GUYS I STARTED A NEW AGE ON MY LEARNING SKILL YOUR A WONDERFUL TEACHING ENGLISH. AS A TRUCK DRIVER I HAVE MUCH TIME TO LEARN AND HEAR ALL YOUR PODCAST. AND I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE GOOD. WELL I AM A TRUCK DRIVER AND I CAN SAY THAT THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD PLACES TO PARK, BUT IT IS THE SAME THING WHIT GAS STATIONS OR RESTAURANTS, I HAVE NOT SEEN A SIGN IN A TRUCK STOP SAYING “NO PUBLIC RESTROOM OR RESTROOM ONLY FOR COSTUMERS” LIKE IN MANY RESTAURANTS OR GAS STATIONS.
I WANT TO WISH YOU MARRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.
THE BEST DRIVER, VIDAL
December 8th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Well Vidal, never is too late for learning a new language, with practice all is possible and coupled with these two wonderful teachers and the whole esl team be sure you will learn a lot….
Within few months listening every day you will note yr improvement…. many listeners all over the world are live proof of that fact
Rodrigo
Venezuela
December 8th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Dear Lucy, I am sure you do not stop in Quartsite, as there is no such city in the world (or at least in Google). The city you always rest in during your trip to Tucson is probably Quartzsite (just one letter missing but, as I believe, very important one to the citizens of Quartzsite).
[Marcin--Thanks for catching the "typo" (spelling error). We've corrected it in the post.--ESL Podcast Team]
December 8th, 2009 at 10:42 am
HI, LUCY AND JEFF
Hi, every body
I would like to mention that you can read the script of the podcasts on your pc if you just downloaded the audio file
How ? well, you have to use windows media player to play the audio file , then go to play menu , move your cursor down to ” captions and subtitles” , check ” on if available ” then you can read the script .
good luck.
Rabea ali
Ashmoun
Egypt .
December 8th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Thank you for interesting information again, Jeff and Lucy
December 8th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panamá, EE.UU. and U.K……the countries where it is used the miles, pounds, foot, yards, and so on.
Sorry Lucy, why don´t you translate to km., m. or Kg., when you teach us ?.. ….(500 miles – 804,65 km.)
Yes, I know is just the custom but we are not accustomed to it and we have to see the equivalent always, and if talking we are lost…….
Be in mind that we are majority, I am sorry but you are out of fashion using that kind of measurements when all the rest of
the world use the decimal system.
Let me protest you just a little, as some time ago I have protested to Jeff also, and now is your turn.
Dear Lucy, despite my protest your post is nice and interesting as always.
It shows us the Big Crisis all over the world.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Now going on with the matter, The Crisis, it has to bee sad to see there are not the rest areas you were used to see, and not having them may be
even dangerous to ride so many long distances if you don´t want to spend your money in the private areas.
I have not car, so I can´t see what is happening here in Spain, but it is possible that more or less the same that in your country as we have less
money, and every month less and less.
The City Halls of the little or big cities do not pay their public work invoices to the companies that have done the works they asked for, there is not money for anything and even less to pay what is debt to others.
So, these little companies are going to bankrupt because they have not the money of the works they have done already to the City Halls, Autonomie
Governments and so on.
A disaster by all means.
Sorry Lucy about my first commentary, I was just creating some controversy as always I did.
To us, not british family, all these measurements are so odd……
Regards. emiliano
December 8th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thanks For the heads-up Lucy,
I like the fill up on gas part .I always say :fill up my tank. I like your saying better Lucy. Starting tomorrow ,I Will definitely replace it with your way of saying it.
If I may ,
I wanna throw in some extra piece to your meticulous posting about rest stops. Rest stops sometimes are referred to as pit stops.
Speaking of which,what is the plan for the holiday season Lucy? Eslpod is taking a breather or keep going on the success streak ( good one,isn’t it).
December 8th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
We are approaching the holiday season.
I can believe it a decade is already past. Holy cow,Time flies;it is brutal .It really is!
Can you believe it guys, we have been with Lucy and Jeff almost half a decade.
Jeff and Lucy ,
We haven’t met, so basically we are not friends ,not even nodding acquaintances . So ,just explain this strong feelings I feel about you
Blog mates ,
It is just me ,or everybody feels totally attached to Jeff and Lucy?
It is unbelievable, you have been on for 5 years and never dropped the ball even once.
Who are you people?
Eslpod is so flawless that nobody can call on you Guys. And, I am not exaggerating.you are killing me here!
December 8th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Technically ,we are not friends
December 8th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
hi Ali, thank you for the sharing…. i just tried, it works…thank you very much…: )
I dont know if the rest room/mortel in these rest areas or truck stops is clean in your country (US, Peter in Canada, or Emiliano in Spain or in other friends’ countries) or not? some of ours are dirty i have to say……..especially the rest areas on the way to the country side.
nice day there
December 8th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Another jam pack day with the usuall measery is closeing in,and leaving me with lots of regrets, many hang-ons;and nothing to hold on to.Interestingly enough,I live the measery everyday, and again I fall for it the day after.
December 9th, 2009 at 3:43 am
Kobe when i have a car and travel along spain´s roads, there were not many public rest areas and they don´t have rest rooms at all, you have the
land if you wanted to do a piss, but there were many private rest areas where you may have a cofee, refresh, and what is worst other kinds of
alcoholic drinks. And the rest rooms used to be clean more or less, it depends of the site you were in.
It was nice to drive along small roads and even sometimes you have to cross alond the little or not so little cities, so you need to reduce the speed just
a lot. You may see the lands. mountains, monuments, nearly everything.
Now all is different, you are driving and you don´t see anything, a wide road (autopista) that don´t cross through nothing and from time to time a big private rest area where you have to pay for nearly everything.
Traveling by car now may be more sure but it is boring as you don´t see the fields. Road and road, driving faster than before and wanting to get the point as soon as possible.
Now I have not a car and I don´t want any despite I may have thousands of euros. I fact I have a driving licence from the year 1965 but I didn´t
renew it again as I have not in mind to drive any more. Boring and difficult to me, if I was a millionaire I would have a private driver if I wanted some
car, but I don´t think I would be so in the next future.
Peter, I know what you mean perfectly well.
Jeff and Lucy are in fact friends to me. I am a retire man being at home all day frecuently.
So when I discover ESL more than four years ago it changed my life till this moment, all my daughters listen to them now just because of me. Some of my friends too.
You may imagine all of us talking about them when we are in family, so they are part of this family too, very real by all ways. And they are part of my daily life every moment, listening them, writing, or thinking which is the next post I´m going to write.
The blogers are like a nice club of friends, real friends to me as my real life is this, at home, not outdoors in the strange city that Madrid is
now. Being outdoors I feel like a stranger to this my city, so big, so full of busy people and doing always works in the roads.
Thinking now that I have to buy things for the house and feeling I would like to remain indoors, that´s my way of living.
Nothing best that being home with my dear friends.
So long.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Yesterday, we were damned with a freezing rain,and today we are blessed with a snow storm,and tomorrow perhaps we will be deligted with a blizzard,what a life!
Well, it is the nature’s way of balancing itself out. Just imagine, in this dismal, gloomy day ,some must roll out of bed and head out for work.such a delight!
Who once said?
The struggle itself towards the height is enough to fill a man’s heart,such a baloney!
Angelinos,you don’t know how good you have it ; you get through the winter with no hardship and pain.in all fairness, Jeff you paid your dues ,but Lucy , I highly doubt it!
Well, some people have all the luck!
Hey, no jealousy , just envy( LoL)
Just joking
It is all well that ends well
December 9th, 2009 at 5:19 am
Here , in Canada,
All the pit stops ,at Least across Ontario that I have been to, are spotless.some of them are so clean that when you go use their facilities(polite way of saying washrooms) you don’t want to get out.
They don’t look like the traditional rest stops though; they look like a small plaza( a small mall-like but outdoor not indoor ;malls are indoor and huge.plazas are very small, in comparison, and outside) . Almost all of them have one TimHorton’s in there ,a place that serves coffe and choclate-based drinks with an assortment of donughts,sandwitches and soup.Timhorton’s is extreamly popular across Canada like Starbucks in the U.S.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Dear Vidal,
No problem with our age. The mos important in our live is the Spirit.
I also am 77 years old and I speak, more or less, seven leguages and I improve them almost every day.
¡ Courage !
I would like to take this opportunity to hop you all MARRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR
José María, España.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Dear Emiliano,
4 years, wow! You have made quiet a history here at Eslpod. I believe you have been with Jeff and Lucy more than anybody else around here.
4 years is realtively a long time. no wnder ,your English is quite well man.Way to go!
Happy that you have the same feeling towards them as I do. I believe we all share the same sense of grattitude and apriciation towards them.
It is not just You my friend , They have changed my life on diferent levels as well.Ligustically speaking,They showed me the error of my ways.
They are good people my friend. Nobody does what they are doing for free.truth to be told,I have been learning the real English through them.
Long story short:
They are the best!
December 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Thank you Ali““i tried it“`it works perfectly as you told! thank you very much for your sharing~““
December 9th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
SORRY, i didnt see my comment show on this page yesterdat and just now, so i upload again… T.T embarrassing….hehe
December 9th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
7 languages? that’s incredible! i wish i could manage another language but whenever i have a thought of that it would also remind me how much more my English wait for me to learn, so i give up this moment….hope one day i can learn a bit Korean or Japanese. i only know how to say goodbye in Korean,,,,haha.
it’s so lovely to hear a voice from Jose Maria, San Sebastian, and VIDAL, imaging you study esl podcast is cute. another great example in life is my grandma, who (reaching her 80s)cant speack English at all, but she insist practing the only English she knew since last year, “one world one dream, welcome to China”, she would ask me over and over again if she forget how to say it““what a lovely group.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Peter, when you say about the spotless facility it just remind me my experience to Xi an province’s “Bing Ma yong”-8 wonder of the world, Terra Cotta Armies Museum few years ago. the facility there is so luxury compare with the poor mumsum. it was a rainning day, my friend and i could see the raindrop was dripping on the body of few terra cotta soldier through a hole on the ceiling of the pit. i know the mumsum is supposed to be old-fasioned, but a hole on the ceiling? i was wondering why didnt they spend more money on fixing the hole but on a facility? or make them both good!
December 10th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Hi,
It is totally irrelevent,
But, I am taking pride in saying that I eventually paid off my student loan. It has been hanging over my head for 3 years. Finally I dig myself out of the hole
During this three years,Sometime I was too hard on myself. But, it was worth it
It is the rule of thumb : you give up some to gain some.
Like learning English, I live to learn English, ergo , sometimes I give up fun to study English.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:29 am
haha, really? hahaha fine!
congratulation for your freedom: )
when you say sometime u are too hard on uself, does that also include not sleep until dawn sometime? hope that is over for you.
there’s not a clue you are not a native English speaker, so i dont even remember where are you from except Canada, no?
i hope you have you fun back now.
December 11th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
To take a car trip in US. That would be something!
But I wonderer if, as a foreign, how I could have license to drive.
There is a specific exam, or my nacional license drive can be used?
Anyone could give a thought?
December 12th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Here in Spain, the truckers like to stop in some areas wich are very special.
And , believe me , their strong point is not the meal………..
These are not maintained by the government (yet).
December 12th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I was in April this year in Tucson to do some sport exercises.
Tucson is very good for riding your bike.
I wanted also swimming a little in this town with over 10 pools.
But only two pools were open, a small one and the YMCA (only for members or 10$ for your entrance)
It’s about the crises they told me. Thats sad.
I hope the crises will be over soon.
Vlad: With my European driver license it was no problem to got a car there.
December 15th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Too bad news. It saddens me not to have a place to stop by and have a drink or go to the bathroom while driving on a freeway.