We have curated some adventurous additions for your Road Trip Day!

Someone decided to commemorate our national love affair with road trips. Pilot Flying J, the largest operator of travel centers in North America, has named the Friday of Memorial Day weekend National Road Trip Day. The company also has the numbers to prove why we need National Road Trip Day.

With the start of summer vacation season only a few weeks away, maybe it’s helpful to remember why Americans take road trips — and to reflect on how popular this American vacation has become.

So WHAT can you do today, exactly?

Decor & Food

  • Use simple decorations of a large road map, toy cars, or globes. 
  • For food, of course, it must be snacks!  Fruit cups, carrot sticks, pretzels, and anything simple will serve the purpose.
  • Have a survey of the best road trip snacks and serve those on carts to your residents – you can find our cart decoration signs here!

Games

Spend an afternoon playing games you would play if you were on a road trip.  Play these oldies but goodies like:

  • I Spy
  • Connect the Dots
  • Mazes
  • Tic Tac Toe

And…. Maybe a few new ones like these…..

21 Questions

Guess what a person is thinking in 21 questions

The Rules:

  • Someone thinks of something
  • Then the car begins by asking questions
  • You can’t repeat a question that has been asked
  • Whoever guesses it right gets to start the next round

The Singing Game

Connect song lyrics for a fun sing-along game

The Rules:

  • One person starts singing a song
  • Using a lyric from the song, the next person has to connect it with another song
  • It continues on until somebody messes up the lyrics or is stumped

Example:

  • “You’re a grand old…”
  • “…out where the skies are so blue…”
  • “Well, I’m runnin’ down the road tryin’ to loosen my load…”

The Movie Game

Connect actors through movies they have starred in

The Rules:

  • The game starts with an actor/actress
  • The next person has to say a movie that they were in
  • The following person has to state another actor/actress from that movie
  • It continues on
  • If someone is incorrect, they have to sit out the next round

Example:

  • Clint Eastwood – Unforgiven >
  • Morgan Freeman – Shawshank Redemption, etc.

Fortunately Unfortunately

Making a fortunate situation out of an unfortunate situation

The Rules:

  • One person starts by saying “Fortunately” and mentioning something fortunate
  • The next person has to follow by saying something unfortunate about the previous situation
  • Move clockwise around the car switching between fortunate and unfortunate situations
  • If somebody stumbles, they get a strike. Three strikes and you’re out.
  • Last man standing wins.

Example:

  • Fortunately, this will be my first time seeing the Grand Canyon
  • Unfortunately, it was invaded by Martians just last week
  • Fortunately, I just finished my course in extraterrestrial communications, etc.

The Alphabet Categories

The Rules:

  • • You start with a category like food, bands, cars, etc.
  • • You start with A and travel down the alphabet
  • • You can get as specific with your categories as you want

The Name Game

Connect first and last names of famous people

The rules:

  • Start with the name of anyone famous (besides yourself, duh…)
  • The next person has to say a person whose first name starts with the letter of the previous last name
  • If somebody mentions a person where both the first and last name start with the same letter, the game reverses in order (e.g., Bob Barker, Lindsay Lohan, Mandy Moore, etc.)

Examples:

  • Tom Brady
  • Billy Joel
  • Janet Jackson (reverse!)
  • John Oliver, etc.

Conversation Starters for your 1-on-1s

Ask questions as if you were stuck in a car for hours! These are great for conversations, or writing prompts! (You can even send written answers into the Resident Tales and have your residents see their writing in print!)

  • If you could be the leading expert in something, what would it be?
  • Who are the top 3 people who have influenced your life?
  • What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?
  • What is one talent or skill that you wish you had?
  • What’s your funniest drunk memory?
  • Who’s the most famous person you’ve ever met?
  • Which instrument speaks to your soul the most?
  • What’s your favorite place in the world?
  • How many bones have you broken?
  • What time period would you like to take a time machine to and observe for yourself?
  • Have you ever gone skinny dipping?
  • What are your three favorite movies?
  • Have you ever broken the law?
  • If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?
  • What has been your favorite travel experience?

Famous Road Trips throughout the U.S.

https://www.roadtripusa.com/  GREAT MAP!

Ever dreamed of jumping in a Volkswagon and cruising down the Pacific coast highway and looking over the cliffs?  What about driving through the winding curving highways of the Great Smokey Mountains?  Well, we have put together lots of items to take your residents virtually on road trips, museums, and….

Pacific Coast Highway

Starting at the northwest tip of the United States at Washington’s Olympic National Park and remaining within sight of the ocean all the way south to sunny San Diego, this 1,650-mile, mostly two-lane road trip takes in everything from temperate rainforest to near-desert.

California Coast – via Pacific Coast Hwy. & 101

Historic Route 66

The romance of traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles along historic Route 66 continues to captivate people around the world. If you’re looking for great displays of neon signs, rusty middle-of-nowhere truck stops, or kitschy Americana, do as the song says and “get your kicks on Route 66.”

Route 66 Road Trip: 14 Days Driving the Main Street of America

ROUTE 66 ROAD TRIP (driving 2,500 miles across America)

The Loneliest Road

Running coast-to-coast from San Francisco to Ocean City, Maryland, “The Loneliest Road in America” is a 3,200-mile odyssey from sea to shining sea. US-50 passes through a dozen different states, four state capitals, and the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C

Loneliest Road in America Road Trip: 3 Days Driving Highway 50 Through Nevada

The Loneliest Road in America: U.S. Route 50 in Nevada

The Oregon Trail

Following in the footsteps of pilgrims and pioneers, US‑20 takes in a little of everything during its two-lane trek from Oregon’s rugged coast to the glorious sea and sand of Cape Cod.

Driving The Historic Oregon Trail Part 1

The Great Northern

Dubbed the Great Northern in memory of the pioneer railroad that parallels the western half of the route, US‑2 is truly the most stunning and unforgettable, not to mention longest, of all the great transcontinental road trips.

US Highway 2 — “End-to-End”

The Blue Ridge Parkway

No Destination / Driving The Entire Blue Ridge Parkway

Skyline Drive & the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Great River Road

The Great River Road

Mississippi Great River Road trip

Atlantic Coast Highway

Driving down the Atlantic Road in 4K! (World’s most beautiful road?)

USA East Coast Road Trip – Maine to the Florida Keys & Key West – 4,700 Miles of US1

Movies & TV Shows to Watch

  • Easy Rider (1969) R, Adventure, Drama
  • Almost Famous (2000) R, Adventure, Comedy, Drama
  • The Blues Brothers (1980) R, Action, Adventure, Comedy
  • Into the Wild (2007) R, Adventure, Biography, Drama
  • It Happened One Night (1934) Comedy, Romance
  • Little Miss Sunshine (2006) R, Comedy, Drama
  • National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) R, Adventure, Comedy
  • Over the Top (1987) PG Action, Drama, Sport
  • Smokey and the Bandit (1977) PG, Action, Adventure, Comedy
  • The Straight Story (1999) G Biography, Drama
  • Tommy Boy (1995) PG-13 Adventure, Comedy

Top Songs for Your Playlist

  • On The Road Again, Willie Nelson
  • Little Red Corvette, Prince
  • Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
  • Born to be Wild, Steppenwolf
  • I’ve Been Everywhere, Johnny Cash
  • Life is a Highway, Tom Cochrane
  • Roadtrip, Dream
  • Send Me On My Way, Rusted Root
  • Ramblin’ Man, The Allman Brothers Band
  • Road to Nowhere, Talking Heads
  • Everyday Is a Winding Road, Sheryl Crow
  • Route 66, Chuck Berry
  • Day Tripper, The Beatles
  • I Drove All Night, Cyndi Lauper
  • King of the Road, Roger Miller
  • Hit the Road Jack, Ray Charles
  • Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
  • I Love a Rainy Night, Eddie Rabbitt
  • Truckin’, The Grateful Dead
  • “Graceland”, Paul Simon
  • “Take It Easy” , the Eagles

Our Printable Activities for National Road Trip Day