Roadtripping in this time...potty breaks?

polynor

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 21, 2007
Anyone driving from Texas recently? Were the rest areas open? Or are gas stations open for bathroom stops (ew, but gotta go...)? Where we're at, the fast food places aren't open for in person, so stopping at a McD for drive through, ok, but potty no...
Other thoughts, some exits with Walmart and Targets in Louisiana along I-10. But I recall Florida panhandle, being pretty absent of places along I-10...
 
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, all of the rest areas along I 10 are open. https://www.fdot.gov/maintenance/rest-area-app/restareainfo.shtm. We come from Texas too, and Louisiana is the problem area for sure! However there are plenty of large gas stations and truckstops that are crowded enough for you to park and use the restrooms without feeling compelled to spend money there. :o There are rest areas in Mississippi & Alabama but AL is narrow enough that we can get to Florida before we need to stop.

ETA You can PM me if you’d like to know our most common stops. Most if not all of the gas stations we use are quite new and clean. PS did you know there’s a new Buc-ee’s near Mobile too? https://buc-ees.com/locations/.
 
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The texas rest stops are open, not sure what route you are taking.. I live off i20 near the Louisiana border. I still prefer to go to Loves truck stops over the rest stops, they are constantly cleaning not sure how often the rest stops are cleaned because they are unattended.
We are flying this time because is so so cheap to fly out of DFW i paid 198.00 for 4 people on American my gas was more than that.
 
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, all of the rest areas along I 10 are open. https://www.fdot.gov/maintenance/rest-area-app/restareainfo.shtm. We come from Texas too, and Louisiana is the problem area for sure! However there are plenty of large gas stations and truckstops that are crowded enough for you to park and use the restrooms without feeling compelled to spend money there. :o There are rest areas in Mississippi & Alabama but AL is narrow enough that we can get to Florida before we need to stop.

ETA You can PM me if you’d like to know our most common stops. Most if not all of the gas stations we use are quite new and clean. PS did you know there’s a new Buc-ee’s near Mobile too? https://buc-ees.com/locations/.
Thanks! If we’re lucky, we’ll time things with Buc-ee’s. That would just encourage us to buy lots of slushees and need to find another bathroom though :)

it looks like there are enough rest areas open in Florida to get us through. We used to live in La that driving through we‘re pretty familiar with most of the stops (before kids, we made it a goal to stop at all the exits between houston and baton rouge and pick up what ever local thing they were selling, preferably, boudin balls), just hoping they’ll be open!
 


Thanks! If we’re lucky, we’ll time things with Buc-ee’s. That would just encourage us to buy lots of slushees and need to find another bathroom though :)

it looks like there are enough rest areas open in Florida to get us through. We used to live in La that driving through we‘re pretty familiar with most of the stops (before kids, we made it a goal to stop at all the exits between houston and baton rouge and pick up what ever local thing they were selling, preferably, boudin balls), just hoping they’ll be open!
Ha.. we had to stop stopping at bucees because my DH wants quick stops and we would be wondering around in ahhh. Have fun please be carefull here in East Texas people do not take covid very seriously should be a little better as you get to the Houston area they were hit harder.
 
In Florida, most restaurants are open at 50% capacity. Though a few stayed closed. Fast food places may only have drive through open and/or limiting counter order to to-go.

Face mask policy is hit or miss. Based on County and City decisions.
 
We just got done traveling from Oklahoma through Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio. Finding rest stops was interesting. A ton in OH and Indiana but in Missouri and Oklahoma is was interesting. We found Dunkin Donuts bathrooms were open, some mcds weren't, starbucks was open inside but bathrooms were closed. Wendy's wasn't open inside. We started stopping at nicer gas stations like Loves gas stations. Some of those were nicer than the rest stops honestly. I'd say if u see rest stops and its been a while, then stop anyway. lol. We wore our face masks and carried small personal bottles of hand sanitizer with us when we stopped so we could sanitize right after we were out of the store.
 


Truck stops are your best friend. I drove from WI to OH twice in the last month and only had good experiences at truck stops, rest areas were hit or miss.
 
Hello to all,
We are thinking of possibly driving from DFW to the World. We always stop after driving 10-12 hours max in one day, we stay in a hotel, rest and take a shower so the next day we arrive refreshed after driving a few more hours. We have been flying for the last few years, so we haven't done this recently.
This time with the pandemic, we are really struggling with that idea and wonder if it would be safer to rest in a a safe rest area for 4-5 hours and then continue. We don't like driving at night. It will be us, and our adult DD and DS.

Any suggestion where it would safe to spend the night in a hotel and /or, rest area?
Thank you
 
Hello to all,
We are thinking of possibly driving from DFW to the World. We always stop after driving 10-12 hours max in one day, we stay in a hotel, rest and take a shower so the next day we arrive refreshed after driving a few more hours. We have been flying for the last few years, so we haven't done this recently.
This time with the pandemic, we are really struggling with that idea and wonder if it would be safer to rest in a a safe rest area for 4-5 hours and then continue. We don't like driving at night. It will be us, and our adult DD and DS.

Any suggestion where it would safe to spend the night in a hotel and /or, rest area?
Thank you
All the hotel chains whose affinity programs we belong to have sent us multiple emails listing the anti-COVID-19 measures they’ve implemented. So I wouldn’t have any more concerns about staying in one of them than about staying in a Disney resort, since the stated measures are only as good as the local workers who actually perform them. We drive from Texas as well and will plan to stay one night in a hotel along the way. I wouldn’t expect to rest nearly as well in my car at a rest stop, no matter what security measures they have in place.
 
All the hotel chains whose affinity programs we belong to have sent us multiple emails listing the anti-COVID-19 measures they’ve implemented. So I wouldn’t have any more concerns about staying in one of them than about staying in a Disney resort, since the stated measures are only as good as the local workers who actually perform them. We drive from Texas as well and will plan to stay one night in a hotel along the way. I wouldn’t expect to rest nearly as well in my car at a rest stop, no matter what security measures they have in place.


I'll second your answer.

Since the July 4th weekend, I've stayed in hotels twice with no problems or concerns. All rooms undergo deep cleanings between stays.

A few points though.

1) Lobby areas will be closed. So you can't all gather in the lobby for a social hour. When you check in and out, there's a plexiglass barrier between you and the clerk.

2) For the most part, free breakfast buffets are gone.

3) Try to get a room on the bottom floor. Or one close to the bottom. They are limiting the number of persons allowed on the elevator at one time. Usually one family at a time.
 
This time with the pandemic, we are really struggling with that idea and wonder if it would be safer to rest in a a safe rest area for 4-5 hours and then continue. We don't like driving at night. It will be us, and our adult DD and DS.
We've driven to and from Florida in June from MO; Have gone on 10 day roadtrip through Iowa to Black Hills of South Dakota in early July-No where did I feel "unsafe"; however there are some differences in the chains. Hamptons are generally good, some better than others, same with Hiltons, Homewood suites was the best of these, with Marriott chain the best of all. Getting ready to drive the kiddo back to Florida for college in a few days.
I wouldn’t expect to rest nearly as well in my car at a rest stop, no matter what security measures they have in place.
This this this! No way would I feel "safer" doing that!

If you are driving though-consider bringing your own pillow and fresh cases. Pillows always grossed me out even pre-pandemic! However - at least in June- the Marriott resort we stayed at the HK was doing complete 100% changeovers-from duvets, to pillows, to dishware (we were in a MVC villa at the time).
3) Try to get a room on the bottom floor. Or one close to the bottom. They are limiting the number of persons allowed on the elevator at one time. Usually one family at a time.
This or use the stairs, especially if open air. Personally I prefer top floors so I don't have anyone stomping above me, but I am able to use the stairs
Good point on the breakfast thing though-sometimes the people waiting for the "free" breakfast just wasn't worth getting in the "crowd" (talking 4-5 peeps max but...) It was worth more to me to skip the bagged food and just grab a McD's breakfast sandwich or bring stuff with us. When more than 3 of us travel I tend to book suite style hotels
 
Thank you all for the response and tips!
Good to know that we can stop to rest like before. We will definitely take our own pillows and a bunch of Lyson and disinfectant wipes, plus gloves and masks.
 
As much as we like Buccees & love their bathrooms- don’t stop there unless you’re comfortable with being surrounded by literally hundreds of people with no social distancing. We just traveled to Watercolor from Texas & made the mistake of taking a bathroom break there. The bathrooms were still clean though!
 
OP here, figure I’d report back on what we ended up doing. We live in a north houston suburb. i prepped sandwiches, snacks, fruit, drinks, etc.
thanks to disboarders here, we were able to check rest areas etc.

630am (CDT) left houston, arrived in Lake City at 920pm (EDT). Took 2 stop for gas (Baton Rouge and somewhere in Florida), three biobreaks at rest stations, and a slight detour at lake city to pick up take out food (weird tradition the kids like chinese take out in the hotel room when we travel). We didn’t stop to picnic lunch, just ate in the car to keep going. It was also intermitttently raining hard during the drive. didn’t do bio breaks at the gas stations (we have smaller kids that would touch things). We also didn’t stop at Bucees because we thought they would be packed...(and we would have definitely bought slushees).

we also don’t like driving at night - a stop at night to just rest, decompress and shower is great. My DH records every little detail and doing an after vacation review, we think this plan is repeatable and will do this for future trips. Our other potential stopping point was tallahassee if we were making poor timing.
on the way home, we left the park late at 3pm and ended up staying at Pensacola. If we left at 1pm we would have done Mobile, AL and then have only 7.5 hrs to drive.

stayed in the Hampton suites in lake city. Hilton is putting “stickers” to seal the doors. Things were pretty clean, but you can always bring wipes to double down. The free breakfast was pickup and bring to your room. breakfast sandwiches and heatable premade omelets, bagged oatmeal, etc. The stickers only do so much though, on the way back, we did Home2 (our go-to chain), found the trash not emptied and dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I would still pick a hotel over a rest area.
 
OP thanks for the report!
We have our "markers" on where we like to stop to/from when we drive too. Plus if you do it fairly often then the area becomes familiar enough you have the "safe" places to stay (pre covid too)
 
As much as we like Buccees & love their bathrooms- don’t stop there unless you’re comfortable with being surrounded by literally hundreds of people with no social distancing. We just traveled to Watercolor from Texas & made the mistake of taking a bathroom break there. The bathrooms were still clean though!

Totally agree with you. I drive locally east and west of DFW and Buc-ees used to be my favorite bathroom stop, but now is very crowded , and before face masks were mandatory in TX, just a nightmare. Now if I stop, it has to be before or after lunch hour for sure.
 
OP here, figure I’d report back on what we ended up doing. We live in a north houston suburb. i prepped sandwiches, snacks, fruit, drinks, etc.
thanks to disboarders here, we were able to check rest areas etc.

630am (CDT) left houston, arrived in Lake City at 920pm (EDT). Took 2 stop for gas (Baton Rouge and somewhere in Florida), three biobreaks at rest stations, and a slight detour at lake city to pick up take out food (weird tradition the kids like chinese take out in the hotel room when we travel). We didn’t stop to picnic lunch, just ate in the car to keep going. It was also intermitttently raining hard during the drive. didn’t do bio breaks at the gas stations (we have smaller kids that would touch things). We also didn’t stop at Bucees because we thought they would be packed...(and we would have definitely bought slushees).

we also don’t like driving at night - a stop at night to just rest, decompress and shower is great. My DH records every little detail and doing an after vacation review, we think this plan is repeatable and will do this for future trips. Our other potential stopping point was tallahassee if we were making poor timing.
on the way home, we left the park late at 3pm and ended up staying at Pensacola. If we left at 1pm we would have done Mobile, AL and then have only 7.5 hrs to drive.

stayed in the Hampton suites in lake city. Hilton is putting “stickers” to seal the doors. Things were pretty clean, but you can always bring wipes to double down. The free breakfast was pickup and bring to your room. breakfast sandwiches and heatable premade omelets, bagged oatmeal, etc. The stickers only do so much though, on the way back, we did Home2 (our go-to chain), found the trash not emptied and dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I would still pick a hotel over a rest area.

Thank you for this information. Very useful. One time we drove from Chicago to Atlanta for a family gathering and then drove to DD. On our way back, we drove to DFW to visit family and then back to Chicago after a few days. I just remember that drive from DD to DFW seemed like it took forever !
Maybe we were just tired.

What time did you make it to DD?
 
Thank you for this information. Very useful. One time we drove from Chicago to Atlanta for a family gathering and then drove to DD. On our way back, we drove to DFW to visit family and then back to Chicago after a few days. I just remember that drive from DD to DFW seemed like it took forever !
Maybe we were just tired.

What time did you make it to DD?
after staying in Lake city, we left close to 9am. With one stop to fill up for gas (and a slushie) in winter garden we were at BLT close to noon (got the text that our room was ready at 11am, and our instacart arrrived at 1130).
 
after staying in Lake city, we left close to 9am. With one stop to fill up for gas (and a slushie) in winter garden we were at BLT close to noon (got the text that our room was ready at 11am, and our instacart arrrived at 1130).

Not bad timing at all !
Good that they had you room early !
 

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