A closer look at the news shaping our world today

Monthly Archives: July 2017

car rental, road trip

Up State New York Road Trip Ideas for Fall

Remember when you were a kid and your parents would pile the whole family into the old station wagon and take an impromptu day trip to Upstate New York?  If you were really lucky, your father might have turned it into a two-or-three-day event, complete with an overnight stay at a Howard Johnson hotel. Mom would pack a picnic lunch of sandwiches and a Thermos of coffee or hot chocolate.  A blanket was spread on the ground for this picnic lunch after everyone climbed out of the cramped car to stretch their legs and give Dad a respite from the driving.

car rental, road trip

New Jersey Road Trip Ideas for Fall

New Jersey is the fourth smallest state in the union, but has the eleventh-highest number of people.  In fact it has the highest population density (or number of people for the amount of land) in the U.S.  So here’s a hint – be sure to visit this state in the off season when the tourists have all gone home.

Because the Garden State is so small, it will take you approximately four hours to get from High Point, in the Skylands Region, which is the highest elevation in the state at 1,803 feet, all the way to Cape May Point in the south, but, unbelievably, if you cross New Jersey in an east to west direction, it can be done in just one hour.

rental car, road trip

Basic Road Trip Safety

The movies and television have done a great job of providing entertainment surrounding the details of a road trip gone wrong… at least a half-dozen come to mind and you probably laughed out loud at all of them.  But to avoid encountering a vacation filled with the likes of “Thelma and Louise” or “Road Trip” there are a few precautions before you set out to make that journey as safe and enjoyable as possible.

junk cars

The Life Cycle of a Car

It’s hard to believe that the shiny and sleek new vehicle that you so coveted one day will fall into disrepair and you will be making its “final arrangements”.  May your car and you travel many safe miles together and may the parting at the very end be bittersweet.  You know… if you stop to think about it, the life of your car takes on many phases from the very moment that it is a concept on paper in some automotive engineer’s mind, to an idea shared via a storyboard or slideshow during a meeting of the minds, to the actual construction of that vehicle, and the eventual purchase of it by you.

junk cars

What Materials is a Car Made From?

Everyone is familiar with how a major thoroughfare will close down after a fully-loaded tanker truck or semi-truck flips over.  It contents often are strewn across the expressway or highway necessitating detours for drivers.  But hand-in-hand with those detours is often the need to declare a hazmat situation.  “Hazmat”, as you know, is the common term to describe hazardous materials.  A fuel spill, followed by a nasty quick-starting fire, could close down a busy thoroughfare for hours, if not days.

But surprisingly, hazmat situations on the highway are not limited to fuel haulers or large trucks that have lost their load.  A violent crash of two passenger vehicles can just as easily cause a hazardous materials situation.

junk cars, recycled cars

What is a Junk Car?

It seems that everyone has a different opinion on the definition of a “junk car”.  To the little old lady who only drove her Buick to church on Sundays, even though that car may be pushing classic car status (i.e. a car that is 25 years old), it is her “wheels” – her only mode of transportation – and, if she has faithfully maintained her vehicle at a trustworthy repair shop, she may have that car for many more years to come.  Someone else may scoff at the idea of keeping a vehicle for more than a few years and will insist on buying a new one that has all the bells and whistles on it.

While these are two factions of vehicle owners, obviously at opposite ends of the spectrum, actually, the truth is, that older vehicles were easier to maintain and less likely than their modern counterparts to develop electrical issues causing serious malfunctions.  With older vehicles, there certainly were no worries about lights flashing off and on that need your attention and have you worrying, then scurrying, to the dealership to determine if the vehicle is safe to drive.  But… newfangled satellite radio and wireless connections will make you feel like you are a pilot in the cockpit of a jet airliner.