Last Friday afternoon we loaded up the car and headed towards the Grandparents house in the North Carolina mountains for the Fourth of July weekend. We were just about 40 miles north of Athens when we made a right turn on I-85 North and then we hit it. A parking lot! It seemed like anyone and everyone was heading somewhere for the long weekend. I think we were averaging about 4 mph.

We began searching our GPS and maps for an alternative route and called the Grandparents. They said that the national news was reporting that people were traveling in record numbers. It seems as though many fiscally responsible Americans have been cutting back on their expenses and skipping or scaling back their vacations over the last few months and years but that trend may be easing up now. And companies are making it easier for us to fulfill our yearning vacation dreams by offering unheard of discounts. Just this morning I received notice of an airline sale for travel through November. This is a very rare move for the airlines since the summer is typically a busy season for air travel but to me it just shows how companies are willing to offer great discounts to get our travel business. Hopefully we can all take advantage of it!