Oh for small towns and quiet roads

@JudyEv (358104)
Rockingham, Australia
July 10, 2025 8:57pm CST
We’ve recently had two short road trips. It’s winter in Australia and not really tourist season but we still get a lot of sunny weather. We headed east into the country areas, through small towns and countryside. It struck me after a day or two just how little traffic there was on the roads. Once we got out of the city and on the smaller country roads, we saw maybe ten or twelve cars a day. Yesterday we visited a friend about an hour away and came home in peak hour. The traffic was bumper to bumper for miles. We were on the Tonkin Freeway which frustrated motorists now call the Tonkin carpark. The photo is another one taken at Pergandes’ sheep-yards.
10 people like this
9 responses
@FourWalls (76547)
• United States
19h
It’s a shock when you go from the serenity of the small country towns to the big city. That’s true worldwide!!
4 people like this
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
16h
That's was one of the things I found hardest when we moved.
@ptrikha_2 (48150)
• India
13h
@FourWalls Vice versa movement can also surprise but not "shock" !
2 people like this
@jstory07 (144980)
• Roseburg, Oregon
17h
There is hardly any traffic here but when you go on the highway there is lots of traffic.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
16h
I guess it's the same everywhere.
@kareng (77369)
• United States
16h
Same here, get out in the country and you rarely see many cars. Drive to the city and bam...a parking lot!
1 person likes this
@kareng (77369)
• United States
4h
@JudyEv Right!
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
16h
I don't like to go with the motor-home for less than 3-4 days. It takes half a day just to get out of the city.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (478665)
• Italy
9h
We avoid the freeways (that are not free) here as much as we can. Cars are all the time bumper to bumper.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (478665)
• Italy
7h
@JudyEv YES, it's a very good thing. In Switzerland we bought an annual sticker to use the highways. In Italy you have to stop at the booth and pay every time.
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
7h
We don't have toll roads in our state which is one good thing.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (152919)
• United States
16h
When Pretty and I traveled a lot, the heavy traffic on some highways really annoyed me... I hate having vehicles zipping around me or blocking my path when I just want to go somewhere. Taking the back roads can be nicer traffic-wise, but it takes forever to actually reach our destination. I learned in my late teens not to go to big cities around Christmas or Thanksgiving or we'd just be sitting in traffic for hours. I've told the story several times about us driving through one city not too far from where we live when Pretty needed to use a bathroom and traffic was so slow she walked to a gas station a short distance ahead of our car and came back and the car hadn't moved. I had shut it off and was reading when she came back to the car. We sat there for another hour before I needed to start the car and pull ahead even with the gas station she used.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (152919)
• United States
12h
@JudyEv We say the same thing about some areas but only at certain times of the year. During the summer months, Branson, Missouri turns into a car park when the tourists flock to the area to see the shows and the stores there.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
13h
Unless there is an accident the traffic doesn't usually stop but it can get awfully slow. We sometimes say we could get to x or y quicker if we walked but that's a bit of an exaggeration.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (119030)
• Marion, Ohio
8h
I hate that kind of traffic. Love the empty country roads
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
7h
I heave a sigh of relief once we hit the open road.
@ptrikha_2 (48150)
• India
13h
Sheep Yards! To me such a place would be a marvel to go and check out ! It can really be a contrast to be in a very low traffic area initially and then suddenly facing very heavy traffic.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
9h
The motor-home is quite big but it was more stressful I think when we were towing a caravan.
@LindaOHio (194184)
• United States
1h
I'd be nervous going out where you hardly see any cars. Drive safely and make sure you have water for yourselves and the car.
@Beestring (15604)
• Hong Kong
16h
There's always a lot of traffic on the highway.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (358104)
• Rockingham, Australia
13h
I guess that's what they're for but they never seem to build them big enough to take all the traffic.