How to Keep Your Children Entertained on a Road Trip

The summer: a perfect opportunity to plan a road trip with the family, enjoy the great outdoors and cultivate an ever-lasting bond with your loved ones.  It’s also a time of no school, longer days and the constant attention of your little ones.  Yup, it’s about time to take a road trip!  In today’s blog, we’re here to help.  We’re providing a comprehensive list of how to keep your kids busy during the long road ahead.  We’re providing some cool tools, tips and tricks to keep them occupied on your way around the United States.

1.     Depending on if you have 2,3 or even four little ones, let them all bring one or two items in a backpack or small bag.  Let them fill it with their favorite toys or games to keep occupied.

2.     Your smartphone is your friend.  Download some cool, FREE iphone app games to occupy your kiddies for an allotted time.  Also, make sure to bring your car charger so you’re not killing your battery while they’re playing with Angry Little Birds.

3.     A DVD Player is a parent’s best friend.  Allow your kiddies to watch ONE movie on the trip.  You’ll be able to take this quiet time to regain your “Chi.”

4.     Well-timed treats.  If the kiddies play well for an hour, reward them with a healthy snack!

5.     Your digital camera is great for looking at shots of the trip so far (kids never seem to tire of this) and adding their own strangely-angled photos of the open road.

6.     Books on CD (or on your iPhone) make great entertainment, and you can pick them up at the local library. Try something a step more complex than you would normally read at home, and you might be surprised at how well your kids quiet down and focus.

7.     If those fail, you can also check out this list of travel toys my own kids (age 3 and 5) have enjoyed.

Do you have any to add?

How Radar Detectors Work

Picture this scenario:  You’re cruising down the highway with your family, enjoying the lush greenery surrounding the open road.  A game of eye-spy is heating up as you look around the landscape, trying to find a spot of yellow your daughter has found on the road trip.  Before you know it, you spot a state trooper, his badge reflecting off the afternoon sun, and a radar gun pointed directly at your vehicle.  You panic, looking down at your speedometer; that’s when you realize you’re doing a couple miles over the speed limit.  Your hands clam up and before you know it, POOF! You’re being pulled over. 

So, how exactly do these radar guns work? Well, “Radar” is an abbreviation for Radio Detection and Ranging.  Speed Trak Police Radar can be found in almost every police vehicle.  It’s estimated that 20 million speeding citations are issued annually and that police radars are used in 13 million of these cases. 

Radar Guns send out a signal of radio waves at specific frequencies in a specific direction.  Then, those waves bounce off objects, including vehicles, and return to the radar gun’s receiving station.  When the waves reflect off a moving vehicle, a measurable frequency shift, called Doppler Shift, occurs.

So, police radar guns perceive a vehicle by transmitting a pulse that reaches the target and then comes back to the observer.  What ensues is the Doppler Effect, in which the frequency of the pulse is compared to the frequency of the reflection and speed is calculated using the difference.

And…that’s how it’s done!  Had any crazy radar gun experiences?  Feel free to comment

The Best Twitter Profiles for Car Lovers: 2013 Edition

If you’re a social media fan (like we are) then you’re always looking for the coolest, most innovative individuals to “Like” on Facebook or “follow” on Twitter.  We know that because you visited our blog, that you’re also a car lover.  In today’s blog, we’re listing the most interesting and cool automotive Twitter followers we could find.  So, open up our browser (or smartphone) and get ready to jot these down.  Enjoy!

@ParkAvenueBMW

@BMWUSA - need we say more?

@Jalopnik – a hilarious site that creates an innovative spin on automotive news

@KelleyBlueBook – Great source for automotive commentary, news, and auto expert facts

@edmunds – they empower the automotive consumer with cars, news, pricing, research and more

@BBC_TopGear – awesome group of guys that do the craziest stuff when it comes to cars

@CarandDRIVER – a worldwide leader in providing objective results and expert vehicle reviews.

@cartalk – Just people talking about cars, that just so happen to be REALLY knowledgeable!

@Carmagazinenews – Up-to-the-minute car news and information.  They also have the scoop on new cars!

@DanicaPatrick – Racecar driver of the #7 & #10 goDaddy.com cars, you might have heard of her!

@InsideLine – Edmunds InsideLine is an online car magazine featuring the latest reviews, blogs, photos and HD videos

These are just a FEW of our favorites; do you have any that you would like to add?

Staying AWAKE Behind the Wheel

Hey, Fans! A new year means new beginnings for us.  We’re rearing up for another great year in the Automotive world, and wanted to have some fun with our blog.  Every year, we showcase the coolest car facts (not to be confused with Car Fax) this side of the Northern Hemisphere.  If you have facts that you would like to add, feel free!  We welcome any and all feedback from our readers. 

• Rear view mirrors were first attached to cars in the year 1916.
• The world’s longest skid marks are 950 feet long.
• The Carburetor and the clutch mechanism were invented by women in the year 1923.
• The world’s first license plates were issued by the French police in the year 1893. They were called number plates then.
• The Tata Nano is the cheapest car in the world. ($2500 US)
• The world’s first car accident took place in 1769. The car is still preserved at a museum in Paris.
• The average length of electrical wires in every car is about 3000 feet.
• A driver spends about an average of two weeks of his life waiting for the traffic light to change color.
• Japan produces the most number of cars in the world.
• Airbags take only 40 milliseconds to open in case of an accident.
• The first cars had levers instead of a steering wheel!

We’re looking for more facts to expand our list!!!

In 2012, we're revamping our Facts sheet for the New Year, check out our newest unknown car facts here:

Improve Health While Driving

The average American spends approximately 101 minutes a day driving.  Many times we get stuck in serious traffic or we find ourselves having to wait at endless lights.  Have you ever thought to yourself, that you could be doing 9 million other things instead of just sitting in your car?  Do you like to multi-task? Are you procrastinating on taking better care of your health?  Well, I have the solution.  I will help you make better use of your drive time and improve your health while keeping your eyes on the road.  Here are 10 things you can do while driving that can help increase your health, making you stronger while sitting behind the wheel.

Chin and Neck Exercises

Do belly Busters

Spine Stretchers

Tension Tacklers

Best time to drink your water

Moisturize your cuticles

Drink you smoothies and juice instead of soda

Steering Wheel Isometrics

Park further away

Meditation

You can firm up that chin and neck by using a rubber or foam ball. Place the ball below your chin and below the larynx. Hold the ball in place with your hand, and use your chin to press down on the ball. Squeeze the ball gently downward with your chin. Do as many repetitions as you are comfortable with, stopping before your neck muscles get tired.

While driving, pretend you’re zipping a tight pair of jeans. Pull your belly button toward your spine and your lower belly away from your waistband. Hold, engaging your abs.  Up the intensity, quickly exhale 20 times. As you breathe out, contract your lower abs even harder to pulse them in and out.

While stuck in traffic, grip the steering wheel with your hands at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and round your back. Take a breath and release. This stretches the area between the shoulder blades and mid-back.

While stuck at a red light, tilt your right ear down towards your right shoulder. Relax your shoulders and breathe into the left side of your neck, stretching the left side of your neck. Hold for 10 seconds.  At the next light, repeat on the other side.

Steering wheel isometrics can really create a great workout, without you having to set aside 20 minutes during your day. With isometrics, you can use your body’s own resistance, but you can also employ stationary objects in your exercises such as a steering wheel that can heed some great results.

We know that water is essential to our health and if you aren’t doing this already, try to always have bottled water in your car.  You can easily get the required amount of hydration if you make this a habit.  The other option is juice or smoothies for your daily fruit or vegetable intakes.  There are several delicious versions located at places like gas stations and Starbucks.

Other areas that require healthy attention are our hands. Try moisturizing your cuticles by using a moisturizing lip balm.  This can really help make your nails grow and keep your hands looking lovely.

Of course the obvious isn’t so obvious sometimes. Instead of rushing to find the perfect parking spot; park further away and walk brisk to get a little bit more cardio in.  Heck, if you have the time-do laps around the parking lot!

Driving can be stressful but it can also create Zen. To practice Moving Meditation you must fully accept where you find yourself. Divest yourself of all expectations and standards of technique and take that clear, observing, unobserving, unobstructed state of being, and keep on driving!

These tips will not only improve your health and keep you fit, they will also make your drive time seem more productive.  Pssssst…give it a whirl and pass it on!

Smartphone App of the Week: Driver’s Ed - Park Ave BMW

We understand that it might seem peculiar that we would talk about a smartphone app called Driver’s Ed, as we want new driver’s (and experienced alike) to drive safely with their eyes focused on the road and not on the screen of a smartphone, but this app is strictly for NON-DRIVING USE.  And quite frankly, it’s an awesome way to learn the ways of the road…off-road, of course.

As parents, friends, and colleagues we instill the fundamentals of driving: look back when you reverse, buckle your seatbelt, etc…this smartphone app is a study guide for individuals preparing to take the permit test for their license.  The app is currently FREE and brought to you by a leader in online drivers education with full-featured study companions and quizzes from a database of more than 350 questions. 

The app records your results so that you can track your progress and review incorrect answers.  Get to know the material by taking tests and perfecting your driving skills before you take the real thing. 

Flash cards are also an added feature that allows test takers to study the material fairly quickly.  Driver’s Ed even lets you download your state’s specific Driver Manual so you can study on the go.  Driver’s Ed is a great app for studying for the permit exam because there’s nothing like having another safe driver on the road. 

Download it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/drivers-ed/id297942237?mt=8