Rest stops, going, going, gone..

The lack of cleanliness of the ones I had to use while driving through Arizona enroute to ABQ left me with never ever wanting to use the bathroom facilities again. A year later and I still have scars on my ankles from the numerous bug bites I got from one of them.

However, I used to make frequent use of the truck parking areas in them when driving from the Bay Area to LA or Reno if I got too tired to keep driving. Felt safe enough to sleep in my car for a few hours when needed and, if asked, the truck drivers kept a look out for me.

Settle in, folks. for a bit of a lecture. Or feel free to quickly give this post a thumbs down and move on.
The Interstate highway system was developed in the early/mid 1950's by President Dwight Eisenhower.
Why? I subscribe to the notion that Ike and many others felt that the Russians were coming and we needed an efficient, reliable, road system, capable of handling heavy equipment.
I will, of course, readily concede that the auto industry may have had a hand in this. "See the USA..." Travel far and travel fast.
The interstates by-passed thousands of rural towns, changing their economies and also, I think, changing how many of us think about how things should be.
We want the Holiday Inn in Cville to be exactly like the one in Albuquerque.
And McDonald's to be McDonald's.
With regards to the rest stops...
There are, Osso, just off the interstates all over the country, well-lit and safe places where you can pee and perhaps interact with folks who still talk with an accent you are not familiar with.

I am done. I am sure there are many flaws in this. But I am sticking by it for now.

this comes out the same day that university campus demonstrations against public sector slashing of education support also made the news. Americans are going to be forced to decide what services we are willing to pay for, and provide funding, or wave bye-bye to them. The Credit Card lifestyle always comes to an end, usually unpleasantly.

I am glad that I dont live in Arizona anymore, I used those rest stops on occasion. Plus, Arizona government has not worked in a long while, I am blessed to live in Washington state now.

I have to admit RJB has got a point. Last year my husband and I were traveling and noticed the next rest stop only had a McDonalds and a Starbucks. We didn't want either so we went off the exit and into some little semi-rural town. We pulled into the gas station, filled the car and asked the attendant if there was a diner around. He sent us to some little store front pancake/sandwich/hamburger place that also sold used books and had a big community bulletin board filled with flyers. We had a really nice lunch and briefly chatted with the waitress/owner. She said she hardly got any business off the thruway and wished more people would take the time to leave the beaten path. She also complained about how much the state would charge for her to put up a sign up at the exit. Maybe if that is one of the rest stops they close she will make a better living and we will all be richer for it.

( I should mention they are talking about closing rest stops in my state too and I'm not in Arizona)

the thing about Arizona is that there are a lot of wide open spaces without a lot of businesses. Finding a convenient private bathroom that you can use without a lot of grief is not as easy as you might think.

True, I don't know the terrain and I could see it would be a problem. Maybe it will create a new market. Like in those old Twilight Zone episodes people will eventually find a lone diner in the middle of nowhere,

Speaking of Arizona, I think that small town Gila Bend would be extinct if it
wasn't for the detour of Highway 8. The main road through Gila Bend has
a speed limit of 35 mph and behind every corner stands a police car. I often
wondered how many tickets they got in a single day - must support the entire
town.

I have many memories of traveling with kids in Arizona, trying to find a bathroom when one was saying they had to go REALLY REALLY bad. The first open bathroom at 2am in arizona? It might actually be 30 miles up the road, or more.

We used to travel in our conversion van at night, with one parent sleeping on the bed, because with the kids asleep we could get the miles in without lots of stops. A kid waking up needing to go in Arizona, NM or Texas was not good.

Yes, there are now, and my point is that I like them in my own experience. Ha, though I remember one when some friends and I were driving to Las Vegas from LA that said on a bathroom door: Women, with No Dogs printed in the same style under it (of course I took a photo). I like them and would miss their being there. There were several rest stops closed on the trip my cousins and I took from New Mexico to San Diego in December, but not so many that I got alarmed about it. The article shows Arizona considering closing them - and given the state of states' economies, I can see this coming up elsewhere.

To Hawkeye, yes, I've been following the education cuts and the demonstrations against that.

Agreed - there are especially many miles between businesses in Arizona with possible facilities. This happens in California and New Mexico and elsewhere too, but was very obvious in AZ.

I have the solution to this problem. (really)

we turn over operations of all federal highway amenities to the Native Americans. (think gambling and cheap ciggies)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM

Interesting..

Yeah, right! We used to have a rest stop between Farmington and Albuquerque, universally known as "The Teepees", after the handful of modernized teepees covering the picnic tables. Never mind that the only teepees used in this part of the country are for peyote ceremonials, it was a good rest stop, though the porta potties weren't especially inviting.

So, the Jicarilla tribe set up a casino. Portapotties are gone, replaces by restrooms with real running water - I guess. I mean, the restrooms are there, but they are always locked. You can visit the casino, or continue on to Cuba. Turn the highways over to the tribes, get your ticket validated at the casino, and get a discount at the toll gate.

I'd be interested to see the sales figures for road stop resturants and convience stores after the AZ rest stops were closed. When I travel N of Phx to Flagstaff, instead of using the Sunset Point rest area, I now have to use a McDonalds pit stop location along the highway instead. From the traffic the McD's gets now, I wouldn't be surprised if they have had a large increase in business revenue.

Is that a 24 hour McDonalds? If it is not it does not fully work as a solution to the problem.

It is I beleive, I have been there very late at night and they were still open. However, there are also gas stations/convience stores with public restrooms in the same area as well. I bet they have likely seen an increase in visitors to their stores, albeit some may not purchase anything to use the facilities.