ROAD TEST.Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard Back in the day, the tried-but-true license plate game on family road trips was a simple affair: Spot 50 different plates and you've found all 50 states. Oregon plates were always blue with yellow letters. Washington plates? White with green letters. California? Black with gold letters. Ah, those were so much simpler times. Today's proliferation of specialty license plates almost makes you want to reach for your Gameboy instead. But take heart. Here's an armchair test drive to prepare you for what you'll see as the summer travel season begins. "There are so many plates out there now, it's ridiculous! We're talking thousands," says Tom Murray Tom Murray may refer to:
New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of alone issues more than 500 different plates - from "acupuncturist" to "Zeta Phi Beta  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. ." Many specialty plates are counter-intuitive, to say the least. You can live in the concrete canyons of Manhattan and sport New York plates proclaiming "Celebrate Open Spaces." New York residents can also buy an "Indiana U" license plate. There's even a "Red Sox" New York plate (Now that is just wrong!) So, load up the minivan, buckle your seat belts and guess which state issued these fourteen plates. OTHER GAMES The License Plate Game isn't the only retro car trip game out there. Remember these? 20 Questions: One player chooses an object, the others get 20 chances to learn what it is. Good first question: "Animal, vegetable or mineral?" I Spy I spy is a guessing game usually played in families with young children, partly to assist in both observation and in alphabet familiarity. I spy is often played as a car game. With My Little Eye: Similar to 20 Questions, but the object must be visible from the car. Alphabet Sentence Game: Players take turns working through the alphabet. (`I'm Abraham. I sell anchovies anchovies a cause of diarrhea, vomiting, salivation, lacrimation, depression, miosis, polypnea, tachycardia, hypothermia in cats. . I live in Alaska.") License Plate Math: Players look for license plates with numbers that add up to 10, such as YEE-244. License Plate Baseball: Any car is a base hit except Fords, which are outs. Out of state license plate is a home run. The Alphabet Game: Using roadside signs, players compete to spot letters in order, from A to Z. It can get ugly if your route passes only one Quaker State Quaker State may refer to:
The Breath-holding Game: Players vie to see who can hold their breath over an entire bridge or overpass. Punch Buggy Punch buggy (also called punch bug, slug bug,[1] or punch beetle[2]) is a car game generally played by young children in which participants hit each other upon sight of a Volkswagen Beetle. (or Slug Bug): First person to spot a VW Beetle gets to punch another passenger in the arm. Often leads to ... The Tattling tat·tle v. tat·tled, tat·tling, tat·tles v.intr. 1. To reveal the plans or activities of another; gossip. See Synonyms at gossip. 2. To chatter aimlessly; prate. v.tr. Game: "Ow! Dad - she hit me hard!" "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall": A monotonous, never-ending singing game. A favorite with kids. The Quiet Game: Usually suggested by parents. The winner? The person who goes longest without making a peep. |
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