Record Number of Travelers Return Home, Causing Chaos on Roads and in Pitstops

After enjoying the 4th of July holiday, hundreds of thousands of people were making their way back home on Sunday. The traffic was particularly heavy at Buc-ee’s, a popular pitstop, as travelers returned home on one of the busiest travel times of the year.

Family Vacation Memories

Danielle Durossette, who was traveling from Destin to Arkansas with her children, shared her experience, "It’s been great. We had a good week at the beach. We’re heading home. Chaos in the pitstop. We’re just on a family vacation, and my five-year-old loves the beach. My one-year-old has never been. So we took it on this week and had a great time."

Record Number of Travelers Predicted

Triple-A predicted a record number of people traveling by vehicle during the holiday, with more than 60 million nationwide. The impact of this prediction was evident at gas stations, such as the one where Madison Perry was heading back home to Pelahatchie from Gulf Shores. She mentioned, "A lot of traffic. We normally don’t come down on 4th of July, but we just decided to."

Forced Stops and Busy Gas Stations

Many travelers found themselves having to make unplanned stops. Gino Childs, who was refueling in the middle of his trek from Florida’s east coast to Texas, shared his experience, "It’s been interesting. I live in Jacksonville, but I work in Fort Worth, so I’m just trying to get back to work now. Yeah, it’s been busy today here at Bookie’s, that’s for sure. I ran out of gas. I was pretty much on fumes, so I couldn’t skip this and go to the next one. I had to stop here."