*This is part of a sponsored collaboration with State Farm and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday this week, we are also anticipating a Nor’easter here in New York City. The storm is expected to hit Wednesday evening right into Thursday and we are already receiving warnings that weather conditions will make driving and road travel dangerous and difficult. I’d like to think that I have the supplies that I need in the car in case of this kind of emergency but one can never be too prepared.
Unfortunately, I’ve had the first-hand experience of being stuck in my car on the highway during the cold, winter months. Years ago, we had a car that was handed down to us by my father that would always break down. Don’t get me wrong, we were very thankful to have received a car for free but getting stuck in the middle lane on an expressway with no heat can be extremely scary. These moments taught us the importance of being prepared during winter driving and planning ahead.
State Farm wants to help all drivers, and their vehicles, to be prepared in the event that something unexpected happens while they are on the road during the winter. They asked 3,000 random Americans: “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve driven around with in your vehicle’s trunk?”
Here’s what they said were the 13 randomly weird things:
- 60 Watermelons
- 500 Leis
- A Shark
- A Unicycle
- An Astronaut Suit
- Suit of Armor
- 100 VCRs
- 400 Pounds of Coffee
- Pink Flamingoes
- Pirate Hats
- A Gorilla Suit
- Bagpipes
- Mannequin
While some of their responses are kind of funny, not being prepared during a driving emergency is no laughing matter. Winter driving conditions can turn dangerous in a split second. Snow, ice, poor visibility, and extreme cold can disable your vehicle or make roads impassable. Even on a short trip, you can find yourself stranded for several hours. It’s important to plan ahead for such a situation.
The best time to get ready for winter is before the first storm of the season. Some items to check include:
- Hoses and fan belts
- Spark plugs
- Antifreeze and windshield wiper fluid levels
- Battery strength
- Tire pressure and tread life
- Air, fuel, and emission filters
- Spare tire and jack
You can learn more by checking out the State Farm Winter Driving Survival tips. Don’t let winter weather catch you off guard and prepare your car for the unexpected!
Let’s Discuss: What items do you keep in your trunk to help you survive during winter driving conditions?
GIVEAWAY:
Our Sponsor is Giving Away a $50 Visa Gift Card to one reader of Tough Cookie Mommy!*a Rafflecopter giveaway
*To be eligible to win prizes, winners must be a resident of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia (not Puerto Rico or Quebec) and be 18 years of age or older at time of entry. Giveaway prizes will be shipped within 6-8 weeks.
Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with State Farm and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
© 2014, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
I once had a deer head in the trunk . My husbands friend is a hunter and they put it in my trunk and I was taking it out to their house after it got done at the taxidermist. It was strange to have it there.
ellen beck
Probably the few dozen unboxed Cabbage Patch Kids that I was transporting to a toy drive a few holidays ago — it felt like I was smuggling children across state lines! I remember cracking up non-stop putting them in there, and again seeing how scattered and askew they were when I went to retrieve them later.
Geoff K
gkaufmanss at yahoo dot com
The
funniest thing I’ve ever had in my trunk is a set of Pocket
Monsters that I try to hide from my husband for keeping them at home.
I bought this shelf from the goodwill once. However, it did not fit in my trunk, so my mom and I had to drive across town with half of it hanging out of my trunk. We also didn’t have anything to die it down so the lid of my trunk kept going up and down. It really was much funnier to see in person!
I think the weirdest thing anyways was we once had a popcorn machine with a fully loaded popped popcorn.
A bunch of plastic pink flamingos. My niece was a cheerleader at the time and they used the pink flamingos for raising money for a charity. Basically, they would place the pink flamingos on the lawns of fellow chair leaders or football players and the families had to pay a “ransom” to have the flamingo’s removed. I would drive my niece around to pick up the flamingo’s.
The funniest thing I’ve ever had in my car was a fake arm Halloween decoration! It’s the kind that hangs out the back of the trunk to look like someone is in your trunk. I was too lazy to bring it inside and just shoved it in my trunk and then found it again one day and laughed to myself!
I had cat litter just recently for the winter and realized when I went shopping, it had opened up and I had cat litter pouring out of the car when I opened up the back
I can’t think of anything funny. I do hide gifts under blankets and sometimes they start playing.
I’ve found really old M&M’s in my trunk. There’s probably stale Cheerios somewhere, too.
I entered your Snoopy Sno-Cone maker giveaway as well.
The funniest thing I had in my trunk is Adult Diapers that I got for my Dad and left them there for over a year. I forgot they were there!
The funniest thing I found was stale cereal. I don’t even know how it got there
i’ve had some clothes to donate in my trunk for almost a year… it’s pretty bad.
The funniest thing I found is my son’s fake snake. It looked so real, freaked me out.
The funnies thing I guess would be 20 helium filled balloons, was not easy stuffing them in.
The funniest thing I ever carried in my trunk were inflated truck inner tubes (no the trunk didn’t shut) for when we went tubing.
abfantom at yahoo dot com
I entered the $25 Walgreens Gift Card giveaway
abfantom at yahoo dot com
I think the oddest thing I’ve ever put into the trunk of my car is live plants. Pretty boring, I know.
I had a pair of extra underwear in the trunk of my car…..
One summer I had my entire record collection in my trunk, needless to say the heat melted my entire collection.
Funniest thing was my daughters bike~
I only have tools for my car and jumper cables and a towel in the trunk now. I DO have a central vacuum taking up my back seat since my BF doesn’t want to bring it in the house. (hiding it from his elderly mother) lol
The funniest thing in my trunk was a bag of garbage that I had to take to my parents’ house because I missed the truck.
I really can’t think of anything funny I’ve ever had in my trunk
There is actually nothing in my trunk except for a car jack and a first aid kit.
I like to hide christmas presents in my trunk from my nieces they snoop too much in my apt.
Nothing funny is in my trunk, it is empty.
I put a dangling arm in there once for Halloween.
I had programs from my daughter’s college graduation in my trunk for over a year.
Right now I have a handheld vacuum because my son was supposed to clean the car two months ago! I also have reusable groceruy bags that I constantly forget to bring in to the store. Not that funny but true!
We don’t have trash pickup where I live so my husband will haul our garbage away in the car. I started to notice a rank smell every time I would open my trunk but couldn’t figure out what it was or where it was coming from. Finally after a year or so I was cleaning out my trunk and lifted the cover where the spare tire and jack is and found two old milk containers that my husband had shoved down in there and forgotten about. At least I finally figured out what the smell was.
nothing funny it is empty. I have left my recycled bags in there for a few weeks
Lots of magazines waiting to be taken to the library exchange lol
The strangest thing in my trunk was a person. Back when we went to the drive-in and would sneak a couple people in.
Jennifer Rote
I also entered the Walgreens Giveaway
ellen beck
The funniest thing to have in my car was bags of wire hangers taking them to the recycle center.
The funniest thing I have had in my truck is toliet tissue. I have no clue how the roll got there, but it stayed there a very long time.
I must lead a boring life. The funniest thing I ever transported in my trunk was a bushel of steamed blue crabs.
I’ve had a trunk full of helium balloons a few times! Thanks for the chance to win!
The Funniest Thing I’ve Had In The Truck Of My Car Is A Microwave, My Husband Used It To Warm Up His Food For Lunch.
The funniest thing I had in my trunk was various art projects my kids do in school and camp. .
we had fish tanks in the trunk. A LOT OF THEM! my husband made the back sun room a fish room!
entered rogain walgreen gc giveaway
The funniest I can remember is a sippy cup that fell out of the diaper bag and stunk up the car. It fell under the flap and took me days to find the smelly source
I found a picnic beach lunch in my trunk a week ago from July. It wasn’t pretty!
The funniest thing I ever found in my trunk was groceries. I am boring. But if you would of asked about what I have found in my purse, well that’s a different story, lol.
This is not actually funny but I just got a new to me van. My daughter’s boyfriend was told to put the stuff in the back of the van that had been in my car. (I mistakenly assumed he would realize I meant stuff that should be in a car) He put every single thing that had been in my truck back in my new van. Beach balls, empty bags etc…
Well…it was not funny at the time, but can laugh about it now! On our wedding night we were getting our stuff out of the truck to go into our hotel, and the trunk shut with our keys inside! We had nothing out yet! Had to wait until the next day to get someone to bring us our spare keys. Was not fun waking up and putting my wedding dress on again! LOL
There was a bowling ball rolling around in my trunk for several months. I had received it in a White Elephant Christmas exchange at work, and didn’t know what the heck to do with it!
The funniest thing I ever had in my trunk was probably one sock. For probably a couple years, one never knows when one is going to need a sock.
The funniest would have to be cat litter as I don’t have a cat. I gave someone a ride one day and they bought some for their cat and forgot it in my trunk.
kport207 at gmail dot com
The funniest thing I’ve had in my trunk are 20 hula hoops (used for Color Guard!)
large stuffed bear to give as a gift
so many things. i guess the laundry detergent that broke open and soaked my in car built in car tool kit. oh how fun that was to explain to the poor AAA guy. “hey, it is just laundry soap. You dont even need to wash your hands and will smell like sunshine!” xdanimarie(at)yahoo(dot)com
I haul all sorts of old furniture and any other goodies I can get my hands on – I’ve moved my daughter’s two bedroom apartment in the back of my minivan!
The funniest thing I’ve had in my truck is a chicken costume.
I’d say cans of shaving cream in high school so I could prank my friends.
Denise S.
I have had beach items that I found in the middle of winter.
The funniest thing I have had in the trunk of my car is my best friend during a prank.
The funniest thing I’ve had in my trunk was a hippie!
probably my best friends when we all snuck into the drive in movies when we were younger!! lol I know, shame shame on us!
I had a squirrel in my trunk, It was scary and funny at the same time
the funniest (non funny) thing I had in my trunk was my flat tire. what a hassle.
Funniest thing was i found a set of golf clubs with no bag
Not funny, but odd – I had my mother’s ashes in our trunk while we drove 1500 miles to where we were going to bury them.
I used to work at a flea market when I was in high school. People would give me all sorts of stuff for free. The strangest was a collection of adult magazines. gross.
The funniest thing I found was discovering my lost phone of 2 months! I had already replaced the phone but was surprised to have found it and everything else I had done (went crazy back tracking all my steps) before giving up!
Bananas…for two weeks…until I realized I left them there.
Paperwork from a job my husband had years ago.
jofo120 at yahoo dot com
I remember buying groceries and a package of hamburger fell out of the bag, which I found a few days later. It was pretty ripe since it was in the middle of July.
Ive never had anything out of the ordinary in my truck. I dont use it much
i carry kitty litter in my trunk so if i get off the road i can pour this out and get back on the road
I wish I could think of something funny I’ve found in my trunk 😐 Since I can’t think of anything off the wall I guess it’s safe to say I’m keep the typical trunk gear there. Stroller, shopping cart cover, cooler bag extra diapers. Nothing out of the norm lol
I have an emergency kit in my trunk complete with a flashlight, batteries, jumping cables, a bottle to fill up with water, a blanket, and band-aids. I cannot really think of anything funny that I purposely put in my trunk. My cat jumped in there for a minute one time, but thankfully I saw him before shutting the trunk door.
Well last year, my girlfriend and I were in the middle of a long drive. We heard a sound coming from the trunk. She jokingly asked if I had a body in there. We pulled over, opened the trunk, and a big possum just launched itself from inside. It gave us a nice jolt.
For quite a while I had my banana costume in the trunk.
Thanks for the contest.
slehan at juno dot com
I don’t know if it is very funny, but one time I left my moon roof open and a cat got in my car, I heard meowing and opened up the trunk and to my suprise there was a cat in my trunk the worst part was I had to take it all the way home!
The funniest for me was when i was a manager at a fast food restaurant and had to hide the kids meal toys in my trunk so the employees would hand out in order , One day the huge box broke ant toys everywhere
I usually keep my truck empty, so I don’t have any funny stories.
The funniest thing I had was a deer head. We were out one Saturday and came across it at a yard sale. Looked really funny
I truly don’t have much funny stuff in my trunk. I usually just have groceries and my winter car gear back there.
I entered this giveaway.
Pair of Relays In-Ear Headphones (Random Colors) ARV $79.99
Pair of Relays In-Ear Headphones (Random Colors) ARV $79.99
I suppose it would be my husband and son when they had wet swim trunks on and I drove from the pool to the condo we were staying at.
Honestly I do not know if I have ever had anything “funny” in my trunk.
A snake! Maybe not so funny when I was screaming and running away as soon as I saw it. lol
The funniest thing would be a squirrel that got in the trunk one winter.
[email protected]
The funniest thing I have had in my trunk is some frozen food that slipped out of the grocery bag in summer. Well, maybe not so funny. Rotten smell.
I had a potty chair in my trunk.
Thanks for the giveaway…in college my friends one filled the entire trunk of my car with large river rocks, bricks, and leaves; it wasn’t funny at the time because I was late for work, but I laughed afterwards.