I travel a lot by car. What's the weirdest thing you've seen on the highway, either on the side of the road or on it?
 

Looking for weird items, weird events, or even weirdos on this one. <BR> <BR>Happy travels!

Driving along Route 6 in Northern PA once, we say an Emergency Rescue Vehicle parked beside the curb with a 'For Sale' sign on it. It did not appear to be a joke! It actually appeared to be for sale!

1990 or '91: I-40 10 miles east of Flagstaff 1:00 am. Driving straight through LA to Kansas; hubby driving; had just stopped for gas (thank goodness, as it meant I had not gone back to sleep yet). Had just gotten back up to speed (70 mph or so) when looked up and there's a guy (?we think) STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF I-40, waving his arms. Just barely had time to holler and swerve. It happened so quickly, we were a mile or more down the road before we settled down and tried to decide whether to go back. Neither of us had seen any car on the shoulder. We ended up going on (wide awake now, let me tell you!); but still wonder to this day what the deal was: was he a motorist in trouble? A bad guy looking for a sucker? Something weirder?.....

This occurred many years ago on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in New York City. Traffic was backed up worse than usual but when I saw the source of the problem I had to laugh. There is an overpass as you approach the Brooklyn Bridge. A flatbed truck with a giraffe standing in the rear did not have enough clearance to get through the overpass. To this day I don’t know how the problem was resolved.

Two guys, one dressed up as a hot dog, and the other in full clown garb, on the side of the Long Island Expressway, staring under their hood at a blown radiator.

Saw a bunch of cars swerving to avoid something, then saw a small black dog in the left emergency lane with an injured leg. Then saw a pre-teen girl apparently crying on a woman's shoulder near their car on the right shoulder, with a man apparently looking for a way to dart across five lanes of traffic to get the dog.<BR><BR>I didn't stop, as I was really worried about getting rear-ended by a truck or something. But to this day, I wonder what happened, and what caused this family to stop and let the dog out on such a busy highway.

Coming up behind a vehicle in a blinding snowstorm on the Mass Pike and realizing it was the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.

Okay, so what is the deal with seeing SHOES on the side of the road? You can hardly drive 10 miles without seeing a stray boot or tennis shoe by the side of the road. My question is how do these shoes just fall out of a moving vehicle? Even if people have their shoes off, it's not like they're going to be close to the window...it's a mystery! I'm baffled everytime I see one.

Driving through Alabama on the way to Destin, Florida a guy in a pickup passed our car and pulled over. He jumped out just before we passed and was wearing nothing but a smile and his tennis shoes. Very weird.

Good point about the shoes. I always wonder if there's been a murder nearby or something.

Driving down a busy two-lane road on a hot August day, I drove right past a driving range/miniature golf/batting cage place. Just in front of the entrance was a person in a duck costume leaning over a person in a bear costume. The bear was completely sprawled out, obviously a victim of the heat. The duck was fanning the bear, trying to revive him/her, BUT the bear's head was still on!!!! The duck was fanning the bear, not the person inside!!!!!! I was laughing so hard I nearly ran the oncoming red light!

Driving down the highway from Las Vegas to the Hoover Dam my husband and I saw a large 18 wheeler truck ahead in the right lane. In the left lane moving along as fast as the truck was one of its tires. Eventually the tire passed the truck and the driver pulled over. It was so strange looking that it took a few seconds for us to figure out what we were seeing.

In rural Michigan, i saw a sign announcing that a church was going to be built. In the field behind the sign sits a blue porta-potty. <BR> <BR>Also, in rural Michigan, roadkill painted over when the lines were recently repainted.

I've seen countless pieces of clothing on the roads up here around the NYC area. Never ceases to make me wonder...especially when you see one shoe (as poster above mentioned), a piece of ladies undergarments, a sock... <BR>There's got to be a story behind them!

Driving through North Carolina, I saw a sign outside a convenience store/bait shack that said: <BR> <BR>ATM inside <BR> <BR>Nightcrawlers

Driving east on L Street a decade or so ago in Marion Barry's wink-and-a-nod crime prevention era of Washington DC, I had the pleasure of riding through and past at least fifty prostitutes plying their wares. As the prostitutes were renting themselves out in the vicinity of a well-lit construction site, and the night being a cold and rainy December night, the evening was memorable. Many of the girls were wearing nothing but mini-skirts and slinky tops covered by small coats. The situation certainly made a lie out of that stupid Julia Roberts/Richard Gere movie of ten or so years ago.

Everyone in town has septic systems which need to be cleaned out occasionally. We frequently see these large trucks with tanks and the name of the septic company on the side and back. Just last week I was driving behind one that was painted yellow and the sign read "Stool Bus". <BR>In Vermont we passed a garbage truck with the words "Used Food" painted on the side. Guess you had to be there.

One mid-morning years ago, hubby and I were behind a car on I-80. All of a sudden, the car veered to the right and bam, it was off the side of the road and into semi-tall weeds. We stopped and got out to see if the driver was alright. He was, thank God, but very stunned. His eyes were as big as saucers! He was a teenager and had just gotten off of the night shift at McDonald's. He had fallen asleep at the wheel. He lived just a short distance away and we gave him a ride home. The whole way there, he kept saying over and over "my mom's gonna kill me!" There was minimal damage to the car and I'm sure in the end she was happy that he wasn't hurt. <BR> <BR>The hot dog and clown guys looking at the radiator really made me laugh! Fun thread!

Once driving in North Carolina, I looked in my rearview mirror and the vehicle behind me as a huge tractor-trailor truck...with one of those big inflatable easter bunnies tied to the front grill. Bright pink. It was hilarious. <BR> <BR>Also, a car that had, in the window, a piece of plywood with a babydoll stapled to it and next to it the words "Baby on Board". Sadistic attempt at being clever. hehe <BR> <BR>

I can offer an explanation for the random-shoe-by-the-side-of-the-road phenomenon! (Yes, I admit to losing a shoe or two over the years). This is how it happens--an innocent traveler has pulled over to a rest stop. At some point during this stop, the traveler decides, for whatever reason, to change his/her shoes, and put on another pair they had brought w/them. (Lots of times, it's easier to drive in a pair of comfy old sneakers, then change into your nicer shoes when you get close to your destination. And, if you notice, random shoes you see road-side are always ratty running sneaks). Then, after I have, ahem, the traveler has changed their shoes--they place their other shoes on top of their car so that they can have their hands free to rummage into their bag, go digging around the back for that lost CD, or whatever. Then, forgetting their shoes are still perched atop the car, they get in, and drive away. Bye bye shoes. So if you see a pair of white Keds while driving in New Jersey, or a nice new pair of Nikes by the side of the road in Maine, I want them back!!