The Road Tripper's Manual: Unique Christmas Celebrations

A fat man in a sleigh being towed by flying reindeer who lands on your roof, squeezes down the chimney, and drops presents off is unique to Christmas. Christmas is also notable for bringing out the best in people, a unique time of the year when charity flows and kindness prevails.

Hop in the car and make this special holiday even more unique by taking part in these unique celebrations recommended by our team at Sheehy Nissan of Mechanicsville.

Dickens on the Strand - Galveston, Texas. No author captured the Spirit of Christmas better than Charles Dickens. Come celebrate the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future by gathering the clan and heading to Galveston for Dickens on the Strand, a three-day street festival that features parades, non-stop entertainment on five stages, strolling carolers, roving musicians, bagpipers, jugglers and a host of other entertainers. You can even meet actual descendants of Charles Dickens and maybe get a visit from ol' Scrooge himself.

A Christmas Story House & Museum - Cleveland, Ohio. Although the exact date is not known, at some point in recent movie history, Rudolph, Frosty, and the Grinch gave way to Ralphie and his unique family from A Christmas Story as the Christmas Classic that seems to be on TV for seventeen consecutive days in December. So after the movie-watching couch potato-fest, it might be time for a road trip. Ralphie's house has been restored to its movie splendor and is located just across the street from the Christmas Story museum and gift shop, where you can get that hard-to-shop-for relative an iconic Christmas Story leg lamp.

The Reno Santa Pub Crawl - Reno, Nevada. Unless you want to scar your children for life, you'll want to leave your kids at home for this one. In fact, you can't participate unless you're 21 or older. You'll want a designated driver for this one. The Reno Santa Pub Crawl takes place in December and involves thousands of Santas and other Christmas costumed characters spreading holiday cheer at the many bars in Reno.

The Inn at Christmas Place - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This holiday-themed hotel celebrates Christmas all year. Since you probably only celebrate it in December, December would be a great time to visit this Smoky Mountain resort. The Inn at Christmas Place, a beautiful Bavarian-style hotel, is located right across the street from the Incredible Christmas Place, a name that says it all.

Santa Claus, Indiana. Although Santa Claus's official mailing address is the North Pole, he has a post office in Santa Claus, Indiana, a town that honors him 365 days a year with Christmas-themed attractions such as Santa's Candy Castle, the Santa Claus Christmas Store, Santa's Stables, and more. Rumors have it, he is often spotted there during the summer.

5 Tips to Remember When Driving on Icy Roads

When ice covers the neighborhood pond, it makes skaters happy. But when ice covers the roads and highways, drivers feel quite differently about the slippery substance.

Ice is a major cause of winter accidents because it's not always visible. Also, some drivers feel overconfident about driving on ice due to their car's high-tech safety features.

Overconfident drivers may end up ruing their lack of precaution, however, if treacherous ice causes them to slip, slide, skid and spin wildly out of control. These five tips from Sheehy Nissan of Mechanicsville will help you stay on solid ground even if it's a sheet of solid ice.

Buckle up and put on your defroster

You should wear your seat belt at all times, but especially during icy conditions when accidents occur at a greater rate than normal. Put on your defroster, too. Your defroster helps to keep your car windows from forming ice and melts snow if you're facing the double winter whammy of ice and snow.

You always need to keep your visibility clear but especially in bad weather. Prepare for the unexpected and be on high alert for potential dangers like skidding, slipping or stalled cars blocking the road.

Slow it down

Seems like all drivers should know it’s important to reduce their speed when driving on icy pavement, but some drivers think that snow tires, all-wheel drive (AWD) and electronic stability control (ESC) will eliminate slipping and sliding.

Good tires help to grip the pavement, AWD assists in accelerating and staying mobile, and ESC helps to avoid spinouts, but even improved traction won't keep you safe if you're traveling at speeds too high for icy conditions. By reducing your speed, you give yourself a better chance to stop safely, to stay on the road, and to get where you're going in one piece.

Don't stomp on the brakes

When the roads are icy, you have to drive with greater caution and with slower, gentler actions. Brake softly, and try to avoid sudden hard stops which can initiate a spin that you may not recover from. If you do find yourself skidding:

• Immediately, take your foot off the gas pedal or brake
• Let the car naturally slow down and gain traction
• Steer in the direction you want the car to go
• As your traction improves, gently brake or accelerate as needed
• Avoid over steering or sudden sharp turns

If you're walking on ice and quickly twist your feet in another direction, most likely you'll fall. That's why people walk cautiously and prudently on icy patches. Same thing goes for your car. Sudden, quick, steering maneuvers can create skidding just like over braking.

Follow the skidding advice above, because it doesn't' matter how or where you're attempting to steer the car's wheels if they have no traction. Only when the tires are gripping the road and actually rolling can turning the steering wheel alter their direction and yours.

Be aware of road conditions

Check social media, TV or the radio to see what meteorologists are saying about the weather. Low temperatures and even a few droplets of precipitation can make ice. Also, keep in mind, black ice may look like an innocent puddle, but if you know it's 31 degrees outside and there's light rain, you should treat the roads like a sheet of ice whether you can see it or not.

Understanding Winter Tire Pressure

When it comes to driving in the winter, some drivers assume that the only thing they need to worry about is keeping warm. However, the hazardous winter driving conditions present a number of different challenges, with traction being one of the most serious. Slushy, icy, wet roads present a serious hazard for drivers, and it is important to do everything you can to ensure that your car stays on the road safely. Your tire pressure is an important part of the puzzle.

Checking your tire pressure is one of the easiest auto maintenance tasks that you can carry out. Purchase a tire pressure gauge for a few dollars and you can check the tires at home. If your readings don’t match the manufacturer's guidelines, visit a gas station or visit us at Sheehy Nissan of Mechanicsville to make the adjustments. 

Maintaining the right pressure helps ensure that your car handles well and that the tires wear evenly and ultimately last longer. Keeping the right tire pressure in winter becomes a little more complicated, however.

The colder weather causes the air temperature in your tires to drop. The drop in temperature means that the air inside the tire contracts, lowering the air pressure. If you start driving, the air in the tires warms up again, but lowers as soon as you stop. This makes it harder to keep the tire pressure within the recommended range. If you take the pressure before you start driving you will get a different result to one that you take after you have just driven a long way.

What does this mean? Well, if you suffer relative extremes in temperature during the winter (cold nights and warmer, sunny days), then the time of day that you adjust your tire pressure could have different results. Set in the afternoon, when it is warmer, and you may find that the pressure is not suitable when you leave for work in the morning.

There are three things that you can do to help combat this:

• Take the outside temperature into account. If you are adjusting pressure when it is warmer, then you need to account for the decrease in temperature overnight. Increase the tire pressure during a particularly cold spell.
• Check the pressure more often. Try to check the pressure every few days, particularly during extremes of temperature.
• Use the manufacturer's recommended pressure. This is the pressure when the tire is cold.

Keeping your tire pressure correct during the winter could save you money and keep you safe. Talk to your dealer if you have any questions.

The Benefits of Winter Driving Technology

Winter driving technology has come a long way beyond heated seats and power steering wheels. While those improvements are welcome, there are other features that make driving in winter weather safer and less of a hardship. Read on for information regarding six different types of winter driving technology from Sheehy Nissan of Mechanicsville.

Accident preventive anti-lock brakes

Having anti-lock brakes on your car makes sense during any season, but especially for winter driving. An anti-lock brake system keeps your car under control when applying your brakes. This feature stops your car wheels from locking and helps to prevent skidding by shortening stopping distances. Even if you find yourself in a dangerous situation, your anti-lock brakes will allow you to continue steering your car while bringing it to a halt.

Heated side mirrors for safety

When you drive during extreme winter weather conditions, you need to be able to see not only the road in front of you but also the road behind you. Heated side mirrors are a common safety option on many new vehicles. The heating element clears snow, ice, fog and prevents any more build-up as you continue to drive. Certain models connect the heated side mirror function to the rear window defroster, while many others have a dedicated button for this purpose.

Improved windshield technology

Although heated windshields are rare, more common are heated wipers (also called "de-icers") and washers. No matter what this feature is called, the point is that the heating element dislodges frozen wipers to allow them to clear the full arc of your vision through the windshield. Most new cars offer this technology as an added option with its own control button, while others connect the feature to work automatically with standard feature defrosters. Windshield washer fluid is always accessible during freezing temperatures when you have heated nozzles/hoses connected to the washer reservoir.

Remote start feature

This feature is especially attractive for people who hate to get into a cold standing car. When your car has the remote start feature, you can turn the car on automatically without getting inside. The best system will also turn on the heat and activate defrosters and heated seat warming. While this feature isn't environmentally friendly because it wastes fuel, it is a luxury feature that people choose if they drive in extreme winter weather conditions.

Special winter transmissions

Winter transmissions help to prevent your tires from slipping during acceleration whether you have traction control or not. Transmissions with this feature begin to accelerate in second gear (not first) while shifting automatically and promptly through higher gears. Why so quickly? Because when a car uses higher gears, thrust is reduced at the drive wheels.

Vision enhancing adaptive headlights

While standard headlights shine directly ahead in a straightforward way, adoptive headlights react to steering speed and car elevation and adjust automatically to illuminate your road vision ahead. Steer your car left and adaptive headlights will angle to the left as well. These headlights are designed to help not only the driver, but to also other cars driving towards you on the same road. Who hasn't been blinded by on-coming car headlights? Because adaptive headlights are directed downwards toward the road, headlight glare is reduced.