ROBERTSDALE, Alabama (WALA) – The vacation trips projected by the AAA would almost match the pre-pandemic 2019 Christmas season, but the roads were clear on Christmas Eve in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

Texas resident Nathan Hall knows Interstate 10 well enough to know how easily the Wallace Tunnel can become congested during rush hour. So he said he was a little surprised at how easily he got here from the Mississippi campsite where he had parked his RV for Thursday night.

“We watched it all morning,” he said as he pumped gasoline at Buc-ee’s store in Baldwin County. “We came out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. And that was one thing we always watched, was whether we were going to go around it or through it. And yesterday, it looked like it was pretty far back, about three, four miles. And today we seem to be looking green all over the place. I don’t think we slowed down much.

Despite its 120 pumps, Buc-ee is often crowded with passing travelers on I-10. But there were no lines on Friday and the highways were clear.

Thad Anderson, who lives north of Dallas, said his girlfriend was from coastal Alabama and they were both vacationing in the Gulf. He told FOX10 News they made most of the trip on Thursday. Friday was the last small step.

Anderson said there was no traffic problem.

“It really wasn’t that bad,” he said. “We left earlier and we beat a lot from Texas. … The highways were pretty good the whole way.

AAA has forecast nearly 110 million travelers from Thursday to Jan. 2 – the vast majority of them traveling by car.

AAA also has a interactive map on its website alerting drivers to places with COVID restrictions, such as masking requirements in public places in Atlanta and vaccination warrants for restaurants, bars and other entertainment businesses in New Orleans.

Many people stopping by Bucee on Friday said they had already reached their vacation destinations.

Phillip Ergle, for example, said he and his wife arrived at their condo in Orange Beach on Thursday. He said they choose a different place each year to spend the holidays.

“She just wanted to come to the beach for Christmas, so we decided to come to the beach for Christmas,” he said.

Ergle is from Phil Campbell, Alabama. It’s about 25 miles south of Muscle Shoals on the northern end of the state. He said he took the Baldwin Beach Express from his Orange Beach vacation spot on Friday because he wanted to see Buc-ee’s show firsthand.

“We’re just coming to check,” he said. “They’re going to build one over in Limestone County, Athens, Alabama.”

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