There was a lot of wiener in my life last weekend

I know this sounds weird to say, but there was a lot of wiener in my life last weekend. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was at the Delaware State Fair, but the fine folks driving the 27-foot-long, hot dog-shaped vehicle stayed at the Staybridge Suites outside Lewes during their stay. Unexpectedly, it ended up being a weekend of Wienermobile sightings – once Friday, twice Saturday and once again Sunday.

My wife first pointed it out on our way to taking the kids to junior guards in Rehoboth Beach last Friday. The hotel sits back from Route 1, but it’s the type of vehicle that grabs attention. While I drove, she pulled out her phone. She learned it was going to be at the fair the next few days.

The next morning, I had to be in Rehoboth for an assignment, so I left a few minutes early hoping the Wienermobile was still at the hotel. It was, so I stopped by the hotel and took some photos. That afternoon, we went to the fair. Seeing the Wienermobile was one of the top priorities for the kids. Luckily, it was easy to find – they set up right at the entrance. The kids got their Wiener Whistles.

I took a photo of the information board. Similar to horses and hands, the information is provided in hot dogs; the Wienermobile is 24 hot dogs high, 60 hot dogs long, 18 hot dogs wide and it weighs 140,500 hot dogs.

The morning after the fair, we went to the beach, and wouldn’t you know it, we saw the Wienermobile driving north on Route 1, near Meineke. It’s funny seeing the Wienermobile unexpectedly out in the wild, and the kids loved it.

Nobody likes getting stuck in traffic, but my wife and I were talking about how, if you’re going to be stuck in traffic, it might as well be next to the Wienermobile. It undoubtedly made the trip home that much better for many travelers.

Estimated travel times

Not too long ago, and not too far up the road from Staybridge Suites, the Delaware Department of Transportation installed a message board on the Route 1 island at Midway.

Soon after the summer visitors began to clog the roads, I noticed the board’s message changed from advising motorists about not driving too fast to estimated travel times to points south. I had planned on taking a photo of the board with its estimated travel times, because I was interested in knowing how DelDOT gets those estimates. I didn’t get that photo because someone knocked it over July 5. I know the specific date because the accident happened at night, and I drove by it on my way home after covering the fireworks in Rehoboth Beach.

I reached out to DelDOT anyway because I was still interested.

According to spokesman C.R. McLeod, DelDOT has a network of about 300 sensors on about 600 road segments that are used to monitor travel times.

For travel-time destinations, DelDOT chooses major landmarks that motorists should recognize. For this location, he said, northbound traffic was advised of travel times to Hudson Fields outside Milton and Route 113 in Milford, while southbound traffic was advised of travel times to Rehoboth Avenue Extended and the Indian River Inlet bridge.

McLeod said there’s no timeline to fix the local message board, but the information is always available on DelDOT’s interactive website at deldot.gov/map. There are a number of different information options on the website. For travel times, click on the specific link.

Joke of the Week

We always go to the state fair at least once a year. I like milling about all the different barns to see the farm animals. I’m always amazed how calm they act with all the humans around them. The animals I like the most are the cows, which works well for this column because reader Jane recently submitted a few cow-related jokes and one-liners. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com. 

• A thought-provoking question: When a cow laughs, does milk come out her nose?

• What do you call a cow that doesn't give milk? A milk dud.

• What do you call a cow with a twitch? Beef jerky.