{"id":357616,"date":"2026-07-01T19:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/357616\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T19:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:07:12","slug":"fourth-of-july-getaway-heres-what-travelers-are-seeing-on-texas-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/357616\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth of July getaway? Here&#8217;s what travelers are seeing on Texas roads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ABILENE, Texas \u2014 The Fourth of July is right around the corner and people are already hitting the roads to get to their destination. <\/p>\n<p>KTXS spoke with some of those travelers to find out what their plans are for the holiday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I went down to El Dorado, Texas,&#8221; Fourth of July traveler, Davis Matteson, said. &#8220;And I&#8217;m coming back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ktxs.com\/news\/local\/fourth-of-july-fireworks-bring-a-surge-in-lost-pets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RELATED | Fourth of July fireworks bring a surge in lost pets<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re headed to the metroplex,&#8221; another Fourth of July traveler, Bill Patti, said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to see our family. All of our children are coming together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"As gas prices continue to drop, many people are making the most of the long holiday weekend with trips both near and far.(KTXS\/Scott Martin)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/91961df3-bf2c-47ab-809f-1058b2b19224-foruthtravel7.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>As gas prices continue to drop, many people are making the most of the long holiday weekend with trips both near and far.(KTXS\/Scott Martin)<\/p>\n<p>Holiday travel is already picking up across Texas, and many travelers told us they&#8217;ve noticed a steady flow of traffic as people head out for the long weekend.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Traffic&#8217;s not too bad,&#8221; Matteson said. &#8220;It&#8217;s rolling pretty good. There are a lot of highway patrol out making sure everybody&#8217;s obeying the speed limits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ktxs.com\/news\/local\/fireworks-sales-are-underway-heres-how-to-stay-safe-this-fourth-of-july\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RELATED | Before the boom: How to stay safe this Fourth of July<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been pretty busy since we left,&#8221; Bill Patti said. &#8220;So we&#8217;ve been on the road about an hour and a half or so. It&#8217;s been pretty steady with traffic. It looks like it&#8217;ll probably stay that way all the way to the metroplex. So it&#8217;s going to be everybody moving along, moving probably pretty quickly and faster than they should.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Once they arrive, many travelers are looking forward to spending quality time with family and making the most of the weekend. (KTXS\/Scott Martin)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c336d832-6a73-4543-ac95-4a8426a345d6-4thtravel4.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Once they arrive, many travelers are looking forward to spending quality time with family and making the most of the weekend. (KTXS\/Scott Martin)<\/p>\n<p>With more people expected on the roads this holiday weekend, drivers said that planning ahead and paying attention can help make the trip a little easier.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I use Google Maps on my truck to tell me where to go and what exits to take,&#8221; Matteson said. &#8220;So that that helps. But I just put it in cruise control and obey the rules.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ktxs.com\/news\/local\/kirby-lake-park-to-close-early-july-3-5-fireworks-prohibited\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RELATED | Kirby Lake Park to close early July 3-5; fireworks prohibited<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And of course, not everyone in the vehicle has to focus on the road.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I avoid looking at the road completely,&#8221; Fourth of July traveler, Angie Patti, said. &#8220;And I just read a book.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The 4th of July is right around the corner and people are already hitting the roads to get to their destination. (KTXS\/Scott Martin)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6eb609d2-4ad1-4330-aa66-52a18cdeb0f1-4thtravel3.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The 4th of July is right around the corner and people are already hitting the roads to get to their destination. (KTXS\/Scott Martin)<\/p>\n<p>Once they arrive, many travelers are looking forward to spending quality time with family and making the most of the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going to get out in the backyard and jump in the pool,&#8221; Matteson said. &#8220;Probably fire up the grill and just stay at home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ktxs.com\/news\/local\/it-is-a-little-painful-to-see-the-bill-residents-react-to-rising-cookout-costs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RELATED | &#8216;It is a little painful to see the bill,&#8217; Residents react to rising cookout costs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And as gas prices continue to drop, many people are making the most of the long holiday weekend with trips both near and far.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to do a baseball game with the Rangers tomorrow night,&#8221; Bill Patti said. &#8220;We have a gender reveal the following day. And then the Fourth of July.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"{p}With more people expected on the roads this holiday weekend, drivers said that planning ahead and paying attention can help make the trip a little easier. (KTXS\/Scott Martin){\/p}\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9fe10038-74e4-4d60-9504-05fc82aacf36-fourthtravel5.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>With more people expected on the roads this holiday weekend, drivers said that planning ahead and paying attention can help make the trip a little easier. (KTXS\/Scott Martin)<\/p>\n<p>Many people told us it\u2019s the traditions and the people that make the Fourth of July so memorable.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I always try to get the fireworks,&#8221; Matteson said. &#8220;Watch them, sometimes from a distance. So I don&#8217;t have to fight the crowd at the at the fireworks site.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ktxs.com\/news\/local\/we-lost-over-3000-people-what-drivers-need-to-know-before-july-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RELATED |  &#8216;We lost over 3,000 people&#8217;: What drivers need to know before July 4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We just make red, white, and blue jello and put them in little flutes,&#8221; Angie Patti said. &#8220;And layer it so it looks kind of festive, like the flag.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re traveling near or far, make sure you&#8217;re staying safe on the roads and after you get to your destination for this Fourth of July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABILENE, Texas \u2014 The Fourth of July is right around the corner and people are already hitting the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-357616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}