Drivers lined up beside their cars Tuesday night, squeezing the triggers on gas pump hoses and watching as the numbers practically fly off the display screen.  The big sign on State Road 44 boasted $2.99 per gallon. Not bad, but it adds up when you’re part of that endless stream of bumpers and headlights traveling on Interstate-75 to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Tuesday evening travelers got a bit of a jump on what is expected to be a record 81.8 million people traveling at least 50 miles from home, according to AAA. That’s a 1.3 million increase over last year. About 6 million were forecast to fly, but that number could switch to the road if flight cancellations become a problem.

Wednesday and Sunday were predicted to be the busiest days.

Florida was one of the top destinations, with people not only heading to theme parks but cruise ship ports, too.

Customers at the Pilot gas station had mixed reviews of the road conditions.

“Ocala’s bad,” says Genie White. “It was congested. Sometimes it slowed to 30 mph.”

“Back-to-back, back-to- back,” says a man who identified himself simply as Woody from Fitzgerald, Ga.

Yet another driver from Stone Mountain outside Atlanta said it was not bad at all.

Timing is everything.

Inside, clerks didn’t seem to think traffic at the register was overwhelming. “It will be busier tomorrow,” a woman said.

The store is a story in itself. It offers hot food dished out with tongs. For the less adventurous consumer, one aisle holds what might be the world’s largest display of jerky, including turkey jerky.

Canned and bottled drinks are lined up in coolers like new cars in a car dealership show room.

Some customers drag themselves out of their cars, stiff, bleary-eyed and exhausted.

Others, like the young couple with two young children were stronger, determined to tough it out. Pausing just long enough to let the girls pet a man’s dog on a leash, the husband couldn’t linger to talk.

“I’ve got to get my kids to the restroom,” he said.