Easing the Travails of Travel

An estimated 45 million Americans will be on the road this summer, traveling by car, recreational vehicle or truck.

If your family is among them, some of these items may be just what you need:

* Travelers in, and residents of, California and Nevada might want to check out the Traveler’s Radio Guide.

Its listing of more than 700 AM and FM stations in the two states will help keep you from having to play Radio Russian Roulette in an unfamiliar area.

With this guide, which fits in a glove box, you can easily choose the station you want without scanning up and down the dials.

The orderly listing is organized by listening areas and types of programming.

There are 19 categories, ranging from adult contemporary to classical to news/talk to religious to rock. Foreign language stations are also included.

Reference cities are grouped in zones.

For example, in the Sacramento/Modesto area, Zone 11, you will find 25 AM and 42 FM stations to choose from. The Quincy/Susanville area has only three AM and three FM stations.

“Organizing the guide was easy,” says Peter Crowell of Pleasanton, Calif.

“The hard part was classifying the stations. We either listened to them or telephoned each one and asked what they played.”

Crowell explains that he came up with the idea for the radio guide while driving from his home to Los Angeles because he was “frustrated looking for a station I wanted to hear.”

Crowell plans to publish other guides by state or region. He is working on Oregon/Washington and Arizona/Utah.

The Traveler’s Radio Guide ($2.95) is available at most B. Dalton, Bookstar, Waldenbooks and Brentanos bookstores in California and Nevada.

If you can’t find it in your area, you can order it ($4.19 including shipping and handling) from TRG Publications, 3016 Badger Drive, Pleasanton, Calif. 94566; (510) 426-1121.

* The Walt Disney Co.’s Traveling with Children by Car Busy Bag may help solve the “Are we almost there, Daddy?” syndrome from youngsters who are bored riding in the car.

Designed for children ages 3 to 6, the Busy Bag is clear plastic with a handle and a snap closure.

Each kit includes a write-on/wipe-off color map of the United States and Canada and erasable pen; two Disney character sewing cards with yarn; a cassette of “Sing-Along Favorites for the Car,” including “This Old Man,” “Old MacDonald” and “Pop! Goes the Weasel;” a blank My Trip book and four colored pencils for children to record their travel experiences; 20 activity cards, and five Disney character picture cards.

For parents, there’s a 48-page guidebook complete with a fill-in calendar for easy trip planning.

The little book gives practical tips for packing, assigning space and duties for each child while in the car and setting guidelines for souvenir buying before each stop.

This kit and a similar one for plane travel were created by Estelle Kramer of Santa Fe, N. M., and Victoria Waller of Los Angeles, both of whom are educators, writers, parents and seasoned family travelers.

A bit pricey, but clever, Disney Busy Bags ($19.95 each) are available nationwide at selected gift, book and toy stores.

In Los Angeles you can find them at most Waldenbooks, Star Toys, Travelers Bookcase Inc., Book Box Inc. and Disney Stores in Glendale, Northridge and Montclair.

* Since buying International Games earlier this year, Mattel has introduced several inexpensive travel games to help families that hit the road.

There are three easy-to-play Sesame Street travel games for preschoolers, each packaged in a colorful plastic case with a handle.

Each case contains three games that can be played by one to four children. They include the I Remember Alphabet Game, the How Many? Counting Game and Mix and Match, a puzzle game.

Inside, kids will find cards showing their favorite Sesame Street characters: the Muppets, Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, etc.

Packaged in a similar case, The Where’s Waldo game is for kids over age 5. It invites them to follow Waldo through a series of adventures containing cowboys, pirates, mermaids and monsters.

The object is to spot Waldo first in the picture and collect the most Waldo cards.

The travel Sesame Street and Waldo games ($7) are available in nationwide toy shops and mass-marketing outlets.

Locally, you can find them at Toys ‘R’ Us, K mart and Target.