Driving across Texas, take at least two, three is better, of milk jugs filled with good water. I live in Texas and we do. My personal opinion is you will need what you don’t have. I predict you will never need that water, but life is too valuable to not take it with you.
Likewise, even if your car does not fail, you may encounter someone whose car has failed, and you can take care of them with your three gallons of water.
I also carry a fire extinguisher. I have long carried a 5 pounder, but here in Mexico there is usually no fire department except in cities, so I updated to a ten pounder. I should be able to handle anything but a gas tanker, heh, heh.
On a long trip, due to low costs now for a cell phone, such as Straight Talk from Wal-mart, i would carry one with me. We bought one last October and sent it in the free recycle mailer when we got home and drove into Mexico. There is almost universal coverage across the US. And, family can call you almost anywhere any time. If you already have one, that is fine.
A few years ago, in January i think it was, I stopped in a motel in Matehuala in Mexico. A couple next to us was returning to Minnesota. The motel rooms aren’t heated, and she had been very cold in the night. I asked her, and she didn’t even have a coat with her. We were used to sleeping in the cold and slept as warm as toast.
Note they had driven across Minnesota in the dead of winter, and she had no coat in the car. I call this sort of nonsense, attempted suicide.
But. a new Malibu? Start up defects are possible, but very unlikely you will have anything go wrong in only 5000 miles of highway driving. That is the easiest miles a car can have.
Make sure to fill up on gasoline with no less than a quarter tank, maybe even half. It doesn’t take that long to fill up every couple hundred miles while hitting the restroom. There are gas stations not that far apart, but I keep full in case of a wide spread power outage. Rare but does happen.
Another trick which works for me, though people may be different, if I start getting sleepy, I have light pop, that is, sugar free but with caffeine, with me to keep me alert. If that fails, i have plenty of Trident chewing gum. When I feel really sleepy, chewing a cud of gum wakes me up. I do not know if that is true for everyone or not.
Honestly, unless you get a very rare original defect, I expect a trouble-free trip. Way back in December 1964, I slapped a rebuilt motor and transmission in an old 1953 Chevrolet, and drove from the Midwest to Seattle, 2050 miles, in 50 hours when the Interstates were not finished. The only problem was a headlight burned out one night The gas station that replaced it said it was an original bulb, from 1953. They could tell by the paint on it.
