Southern Californians are back to traveling for the Fourth of July weekend

We're getting back into the groove of things, and the Auto Club of Southern California said people are leaving their homes this Fourth of July weekend and traveling.

The Auto Club claimed 3.3 million Southern California residents will travel at least 50 miles or more from home this weekend.

“The vast majority of them, 2.8 million will be taking a road trip. About 412,000 will fly somewhere. And then about 45,000 will take another mode of transportation like a train or bus. The overall travel volume this 4th of July is 46% higher than what we saw on 4th of July last year.” said Doug Shupe, Auto Club of Southern California's Spokesperson.

While gas prices are on the rise, Shupe also said he doesn't believe this will deter anyone's plans as people are anxious to get back to the pre-pandemic feeling.

“Beaumont, California, going to Havasau, baby!” Havik Valencia, who was stopping at the Pilot gas station in Palm Springs to fuel up on his way to Arizona for the weekend, said.

Many Southern Californians, like Valencia and his friends, hit the road this holiday weekend.

“People are ready to go again, they’re ready to travel,” Shupe said.

Mid-day Friday the Pilot gas station off the I-10 freeway in Palm Springs was filled with travelers fueling up on the way to their destinations. Drivers said traffic was light.

“It’s been completely empty, no one on the road,” said Willam Pasillas, also at the gas station on his way to Arizona from Los Angeles.

The Auto Club is also predicting this summer overall to be a busy travel season, with high travel volume even carrying into 2022.

Palm Springs Airport officials said they expect it to be busier than usual the next few days. The airport even added a few early morning flights to the East Coast to get people where they need to be.

“We’re expecting this to be a busier 4th of July than normal. We have earlier flights. Right now we’re having about 30 flights a day over this coming holiday weekend," said Daniel Meier, Director of Marketing Air Service. "4th of July holiday weekend 2019 we had about 23 to 24. So we have more available flights, we have more airlines. And we’re definitely seeing a positive impact with passenger numbers as far as restrictions being lifted.”

Many people at the airport Friday said they were visiting friends and family they haven’t been able to see since before the pandemic began.

“The airports are really crowded, everybody’s traveling again, so that’s good to see,” said Laura Lee, who flew into the Palm Springs airport to visit family in the Coachella Valley.

“It’s nice to get out in the world again, to be able to fly somewhere again, it’s beautiful,” said Ressler Karp, who was headed to Northern California to visit friends.

If you're planning on heading to the airport, give yourself enough time to check-in bags, and make it through security.

If you're driving a car, make sure you check tires and the car battery to ensure it'll survive the road trip.