The great Thanksgiving getaway

>>> do you feel this vehicle is safe for highway travel ?

>> yes, i do. yes, i really do. i believe that. i know it's not pretty to look at but it will get you where you want to go.

>> you have no outside mirror.

>> we lost this.

>> no functioning gauges.

>> not a one. however, the radio still works. i mean, funny as that may seem. the only radio is only thing that's working good. don't ask me how. shut up and drive shut up and drive

>>> live look at interstate 4 in orlando, florida, on this the busiest travel day of the year. 43 million americans will go by plane, train or automobile to make it to their thanksgiving destination. and for many, that is proving to be quite a challenge. let's start in atlanta. maria la rosa at one of the nation's biggest hubs, hartsfield jackson international airport .

>> krystal, as far as weather and travel goes, you have the whole fanpackage right now. we happen to be right now is called the downtown connecter. where we have the major interstates 75 and 85 connecting in midtown, getting through downtown atlanta and then taking you off towards the airport which is south of town. it has been clear skies, clear sailing since this morning where usually you have about 200,000 to 300,000 travelers on this very busy stretch of highway on any given day any way but all is well. hasn't been the country, of course. the big northwest pacific northwest storm continuing to bring driving rain and wind. places like the 5, i-90 out of

seattle: past there, mountain snow. the wind and rain continues but looks like that will ease up as we get in towards tomorrow. but we'll have to keep an eye on san francisco and seattle for potential delays. and of course, earlier today it was all about the fog. in places like st. louis, indianapolis reported low visibility at times and chicago , the hardest hit especially midway which actually had some flight cancelations earlier today because of the fog. eventually that will lift out and making traveling in and around parts of the midwest much easier with the rest of the afternoon and the evening. numbers amazing. 45% of holiday travelers traveling today and thankfully, mother nature is giving us a little bit of a break. latest of the atlanta. krystal, back to you.

>> all right. thank you.

>>> now we have nbc meteorologist dylan drier with the thanksgiving forecast. how's it looking?

>> for thanksgiving , looking okay and you have to deal with traffic as opposed to added trouble of rain or snow. most of the middle of the country with some fog earlier this morning, it is finally starting to lift back through chicago and temperatures are warming up nicely through the plain states and through the nation's heartland and you can see from the center of the country all the way east we have nothing but clear skies, lots of sunshine but out west where half of my family lives we have a lot of rain from seattle right down through portland, oregon. and stretching down in to california, as well. there could be some delays in the seattle area. anyone traveling through the mountain passes we are seeing several inches of snow. been raining and snowing out that way since last weekend. so, travel troubles continue in the northwest but everywhere else we are seeing a good amount of sunshine for what's left of the travel this evening. tonight looks clear and not too cold so icy patches not an issue but tomorrow it will actually be a white thanksgiving across portions of northern north dakota , northern minnesota. but elsewhere, again, seeing sunshine. a couple of showers possible through the chicago area . nothing that should create too too many delays and still a nuisance but most people will already be in their destination getting to thanksgiving and then friday some of that lighter rain starting to spread eastward. otherwise, thanksgiving looks good.

>> thanks so much for that.

>>> for more on holiday travel , we're joined by wendy saks. toure?

>> let's talk about the biggest choke points and people traveling in to and from them and what will be the number one worst airport to be moving through over the next few days?

>> well, the trip adviser survey found that the most popular cities for travel this thanksgiving are chicago , los angeles , new york, philadelphia and boston. so i would say that those are going to be some of the busiest airports this holiday season .

>> you know, wendy , not everybody goes over the river and through the woods to have turkey and cranberry sauce with grandma. most depressing thing i saw this week is families camping out at the big box stores like now and they're going to have, you know, i don't know canned food or something tomorrow for lunch and dinner or whatever you call it and then black friday. that depresses me. are there other more fun unconventional thanksgiving you have heard of?

>> well, what i found is really interesting. the trip adviser survey found about 40% of people are actually dining out this thanksgiving . they're not cooking at home. they're going out to a restaurant. so that was pretty interesting. not everyone wants the stress of making the turkey.

>> cowards!

>> that's okay. but i would recommend you find your restaurant in advance. a lot aren't actually open on thanksgiving so make sure you have your reservations well in advance. we also found that people are shopping which is not such a big surprise but about 30% of the trip adviser people surveyed said they're going to the mall and they're going to be taking advantage of the black friday sales.

>> well, wendy , you know, everyone makes a really big deal about traveling to today and tomorrow. what about sunday because i'm going to be flying that day. what am i in store for?

>> what about me?

>> yeah. what about me.

>> brutal. i would avoid sunday.

>> oh no.

>> yeah. you know, and people are also hitting the roads in huge numbers and 70% of the people that trip adviser surveyed said they're going to drive during offpeak times so those peak times are wednesday. this is one of the busiest travel days of the year and sunday.

>> great.

>> if there's a way to travel on early thursday morning or saturday that's recommended.

>> so you're saying my plan to drive on i-95 tonight and sunday is maybe not the best way to go. all right.

>> i would say avoid that if you can.

>> all right. wendy , thanks for that. happy thanksgiving .

>> thanks, so much.

>>> coming up, a special turkey day spin cycle. what we are thankful for this year. binders of women? transvaginal probes? what is it going to be? find out next. some