Hitting the road? Memorial Day travel on the rise for 2015

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Escaping town for a long, relaxing weekend is a Memorial Day tradition for many. But before the relaxing, comes the travel.

"We've been actually having a lot of people coming in and traveling, filling up for gas, and getting on the road," said Mobile Gas Station attendant Lorielle Carter.

AAA estimates 37.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. That's a 4.7 percent increase from last year. 88 percent of those travelers are heading to their destination by car.

"People are coming from Minneapolis and California so we're all kind of meeting in Milwaukee for the weekend so it should be a good time," said Emma Hunter just after she made the trip from Chicago to Milwaukee.

"It wasn't too bad actually I was anticipating a little traffic, but no. I think I squeaked out right after rush hour," said Hunter.

Some good news for drivers, AAA says those behind the wheel will likely pay the lowest Memorial Day gas prices in at least five years, with the average price at $2.66. Those heading out of town this holiday weekend that didn't want to hit the road, are instead taking to the sky.

"I'm going to Washington D.C. to spend a long weekend with my daughter," said Diane Grassl as she waited in the airport.

AAA expects holiday air travel to increase by 2.5 percent to 2.6 million travelers. General Mitchell had plenty of people catching a flight for the weekend and for many it was smooth sailing.

"So far not so bad. This is an easy airport to sort of get in and out of, but I'm heading to Chicago and I expect there's going to be a bottle neck there," said Phil Sexton.

Whether you're going near or far, usually once you get there it's all worth it.