I just finished Tampa to New Hampshire round trip with wide, dog and new Hyundai Palisade. Was a great trip and all went well. I stayed inland up 81 instead of 95.

Kind of looking at doing highway 50 coast to coast or Route 66 next year, will see.

Sounds like quite the epic journey you’ve got planned! I hear you on balancing drive time with staying safe—10-12 hours a day is a good plan. The star-gazing stop sounds like a unique touch, and I bet it’ll be a nice break from the drive. As for the tools and gear, that’s some serious workshop setup! If you’re passing through those cities, maybe check out some local diners or coffee shops for a bit of variety.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Anyone else putting in a long road trip before summer's over?

Yep. This Friday I am flying Denver to NJ to pick up a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 from my sister and driving it back to Colorado. I'll probably start the drive early Sunday or Monday morning. This will be the 7th trip between the 2 states. It's about 26-28 hours of driving time and ~1,800 miles. I used to do it over 2 days. Day 1 drive 16 hours and day 2 drive 10-12 hours. Now at 51 I am not sure I can do 16 hours of seat time at once. I might break it into 3 days.

This is the first time the vehicle is not mine and I am not 100% confident in it. I'm taking some tools with me and buying some in NJ after I land.

My dad bought it for my nephew several years back but he doesn't want it...Long story.

1967Goat, I hope that trip goes smooth. That’s a nice truck!

Completed the first leg of the trip about four days ago. Today is my last full day at my mother’s place. Thankfully I got some help from a fella that’s been helping remodel some of the stuff in the house, and we got all the heavy stuff loaded in the 4x8’ Uhaul. It was just enough space.

I had originally hoped to leave this morning, but I was so wiped out yesterday that I sat and talked with my mother and then napped most of the afternoon. Trying to be careful about not pushing myself too hard. My first day working in the garage, the first thing I did was pop something in my lower back. I have bad L3 and L4 discs, so I was worried I shot the trip right there. Thankfully, I’ve been sore, but haven’t had the amazing pain that comes with a ruptured disc.

Going to take the same route back, and picking up my carry rig from Mark123 on the first night. Stayed the night on the way up and had a good visit. Had a nice dinner and the we cranked up some amps and played guitar in the basement. Looking forward to more of that. Mark and his wife are kind, gracious hosts and have my gratitude.

So now for the last half of this journey. No major mishaps or failures so far, and fairly smooth sailing. Hoping for that on the return. I plan to sleep in the back seat of the truck, not trusting that my little trailer stuffed with tools, so it’s going to be a long trip. I had one night where I pushed the driving to a few hours after dark and I won’t be repeating that. I found a few potholes you could hide a small country in by surprise and I don’t want to do that with the trailer attached, so it’ll be me waking up at first light and stopping before sunset. I figure at least a full four days, possibly five since I’ll be moving slower with the trailer.

My trip isn't starting off very well. Was supposed to take off at 1:50 pm yesterday. United delayed the flight 30 minutes, then 4 hours. About 2 hours in they canceled the flight. Since I'm driving back I took an Uber. United was of zero help. Since it was my origin they wouldn't offer a hotel room and I couldn't get a later flight yesterday. Luckily I have a bunch of unused Marriott points so I got a hotel room.

There is basically no one at the airport to help book a different flight. Everyone tells you to call customer support. Took me an hour to get a new direct flight to Newark. Lucky for me I built in some extra travel days so it doesn't screw me too badly. My sister works so I was looking forward to seeing her both Saturday and Sunday. Oh well.

In the air now and land at 4 PM. I hope that's it as far as problems go.

It was good to see you again, Ed. Drive safely.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I hope that's it as far as problems go.

Yeesh. How did it pan out after that?

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
It was good to see you again, Ed. Drive safely.

Really enjoyed sitting and sharing some laughs with you and the Mrs. If you guys ever find yourself in AZ, you always have a place to stay.

Made it back last night. Some random thoughts and notes follow. I will keep it brief because I'm still frazzled.

Given enough sugar free Red Bull, nearly anything is possible.

Much of our country is beautiful, and worth seeing, but I am from the Southwest, and I am glad to be back west of the Mississippi. For my money, sweeping vistas and miles of nothing but terrain that won't be settled as far as the eye can see is where it's at. My morale started to greatly improve when I crossed into Oklahoma and found myself staring out at what's left of the Great Plains.

Tangentially related to that is that I was immeasurably happy to be the fuck out of Arkansas. Let's talk about this real quick: We have a thread here singing the praises of the Arkansas State Patrol because they've run some people off the road and shot them. Some here have taken this to mean that they are great at what they do. Objectively speaking, if the job of the state highway patrol is to maintain the safe and orderly flow of traffic on the highways, then they are not, by any measure I can determine, succeeding at their mandate. Without contest, the most stressful and dangerous parts of the journey both this year and last were on I40E and I40W within the borders of the state of Arkansas. Semi trucks stack up in both lanes, taking fifteen minutes or more to pass each other, and drivers respond by stacking up on their bumpers and trying to pass on the right. I saw road rage, I saw people cutting each other off, I saw multiple near-collisions. You know what I didn't see? The Arkansas State Patrol. Not once. They may have some fantastic combat drivers and stalwart gunfighters amongst their ranks, but given my time on their roadways, I'm far more impressed with the highway patrols in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Kentucky, and (as much as it pains me to say anything positive about this state) New York in terms of raw presence and enforcement. This time, as last year, as every time I've been through Arkansas, I saw more shredded tires and random car parts scattered along the road than anywhere else. Their highways are outright neglected. Oh, and not for nothing, but if y'all aren't going to patrol them and enforce the laws, then you might at least consider making parts of them three lanes like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Tennessee have done in many places so that the traffic can breathe a bit. Just a thought.

Driving a Ram 1500 with Arizona plates yielded me fairer treatment from fellow drivers across the entire country than did driving a Chrysler Pacifica with New York plates, well... anywhere.

People drive more courteously on tribal land than anywhere else, unless they have California plates.

I got my driver's license after I left Texas, so I was unaware of this, but apparently getting your plates in Texas entitles one to sit in the fucking left lane everywhere in the country. Many people do this, but Texans consistently do it more. As a native and a descendant of one of the first 200 families to buy land in Texas, I was very disappointed to observe this.

Driving over and through the foothills of the Rockies in northern New Mexico is peaceful and enjoyable going west to east in an empty pickup truck. Driving east to west laden with probably a few thousand pounds made my new fan motor sound like my wife's hair dryer set to "I'm late for work."

If you can handle sleeping in a reclined truck seat, sleeping at a truck stop with the windshield shade up to block out the lights is actually not a horrible way to spend the night and save some dough.

While it was a fun experience overall, it's not one I'd like to repeat. That's too much driving for me in too short a time. Two or three days of driving, sure. Four or five? Pushing it. Nine or ten days out of fourteen? Not again any time soon, and especially not if I have to drive through Arkansas.

Oh, did you know there's no direct route between Kentucky and Missouri that doesn't take you through Illinois? It's true. Some funky stuff going back to the mid 1800's and border disputes, but one cannot just drive through Kentucky into Missouri. I was able to carry a handgun for every bit of the drive outside of New York, either open or concealed (big thanks again to Mark for letting me keep my carry rig in his safe while I braved the communist wilds of New York), but I wasn't going to risk Illinois. I hated driving through Arkansas so much that on the way back, I actually considered risking it for the few minutes it would've taken me to drive through that little sliver of Illinios, but decided my luck should only be leaned on so hard.

I do want to do a road trip with my son this coming year. A big loop around the center of the country seems about right. Up through the Rockies to Montana, back down through the Dakotas and then come back around through the plains, and camp out in the deep dark and look at the stars.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed your 2024 road trip, and if you haven't had it yet like Cas, I hope it goes smooth. Goat, we need to hear how that trip with the 2500 went when you get your chance. I hope the screwed up flights were the worst of it.

Age catches up to you. I used to boast to my wife that it took me only 3 days to drive from FL to CA. That I drove from San Francisco to LA in 4 hours regularly.

The first time we drove from San Francisco to LA, I had to stop and rest. And, now, when we plan our trips, I plan for a hotel stop just before sundown so that's maybe at most 10 hours of being on the road with breaks. It's probably more like 8 hours.

P220:

That’s the first time I’ve ever read “Malone” in SF. I grew up S of Syracuse (Cortland), a college pal is from Burke.

I escaped from NY close to 40 years ago, now quite happy in Iowa, nowhere near your route.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Age catches up to you.

It's early yet, but that'll probably be the truest thing I hear all day.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
And, now, when we plan our trips, I plan for a hotel stop just before sundown so that's maybe at most 10 hours of being on the road with breaks. It's probably more like 8 hours.

Speaks directly to me discovering that my estimation of how long things will take was way off. GPS says a trip takes eight hours, so I think nine altogether. No, more like ten and change. Even if I'm just stopping for gas and to take a piss a couple times, it somehow adds two hours.

I think going forward, I'm going to consider no more than eight hours of actual time on the road per day. More than that and I'm not feeling great. The last day of it, I pulled at least fourteen hours, maybe closer to fifteen. Not wise, but I wanted so badly to be done.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I hope that's it as far as problems go.

Yeesh. How did it pan out after that?

Goat, we need to hear how that trip with the 2500 went when you get your chance. I hope the screwed up flights were the worst of it.

I .ade it from NJ to Denver in 2 days. The freaking Marriott I stayed at when my flight was cancelled had BED BUGS! I'm still dealing with it. About 100 bites on both legs, mostly around ankles. The itching is driving me insane.

I'll post more later and will spare you the pictures of my legs.

We just got back from WA to North Dakota. Then ND to Texas via KC. Hopped on a cruise then TX to New Mexico for Carlsbad, Flagstaff for the Grand Canyon, Vegas then back to WA via eastern OR.

Hell of a trip, if someone calls it flyover country I assume they haven't driven it. I think our biggest issue was the time it took for all of the photos to upload to the computer.

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
The freaking Marriott I stayed at when my flight was cancelled had BED BUGS!

Oh Sweet Jesus. I'd have set fire to my suitcase in the parking lot and driven off naked. I hope you get all that sorted out.

quote:

Originally posted by Anubismp:
Trip.

I think you may have me beat, there. That's a road trip!

quote:

Originally posted by Anubismp:
back to WA via eastern OR.

Of everywhere I've driven so far, eastern Oregon had me absolutely stunned for beauty and expanse. I'd come over a rise and see a valley drop away ahead of me and it would take what felt like forever to get to the other side, and I almost didn't want to. If it wasn't for Portland running the whole state, I could've stopped at any one of a couple dozen spots and just stayed there the rest of my life, happy.

quote:

Originally posted by Anubismp:
Hell of a trip, if someone calls it flyover country I assume they haven't driven it.

Agreed, and right on the tails off that, I'd add "and need to." You drove through some of the most beautiful parts of the country.