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Most recent one I can remember is the three hour drive from Grand Rapids to Grosse Ile took over six hours due to snow (and idiots). That was about two weeks ago. Probably not the worst, just the one i can remember.
Oh, you remind me of 1986 or 1987 (not sure which). I had to drive from Southfield to a place just north of Kalamazoo. TThe normal 2.5 hour trip turned in to 7.5 hours on icy I-94. I remember 18 wheelers speeding past cars in the right lane that were going slow because of the ice. Every so many miles we would pass by the 18 wheelers that had gone off the road into farms.
the year my aunt gave me my falcon. i couldnt rent a tow dolly so i had a tow bar made. the only other problem was that the heater in my car went out, and i had to flat tow the car for 2300 miles. the problem with flat towing is that the car behind doesnt want to turn like it should, and the roads were slippery as well. what should have taken three days ended up taking six.
My best friend moved from our native Atlanta to Pittsburgh back in August 2015. I flew up to help him unpack and again at Thanksgiving. In February 2016, I decided to go for a two week visit. The cost for a rental car was ridiculous, so I decided to drive. It's normally a 10-11 hour drive (672 miles, door-to-door).
I'm not sure what I was thinking, but February is NOT the best time to trek through western Virginia and West Virginia. It snows quite a bit there. It's a surprisingly rural trip- the largest city between my home (about 50 miles north of Atlanta) and Pittsburgh is Knoxville, TN. So the roads I was driving weren't a top priority for the salt and gravel trucks.
I was hoping to drive straight through even though I got a late start at 2pm. I was humming along at 75-80mph until I was about 30 miles outside of Bristol TN/VA (just over four hours driving). Then it started raining and before I hit the VA state line, it was snowing. I decided to push on because the forecast was calling for heavy snow for the next two days.
The distance between Bristol, VA and Wytheville, VA is only 70 miles. It took me 3.5 hours to make that trek! As the snow got heavier and started sticking to the road, I kept going. I figured that my all-wheel-drive Mazda CX-9 would have no problem dealing with the slick roads....but traffic had slowed to about 35mph. Eventually, I learned what the term "white out" means. I was driving in the dark in heavy snow in a WHITE vehicle and I couldn't see more than 10 feet ahead! Finally, I gave in and stopped in Wytheville at a hotel. Total time should have been about 5.5-6 hours, but I was pushing 8.5 hours.
The next morning, it was snowing but the interstate was pretty clear. The story changed when I crossed into WV and the roads hadn't been salted. I quickly learned that all-wheel-drive is not invincible, not by a long shot. I also learned that when a 4300lb SUV starts to skid in one direction on snow/ice, it tends to continue in that direction until it gets traction or hits something! Luckily, I didn't hit anything but I had a few near-misses. I drove through most of WV at 35-45mph.
Long story short, I spent a total of 19.5 hours of driving time on a trip that should have taken half that time. The return trip home was much less eventful and only took a few minutes over 10 hours.
Had to go from my dads to my house which is about 28 miles and takes about 35 min usually. It decided to go from rain to ice so all the roads were covered in ice and I left before the salt trucks got out. Took me just over two hours to get home, talk about white knuckle driving. Watched one accident happen about 50ft infront of me that night and drove by a few others.
A drive to my job normally took 15 minutes. That morning it took four hours as freezing rain began to fall after I left home. I ended up putting my car in a ditch. It was a nightmare.
GA to PA. No traffic I can make it in 11 hours. One time it took 12.5. Started off the trip with a car fire on I 83 just south of the PA/MD border. It was at that perfect storm level were the side roads were already completely congested. It was Friday morning so there was a lot of traffic headed to Baltimore. Unfortunately right as I completed my detour they had cleared up the SB lanes so I ended up stuck with everyone else that had just been "released" from the jam. Throw in a stalled vehicle on the left and it was quite the delay. Went through Baltimore/DC so I expected a little traffic but there was a wreck on 95 so I had to detour around that. Then on the Baltimore-Washingotn Pkwy there was a wreck right at the beltway so I got off and detoured again. Then there was another wreck on 95 in VA right past the Beltway so I had to get off for that. Then it was smooth sailing til NC. Construction and a wreck on 85 north of Durham made me get off. Then there was a wreck on 85 just north of Charlotte so I got off there. Then on 85 in SC I got hit up with sunshine slow downs. A lot of bad spots where the sun was we'd come over a hill right into the sun.. I think that was it though.
I refuse to drive the sunday after Thanksgiving. Google Maps is lit up with red and yellow. I wait til Monday or Tuesday which is so much better.
About 20 years ago I left NE Wyoming for NE Iowa about this time of the year, a trip I'd made dozens of times in 12-14 hours. (Can't recall exactly, but usually a long day.) I got to Wall, SD (about 2-2.5 hours) and I-90 was closed ahead so got a motel room for the night. The next day the road was open, and I got another couple hundred miles behind me when the alternator went out of my Saab 9000T just outside Chamberlain, SD. The closest warehouse where they could get the correct alternator was in Canada. Then another road-closing storm came in, so we had to wait a couple EXTRA days for the part to arrive. They got it in just in time for still another snow storm to hit and close the road ahead of me. I believe it took 8 days.
São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro is always a nightmare to me.
Roughly a 450KM drive or 280 Miles and it always takes me around 9 hour.
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