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I am planning to drive to Washinton, DC from Houston. Should I drive straight through (23 hours)? If I stop, where should I stay along the way? What do you think?
I plan on being gone for 5 days? Does this sound sufficient? I am just dropping someone off and resting a day or two while there. If you have done the trip before, tell me how you handled it.
There's no way that one person can make that drive staight through in a safe manner. If you have two drivers that can swap and start the trip well rested, and have no problem calling it quits if they run into bad weather or traffic and get a hotel room for the night, it can be done.
I haven't done that exact trip but I've done many similar and driven all of those roads, and if this trip is during the summer, you aren't likely to make it as quickly as you think. You'll probably get stuck behind campers and such in the mountains and not make the time you'd like to make.
To be honest, it would be a lot cheaper to just buy a one-way plane ticket for the person you are dropping off. The gas alone is going to run you over $300. You'll also need an oil change as soon as you get back, and you're putting 3000 miles of wear and tear on the car, not to mention parking costs in DC. That's all before food and a hotel room for you on the way back.
Five days sounds OK. After all, with a 70 mph speed limit all the way, you should be able to knock out 700-1000 miles a day without straining too hard.
From Houston, go east on I-10 to Baton Rouge, then I-12 to Slidell, LA, then north on I-59. Watch your speed on the exit ramp! It's a tight turn. There's a lot of construction along the way and the road can get pretty rough in places, but your only other good alternative is US-59 from Houston to Texarkana and believe me....that's an all day trip!
Stay on I-59 through Meridian, MS, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, AL (do take the I-459 bypass around Birmingham) until it deadends into I-24. Go east on that road through Chattanooga, then I-75 north toward Knoxville.
Just before K'ville, it'll merge into I-40 which you'll want to stay on right through downtown. There is a bypass, but it's not worth it to me. Stay on I-40 until you come to I-81 several miles east of Knoxville, then run that north up into Virginia. At about mile marker 299 or so, catch I-66 east into the DC metro area.
There isn't any place along that route where you can't find a motel when you get sleepy or gas or something to eat.
Alternatively, you could stay on I-10 to Mobile and go up the I-65/85/95 route through the Carolinas, but then you have to deal with the Atlanta, Greenville-Spartanburg, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Petersburg-Richmond urban areas where traffic is always a nightmare. Personally, I'd avoid that like the plague.
Stop when you feel like it. Every interstate exit town will have a motel, they will all have rooms, and they are perfectly safe with locks on the door and parking lot security, with restaurants nearby which will be exactly the same as the Wendy's and the Pizza Hut down the street from your house.
Try to plan your meal stops and rest stops so that you don't hit major cities between 4:30-6:00 pm. Like, if it's 4:30 and you're 30 miles short of Atlanta, eat early and leisurely. Same rule that applies to all trips all the time.
If you drive on the Interstate this time of year, I guarantee you will have at least one construction tie-up that will waste at least 30 minutes. Deal with it---it's life in America.
Stop when you feel like it. Every interstate exit town will have a motel, they will all have rooms, and they are perfectly safe with locks on the door and parking lot security, with restaurants nearby which will be exactly the same as the Wendy's and the Pizza Hut down the street from your house.
Try to plan your meal stops and rest stops so that you don't hit major cities between 4:30-6:00 pm. Like, if it's 4:30 and you're 30 miles short of Atlanta, eat early and leisurely. Same rule that applies to all trips all the time.
If you drive on the Interstate this time of year, I guarantee you will have at least one construction tie-up that will waste at least 30 minutes. Deal with it---it's life in America.
And, if you're planning to drive at night, stop to eat a high protein breakfast just as it starts to get light in the east. Proteins will wake you up and sunrise is the most dangerous time for nodding off.
Also, don't load up on carbs after sunset. They'll make you drowsy.
I've done with the kids from Dallas. 1 overnight. It's not a bad 2 day drive at all.
We used to live in the DC metro area so I will tell you to AVOID I-95 like the plague. From DFW we head up on 81 since we usually stay in the Leesburg area.
I would take 10 to 59 and then up to knoxville. Knoxville to DC an easy 1 day drive. From Knoxville take 81 up into VA. Then you can head into DC on 66. But bewarned 66 in rush hour is horrible and is HOV only inside the 495 loop during rush hour.
I love road trips and VA is one of my favorite states...so yes I owuld do it but take 6 days if you can. 4 for driving 2 to see DC! (and rest)
We just finished our big road trip for this year... DFW to NewYork (wedding) then NY to VA (picked up kids friends) then VA to NC (week in outerbanks) then back to DFW.
I'm making the same trip. We'd like to stay closer to bigger cities as much as possible, so we'd like the most urban route. The 3 routes I'm looking at are pretty much the same drive time. Which one of these would be the least rural?
- Highway 59/I-30/I-40/I-81 (layover in Nashville)
- I-10/I-59/I-81 (layover in Chattanooga)
- I-10/I-65/I-85 (layover in Atlanta)
Interested in this trip too. What are the must see's along the way for a 5 day road trip?
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