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Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
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Just like someone said...when moving we put the pedal to the metal and gunned it down I75 for 8 hrs pulling a trailer full of stuff.....Now when we do trips I will not be in the car more than 5 hrs max...my husband has to stop at every Harley Dealership..every state visitor center/welcome site.. And every scenic look out....
I try to stop and walk. During two of our road trips over the past few years I have ended up with a blood clot in my leg. The last one was after a 15 hour drive back from FL.
I do a lot of my vacations via car, so I stop all the time!
Two weeks before I leave, I google areas along my route, and adjust my route if necessary to see specific things. I also pack a cooler, camping stove, and food so roadside meals can be spur-of-the-moment.
I write up a rough schedule for each day, but once I get going, I may or may not follow it. I may spend longer somewhere or decide something else isn't worth my time. I also may or may not see or do everything on my list.
Also, if I see something not on my list that looks interesting, I'll probably stop.
Frequently, my overall goals for the trip are to have fun, relax, and learn something new.
The only time I do peddle to the metal is if I'm doing a business trip, like when I was house hunting in Iowa from Ohio. It was critical that I got there ASAP. However, on the way back, I stopped at several things that piqued my interest on the way out. In general, I take a break every two hours, unless it's an unsafe area.
I drove from Maine to Tennessee last month to oversee delivery of a modular home to some land we had purchased. I was alone, so no one else to consider. I started out at 4:30 am on a Sunday morning...quiet, cool, virtually zero traffic. My kinda conditions! I didn't arrive till almost 9 pm, after taking just a couple of brief stops. Did the same thing for the drive back to Maine - out on the road pre-dawn on a Sunday morning, and arriving after dark in Maine. There WAS one difference though - on the way back, I stopped at a restaurant that I like for grits and eggs and fresh biscuits! Mmmm, made all the difference in the world on the way back! (Why can't they make grits like that in Maine??).
My hometown is near Dallas and I went to college in Austin. A lot of people with it angry that I would not want to stop during the 206 mile trip from one place to the other. I figured if we could get there in 3 hours, why bother with all this stopping? Seemed very pointless.
We've been doing quite a few road trips the last few years (flying is not an option because the destination is rural, two hours from airport and we take our wee little dog) and neither of us is fully retired yet. Since vacation days are limited we make the most of our drive time.
We usually get a good night's sleep before leaving, leave around 4-5AM the first day. Once we leave our house the drive goes through about 6-7 hours of nothing-ness, seriously, hours of flat dry landscape. There is one small town with a gas station and McDonalds, everyone stops there. So we drive about the first 8 hours with one stop, then we will stop for a meal, push on for another 6 hours before stopping for the night around 8pm. We trade off driving whenever needed, but we usually walk the dog, do potty and snack runs while filling gas. When we get to the hotel we might do a quick dip in the pool to relax. But generally we get to bed by 10 and set the alarm for 4-5 so we can get showers in and grab a quick bite before hitting the road. We will generally do a drive-thru around 9-10am for a late breakfast. Then after 2pm for a late lunch (you miss that whole 11-2 lunch crowd), and we will usually make it to our destination by 9-10 that night. If we feel the need we stop around 7pm to freshen up and grab something to eat.
I'm really looking forward to retirement after a few more years, or a company that gives people the opportunity to take more than a week at a time for vacations. My husband can take 2 weeks if he wants. But my company would have kittens if I took more than a week. There is no one to do my job while I'm gone so the work just piles up on my desk.
My husband has usually preferred driving over flying for as long as I can remember. He likes to see the landscape along the way. And when we both worked for the school district and had summers off, we routinely packed up the car and left for 6-8 weeks with our child. Back then we still did long days, but we stopped for a lot of stuff along the way. And we were able to spend more time at multiple destinations along the way. Now we are only able to do one destintion per trip, two trips per year, and our stay is only 4-5 days, with 4 days for driving. We tried driving straight through but thought it was very dangerous. There came a time after about 24 hours of driving that we both had to stop and nap. Being on unfamiliar roads, in the dark, and tired is not a good combination.
My hometown is near Dallas and I went to college in Austin. A lot of people with it angry that I would not want to stop during the 206 mile trip from one place to the other. I figured if we could get there in 3 hours, why bother with all this stopping? Seemed very pointless.
I had a comparable experience when I lived in Jackson, TN for part of college. The drive to/from Nashville was more like 2 hours depending on what part of the city you left from. I would just try to have enough fuel to get there in one go.
As far as stopping preference, I do not mind stopping to use the restroom but I try to make it as fast as possible as well as combine stops for different purposes. For example, update my loved ones, get a snack and use the restroom, then right back to the road. I try to plan my stops out a bit ahead of time as well, identifying what I'll need and how to do it most effectively and efficiently.
Now, if this is a vacation type of a road trip - I do take my time, and usually do a careful planning. Where I want to stop and what kind of stop it will be. Most of the times I plan my route to make it maximum enjoyable - a scenic to admire, interesting places to visit, selected places to eat and sleep. I can drive many miles in a day, but it doesn't have to be a boring, or stressful.
yep, that sounds good. It is not just about how often to stop, but also where to stop. That requires a lot of planning and research. Stopping at a seaside town with great views is very different from stopping beside the highway with nothing but farmland to see.
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