Drive Cross Country: Share Your Adventure

[Quincy]

Have you ever driven cross country? What was it like? How long did it take you? Did you enjoy it? What was your reason for doing it?

 

[Huckleberry]

About half a dozen times. Sometimes it was enjoyable and others it was gruelling. I've done it in about 60 hours twice. That was with about 10 hours of sleeping and eating time. Other times it has taken weeks as I make stops to see old friends and relatives. I used to drive across the country just because I had a car and gas was cheap and had nothing tying me to the place where I was. Why not?

If you are by yourself it can be kind of boring. There's also something meditative about watching the night and day pass by, cities come and go, mountain forests changing to grassy plains to deserts and back to mountains again and through it all you're still there. It really helps to set a scale to the world.

 

[fatra2]

Hi there,

I will say three to four hours, but I am living in Switzerland. So you will need to precise which country you want to drive across.

Cheers

 

[Quincy]

Hi there,

I will say three to four hours, but I am living in Switzerland. So you will need to precise which country you want to drive across.

Cheers

USA.
I heard it takes about a week to drive from coast-to-coast.

 

[Equate]

Hi there,

I will say three to four hours, but I am living in Switzerland.
Cheers

Went from Munich to Hamburg once in fife hours, back in the 80's. Europe is easy...

 

[Borek]

Europe is easy...

Germany is easy. Try Poland

 

[fatra2]

Hi there,

Have you tried Lichtenstein or Luxembourg. Already Switzerland is quite easy to go through, in less than 5 hours, from border to border. Yeah, if you want to drive across a country stay away from Russia, Canada, Australia and the US.

Cheers

 

[Alfi]

Canada takes me about 70 hours driving time to go coast to coast. Basically a weeks travel time.
I recommend driving it at least once. Just for the appreciation of just how big the place is. After 4 or five times driving across, I now fly and save the vacation time for the visits with friends.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

In 1970, I drove from NJ to CA in a VW microbus. I was 19 at the time. I had friends in CA that I wanted to visit. I wasn't going to school and had no full time job. I used to pick up a few bucks washing dishes for restaurants. I had removed the seats from the back so I could sleep there. The first night I stopped at a national park somewhere in Ohio, I don't remember exactly where. It was early March, so I had the place to myself. I was picking up hitchhikers along the way in hopes of raising money for gas, but no one ever paid. I took side trips out of my way to bring people where they wanted to go, but never so far off the general direction west. When I got to St. Louis, I picked up a few people who started taking turns driving the car while I slept. The car was full by then so with one exception, I stopped making side trips and we made a bee-line for LA. The whole trip took about 4 or 5 days, I don't recall exactly. When we took a pit stop at a bar in OK, the locals put a dime in the jukebox to hear 'Okie from Muskogee' a popular tune at that time. The message was clear: Keep on moving. The exception side trip after St. Louis was to the meteor crater in Arizona and from there to the Grand Canyon.

 

[Moonbear]

I've never done it, but it always sounds like a fun trip to make. Though, I suspect that while driving across the country might be really interesting, the return trip probably starts to get really grueling and tiring. I think if I decided to do a cross-country road trip, that I'd rent a car, and then drop it off at the airport in CA and fly back.

 

[BobG]

I've never driven from coast to coast, since I've never lived on either coast.

I have driven from the Lake Erie area to the Gulf of Mexico area several times. Although, technically, the first time I did it, I didn't actually drive all the way. The car died in Georgia, so we took a bus the rest of the way and wound up hitch-hiking home about a month later because we couldn't afford bus fare.

I've driven between Ohio and Colorado many times (about half way across the country). That's a two day trip to get half way. With two drivers, it's a straight shot in less than 24 hours.

I did hitch-hike from Ohio to California and back. It took me an entire day to get from Northern Ohio to Louisville. It took about 60 hours to get from Louisville to Los Angeles. The 60 hour shot was straight through with a married couple that drank Bloody Marys all the way from Louisville to St Louis, a truck driver from St Louis to Joplin, a guy and his un-girlfriend from Joplin to LA.

They were an interesting story. His plan was for them to pool their money to get to LA and never see each other again. Her plan was marriage to him. Even picking up three hitch-hikers wasn't enough to keep their conversations out of dangerous territory. The carburetor of their van was on its last legs and needed replaced in Amarillo. While waiting for help, the guy decided to look for tires, the girl said "No way you're spending our money on tires when we need a carburetor". Four tires and a can of carburetor cleaner later, we were on our way. Unfortunately, the engine access on their van was right in the passenger compartment. By Tumcumcari, all but the driver had passed out from the fumes of the carburetor cleaner and the driver wasn't doing to well himself. Want to make a good impression at a redneck diner? Have a black couple, a Native American, and two scruffy looking white guys climb out of the van, then have the black girl start spiraling around in circles before passing out in the parking lot and have Native American wind up doing a face plant while trying to run across the street. No one gave us any trouble, though. In fact, they just stared at us and made sure not to come anywhere near us.

Oh, and if I ever hear that Minnie Riperton song, "Loving You", again, I think I'll scream. Instead of buying 4 tires, couldn't he buy a little more variety in 8-track tapes?!

It took a little over two weeks to get back from San Diego (did some camping along the way back). That was a fun trip.

In the old days, one of the best things about traveling cross country was the different radio stations. Every single one seemed to have its own flavor. Nowadays, it may as well all be one radio station. In fact, best bet is to buy satellite radio and be done with it.

 

[waht]

Far out, these you guys take route 66?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Far out, these you guys take route 66?

I don't remember well. I vaguely remember wanting to take route 66 and being disappointed that it was no longer in operation having been replaced by Interstate 40. I may be mistaken about it.

 

[byronm]

Far out, these you guys take route 66?

Route 66 is an interesting road..

The best advice I can give anyone looking to drive ol' Route 66 is to plan to stick to the high country and the routes connecting the national park systems and local tourist traps. Those are the segments of Route 66 that preserve their old looks but still offer a sense of civility.

I was just out in Mojave desert and drove a lot of old 66 out there, in much of those towns i felt more resemblance of post katrina New Orleans then i did for any nostalgia of what was route 66..

It was great to see both sides, however if you're interested in reliving route 66 as it once was, stick to the surviving tourist traps.. If you want to feel what its like to be in a post apocalyptic world, then see the bypassed towns :)

 

[jtbell]

We've never gone all the way from coast to coast, but my wife and I have driven from South Carolina to Arizona four times, about 2000 miles each way by the most direct route. We tend to avoid the Interstates (motorways) except out West where they're sometimes the only route, and we stop for sightseeing, so 400 miles is a long day for us. We did the one-way trip in four days once, but normally we figured at least five days, and took as many as ten days (going via Utah and Colorado, not counting all-day sightseeing stops).

We took a different route each time, so boredom wasn't much of a problem for us. There was always something new to see, except for I-10 between El Paso and Tucson which was difficult for us to avoid.

 

[brewnog]

Driving from Manchester to Lyon on Friday. Does that count?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We drove from LA to Illinois twice, and LA to S Dakota twice. With a car full of kids it took about three days each way. It was barely short of torture for me - like being locked in a cage for three days. I've made many, many ~500 mile trips all along the I-5 corridor in California and Oregon. When we moved to Oregon, in one week I drove the 1000 miles between our new home in Oregon, and our old home in Los Angeles, four times! I hate driving!

Then I traveled a bunch for my job for a few years [~100,000 airmiles a year]. Now I hate flying as well. If I never see another hotel or airport it will be too soon.

 

[byronm]

I hate flying as well.. used to work for Oracle and flew all over the country. Would have been fun if i could have had a life outside of work and didn't have family/house/kids.

However, i doooo love driving. gets you down and personal with America :)

 

[Chi Meson]

I've driven from Virginia to the Rockies and back three times, using I-80 and I-90 primarily. Once was by myself. That was something.

WHeat! But when the mountains kick in, it can't be beat. Each time it was about four days of driving, nearly continuously.

I've also driven from Connecticut to Utah , that was six days of driving with "responsible" amounts of sleeping, and seeing some of the things in between.

Then there was the drive from Virginia to Portland, Oregon in five days, and the week long return trip to Connecticut (three years later, hauling three years of accumulation).

There is absolutely a unique state of mind you slip into when driving those trips. Hours really peel away. You can look at your watch and say,"nearly there, only eight more hours of driving!"

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I hate flying as well.. used to work for Oracle and flew all over the country. Would have been fun if i could have had a life outside of work and didn't have family/house/kids.

I spent a week about thirty minutes from Niagra falls and never got to see it. Often I could have delayed my trip home and done some sightseeing, but after a week or two on-site, all that I wanted was to get home as quickly as possible.

It was common to work 80+ hours a week while on the road. I think my record was ~ 120 hours in one week. By the end of the week I was starting to hallucinate a bit. Sightseeing was not even a consideration at that point.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You can look at your watch and say,"nearly there, only eight more hours of driving!"

Only eight more hours - that is such a depressing feeling.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Driving from Manchester to Lyon on Friday. Does that count?

According to this site: http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Manchester_UK_and_Lyon_FR.html", your travel distance will be 999.03 km and therefore falls short of our requirement of 1000 km. Have a nice day.

 

[DavidSnider]

I did this road trip this year:
Tucson -> Pheonix -> Sedona -> Grand Canyon -> Las Vegas -> Los Angeles -> San Diego

Great trip.

You can drive

a mile a minute

but there isn't

any future in it

BURMASHAVE

 

[Borek]

According to this site: http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Manchester_UK_and_Lyon_FR.html", your travel distance will be 999.03 km and therefore falls short of our requirement of 1000 km. Have a nice day.

Ah, we started old 'mine is longer' routine.

And then you wonder why everyone abroad thinks US is a bully.

 

[waht]

I always dreaded crossing the great plains. I drove Chicago - LA, Chic- Montana, Chic-Miami, Chic-Virginia-New York, and Chic-Houston, Chic-Denver and all over Colorado. Also made like 900 miles driving around Alaska. In Europe the longest road trip was from Venice-Krakow.

 

[brewnog]

According to this site: http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Manchester_UK_and_Lyon_FR.html", your travel distance will be 999.03 km and therefore falls short of our requirement of 1000 km. Have a nice day.

Unfortunately it's tough to drive over the English Channel, and do this trip as the crow flies, without some kind of flying car. Using roads and a ferry, it's 1210 clicks. Have a nice day yourself.

And then you wonder why everyone abroad thinks US is a bully.

 

[DavidSnider]

In the U.S. 100 years is a long time. In the UK 100 miles is a long distance =)

 

[turbo]

I HATE driving, so of course I ended up in consulting jobs in which I had to drive until I was ready to drop. One day, after a long day in a mill in the "roof of Maine" I was making the 4-1/2 hour trip back to central Maine and I made the mistake of calling the home office, only to be told that the paper machine superintendent in Ticonderoga NY wanted me front-and-center at 6:00 am for a paper machine shutdown. Great another 6+ hours of winter driving in the dark. I think I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep that night, put in about 12 hours the next day, then drove back home (it took all night) in the worst blizzard of the year. I had clients and their families to entertain for the weekend at a local ski resort, and couldn't just lay low somewhere.

 

[turbo]

In the U.S. 100 years is a long time. In the UK 100 miles is a long distance =)

Ah, yes! Relativity!

 

[Integral]

I have driven cross country 7 times, Oregon to Pa. It takes about 60hrs driving time. Most of my trips have been on I80, have done some on I70 and I90. The most remarkable thing is just how barren much of the trip is.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Ah, we started old 'mine is longer' routine.

And then you wonder why everyone abroad thinks US is a bully.

Since I made a joke that could easily be interpretted as an insult, I have no room to complain when someone takes it that way. But for you to use it as an excuse to insult 300 million other people runs up against this problem: My wife is an American. Take it from someone with lots of practice, insulting my wife is a fool's errand. I leave you to the consequences of your joke.

 

[jobyts]

According to this site: http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Manchester_UK_and_Lyon_FR.html", your travel distance will be 999.03 km and therefore falls short of our requirement of 1000 km. Have a nice day.

There were few curved bridges along the way.

 

[BobG]

I have driven cross country 7 times, Oregon to Pa. It takes about 60hrs driving time. Most of my trips have been on I80, have done some on I70 and I90. The most remarkable thing is just how barren much of the trip is.

How can you say that about I-80?

First stop, Salt Lake City
Big springs, Laramie lookin mighty pretty
Ogallala, North platte, sun settin in it
Newton to Chicago in a New York minute
Then it's Hobart, Elkhart, Maumee, Cuyahoga
Youngstown, Hazletown, Dover I'm a flyin over
Fairfax, Bloomfield, bless a my soul:
Highway 80, she's a mighty good road

 

[turbo]

I have driven across the deep south on I-10, and that's some of longest bridge-overpass driving I have ever done. Miles and miles of swamps. That must have been one expensive stretch of road.

 

[Borek]

Since I made a joke that could easily be interpretted as an insult, I have no room to complain when someone takes it that way.

Seems like we both succeded

Take it from someone with lots of practice, insulting my wife is a fool's errand. I leave you to the consequences of your joke.

Somehow I doubt our wives will be interested in taking part in 'my is longer' discussion.

Longest route in Poland, from Ustrzyki Dolne to Świnoujście, is about 1018 kilometers. Slightly over 700 km in the straight line. But, you won't be able to properly pronounce "Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" and it makes me feel better

 

[jtbell]

I will say three to four hours, but I am living in Switzerland.

One of my favorite jokes has a Texan bragging to a Vermonter about how big his state is. "You can start in El Paso, drive all day and all night and all the next day, and you'll still be in Texas!" The Vermonter nods knowingly and says, "I know what you mean. I once had a car like that, too."

 

[jobyts]

Seems like we both succeded
Somehow I doubt our wives will be interested in taking part in 'my is longer' discussion.

Longest route in Poland, from Ustrzyki Dolne to Świnoujście, is about 1018 kilometers. Slightly over 700 km in the straight line. But, you won't be able to properly pronounce "Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" and it makes me feel better

Jimmy, I would say you are going to fail miserably, if you compete with Borek on a 'mine is longer' game. Borek is Polish.

 

[Chi Meson]

I have driven cross country 7 times, Oregon to Pa. It takes about 60hrs driving time. Most of my trips have been on I80, have done some on I70 and I90. The most remarkable thing is just how barren much of the trip is.

Wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat corn corn corn corn corn corn wheat wheat wheat corn wheat corn corn corn potatoes potatoes

 

[Moonbear]

Wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat corn corn corn corn corn corn wheat wheat wheat corn wheat corn corn corn potatoes potatoes

Oh, cool, new lyrics for the Badger song!

 

[turbo]

Oh, cool, new lyrics for the Badger song!

Thanks, you sadist! Now I'll have to listen to at least one equally annoying song to get rid of that one!

 

[WhoWee]

I've done a lot of long distance driving. My personal comfort level is about 400 miles one way now.

However, at 19 years, I volunteered for a trip from Boston to the High Desert area of California with 2 other guys in a 26' Ryder truck. We had less than a week to deliver and install an expensive piece of equipment. We stopped ONLY to buy fuel and use the facilities. We ate in the truck, went without bathing, and took turns driving. We slept upright. It was horrible.

The bus ride home was almost enjoyable by comparison.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Jimmy, I would say you are going to fail miserably, if you compete with Borek on a 'mine is longer' game. Borek is Polish.

Shhh. My wife thinks it's gigantic. My ancestors on my mother's side came from Grodno when it was in the Russian Empire. It was in Poland for a while, now it's in Belarus. My grandmother spoke Yiddish and Polish.

 

[lisab]

I drove from Seattle to Washington DC with a friend...I think it was 1989. It took 6 or 7 days, IIRC. Nice trip, I highly recommend it for all young Americans...well young people in general. I saw so many cool things...like fireflies for the first time (we don't have them in Seattle).

We stayed in camp grounds. There are (or were, back then) KOAs everywhere. Cheap, as low as $7 a night. What a deal...aaahhh, clean bathrooms with showers and flush toilets .

 

[xxChrisxx]

Driving from Manchester to Lyon on Friday. Does that count?

You driving it alone? I find long dull motorway trips to be a pita when you are solo, they arent too bad if you've got a 2nd driver.Also, you actually from/live in Manchester? I just get that rather odd 'small world' feeling when someone from the interwebs lives remotely close.

I've done a lot of long distance driving. My personal comfort level is about 400 miles one way now.

Thats a fair old distance that.

I always get some romantic image of driving in the US, some long straight road with only me on it driving into the sunset. As opposed to stuck in a traffic jam, in the rain, somewhere near Birmingham.

 

[Integral]

Wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat corn corn corn corn corn corn wheat wheat wheat corn wheat corn corn corn potatoes potatoes

Don't forget the pile of rocks they call Wyoming!

Edit:

I did find the Green River stretch of Wyoming beautiful... for a bunch of big rocks!

 

[lisab]

I always get some romantic image of driving in the US, some long straight road with only me on it driving into the sunset. As opposed to stuck in a traffic jam, in the rain, somewhere near Birmingham.

Not far from the truth, xxChrisxx. It's a vast place. But you should come see for yourself, of course .

 

[GeorginaS]

Cross country. Well, I took a Greyhound bus, once, up and down from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale and back again. That was special. Good thing I was young and stupid enough to do it.

I've driven from Ottawa to Charlottetown and just noticed that, looking at a map, it doesn't seem that impressive of a drive. We took it slow and easy, stopping everywhere and looking at everything, though. That was vacationing, not trying to actually get somewhere.

I've driven from Ottawa to Vancouver five times, each time for a reason and with passengers. I count myself lucky we all survived one another. That drive, at a trying-to-get-there rate takes, five and half, maybe six days to do. Mind you, without cruise control (those were the good old days) you had a fairly numb right thigh by the time you got there. I've driven mountains at night, through rain, hail, sleet, snow, and cloud cover. I've driven long flat highways that went on endlessly that I swore I could have simply pointed the car, gone to sleep, and woke up when we arrived at the next prairie province.

Mind, I've never had a highway accident. Never whacked any wildlife, save one stupid bunny that bounced back and forth across the road in front of me so I came to a stop. When it bounced off into the ditch, I started rolling again, and that's when it bounced back out and I thumped over him. It broke my heart.

Some of the trips I had to arrive by a certain date for work. One trip was a rush to get back before my grandmother died.

Hmmm. The long-distance haul is not all it's cracked up to be. For real. Shorter jaunts, like Edmonton to Vancouver that takes about 12 hours can be a really nice drive. I've made that one several times both with company and alone with a cat. I rented a car once when I went to Phoenix and drove, alone again, to Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, over to Colorado, back to Sedona, and Phoenix, Was a lovely trip. I've driven Phoenix to Las Vegas. That was decent. Houston to um, Dallas and San Antonio. Drove all over creation in Florida. Shorter jaunts. Way less stressful.

I forget what the question was.

 

[Moonbear]

Shhh. My wife thinks it's gigantic. My ancestors on my mother's side came from Grodno when it was in the Russian Empire. It was in Poland for a while, now it's in Belarus. My grandmother spoke Yiddish and Polish.

Nah, Snyder is a pretty short last name.

 

[Huckleberry]

I always get some romantic image of driving in the US, some long straight road with only me on it driving into the sunset. As opposed to stuck in a traffic jam, in the rain, somewhere near Birmingham.

This can be hard to find on the coasts if you are taking the highways anytime during the day. Driving between the Appalatians and the Rockies is often as you describe. Some places you are more likely to see a tractor-trailer convoy than other cars. Those big trucks are on all the highways at all hours of the day or night.

 

[DaveC426913]

Canada takes me about 70 hours driving time to go coast to coast. Basically a weeks travel time.
I recommend driving it at least once. Just for the appreciation of just how big the place is. After 4 or five times driving across, I now fly and save the vacation time for the visits with friends.

I've always wanted to. From Toronto, it'd prolly be 1/4 shorter (which would make it 52 hours by your accounting).

How many hours per day did you put in? I could put in about 8 if it were a straight drive through - so that's 7 days, one way.

What route do you recommend? Do you dip into the States at any point?