Drive Cross Country: Share Your Adventure

[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?

 

[Borek]

About 10 years ago we get from Warsaw to Hvar - I was driving alone - in about 48 hours. That's about 1000 miles, but we had to drive through several cities (Warsaw peak hours, Krakow 8 p.m., Budapest 7 a.m., Split peak hours) which slowed the trip down, and we avoided highways (not there were many in that part of the world). I don't think I would be able to repeat it now.

 

[Alfi]

One thing I found about driving across the Canadian prairies.
If you bumped Manitoba into Alberta, you would never now Saskatchewan was missing.
That's one seriously boring stretch of highway.


I found out once, that it takes 40 hours to go from Toronto to Calgary if you don't stop for anything but food and fuel. 24 hours just to get out of Ontario.
Fun trip that one was.

 

[byronm]

The craziest drive i ever did was a 3 day round trip from Philadelphia PA to Houston Tx.. 24 hours each way there and back - left philly after work on friday and got to work monday morning.

 

[brewnog]

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.

The girlfriend's coming too, but I can't insure her on my car so she's on mapreading (satnav programming) duties.

I don't live in Manchester any more (I'm in Stoke, just down the road) but will be in Manc on Thursday evening. Where are you?

 

[Borek]

The girlfriend's coming too, but I can't insure her on my car so she's on mapreading (satnav programming) duties.

GF? It can be an interesting trip. Asking my wife to do map duties is a sure way of visiting places I would never find a way to.

Before you will even start the engine, make sure when she says "left" she means it

 

[byronm]

GF? It can be an interesting trip. Asking my wife to do map duties is a sure way of visiting places I would never find a way to.

Before you will even start the engine, make sure when she says "left" she means it

hahaha my wife is the same way..

I solved the problem by purchasing a tomtom that speaks the turns instead. My wife thought it was a useless toy at first and now she uses it more than i do.

 

[GeorginaS]

I found out once, that it takes 40 hours to go from Toronto to Calgary if you don't stop for anything but food and fuel. 24 hours just to get out of Ontario.
Fun trip that one was.

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?

If you go down to the Falls, and cross there into the States, and come back up into Canada in Manitoba, you save yourself a whole bunch of travel time. The longest stretch from Toronto to Calgary, while staying in Canada, is the trip up to Sault St. Marie, around Lake Superior to Thunder Bay. Lake Superior is massive. Long, long trip that is. Really spiffy little towns all along the way, though. When I drove it, many moons ago, it was two lanes the whole way. Pure entertainment.

The prairies are a breeze. Flat, straight, and the horizon goes forever. It's fascinating at first and gets astoundingly boring very quickly.

 

[xxChrisxx]

The girlfriend's coming too, but I can't insure her on my car so she's on mapreading (satnav programming) duties.

I don't live in Manchester any more (I'm in Stoke, just down the road) but will be in Manc on Thursday evening. Where are you?

Ahhhh you can't beat a map, especially with women map readers. If you don't follow their instuctions you are 'an idiot' and get shouted at. If you do follow them but they read the map wrong, you are still somehow the 'idiot' and get shouted at.

I'm from Manchester, I acutally live in Denton, just outside the M60.

 

[Moonbear]

Probably the longest driving trip I did was from MI (near Detroit) to Toronto for a conference for a few days, then about a week of vacation driving through Montreal (I was going to stop, but got worried when all the road signs turned into French only, so kept going), entered the US through ME, down along the East coast, into MA, CT, NY, then down to VA and finally returning via WV, PA and OH back to MI. I also zig-zagged up and down the coast a little. I was going to spend most of the week in VA, but when there were thunderstorms predicted the entire week, after I got to NY, I headed back up to MA again for a few more days, and then did the trip home with just a stop to see Luray Caverns and various scenic outlooks.

It's the only time I've ever traveled without having reservations anywhere (other than for the conference in Toronto). It was great fun, because I wasn't committed to any fixed schedule. If I got somewhere and wanted to spend an extra day by a pool at the hotel reading a book, I could. If I didn't get to see all the sights I wanted to see in a town in one day, I could just book an extra day. I just stayed in cheap motels along the way, and never ran into any problems finding places with vacancies along my route. If a place didn't have any vacancies, I just headed to the next exit or next town and found a place that did (I wasn't usually driving late into the night before looking for a hotel...I pretty much was stopping around dinner time each day, so wasn't pressed for time). The biggest advantage really was being able to just change my mind at the last minute, when I saw thunderstorms headed for the beach towns I was planning to visit.

 

[Moonbear]

Ahhhh you can't beat a map, especially with women map readers. If you don't follow their instuctions you are 'an idiot' and get shouted at. If you do follow them but they read the map wrong, you are still somehow the 'idiot' and get shouted at.

http://smilies.vidahost.com/cwm/3dlil/nonono2.gif

If you can't read road signs, you have no business criticizing the map reader. I'm guessing you've more often fallen into the former category of not following their instructions, rather than the latter of them actually reading the map wrong.