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How do YOU road trip?

Started by Laura, March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM

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J N Winkler

Quote from: froggie on April 18, 2014, 11:21:44 AM
QuoteJohn Steinbeck used to remark that the Interstates were the perfect way to travel all across the US without seeing any of it.

I thought that was a Charles Kuralt quote...

It turns out that FHWA's highway historian has gone into this question, and found that both writers expressed similar sentiments--Steinbeck in Travels with Charley (1962), Kuralt in A Life on the Road (1990):

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/first.cfm
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini


The High Plains Traveler

Most of our trips have been pulling a travel trailer behind our pickup. Then we stay in RV parks with full hookups, so we have electricity, water and sewer. This form of travel allows us to take the dogs and eat most of our meals in our unit. That limits our speed to about 65 or less, and cuts down on the daily mileage. We would take a few long weekends during the year and at least one two-week trip and a week or so. From Colorado, we've gotten as far as the Florida panhandle and the north coast of California.

That was when I was working and I took vacation. I had good PTO benefits. Now I'm retired as of last fall, and have only taken one RV trip since that time to South Texas. (But it's been winter since then too). We've had a couple of trips in the past two years, though, when we drove our car and stayed in motels. One was for family visit in South Dakota and Minnesota last year, and the other was the road meet in St. Louis. We then extended the trip to St. Louis to see Mammoth Cave, Nashville, and Chattanooga. Another family trip is planned for later this year that will put us in the car.

With the RV, I tend to stay on interstates or at least divided highways when the routing permits. In the wide open spaces of the West, two lane roads are OK because I don't hold anyone up for too long. With the car, I look more for routes I can take to fill voids in my lifetime "clinches" or otherwise drive on roads I haven't been on. For example, going to St. Louis, we drove U.S. 50 from Kansas City across Missouri to extend my clinch of that road. Coming back, we took U.S. 400 from its eastern terminus near Joplin because, first, it leads us to U.S. 50 and home; and second, I hadn't been on that route east of Wichita. Now I've clinched the entire route.

Otherwise, the stuff we see in day trips around the RV sites include points of general interest and roads that look interesting in their own regard. Now that warm weather has returned, I hope we can do some day trips as a break from working on two houses, in addition to some long trips as previously. I still dream of Alaska, but that would be an excruciatingly long trip dragging that trailer.
"Tongue-tied and twisted; just an earth-bound misfit, I."

okroads

How many day trips do you venture on per month? per year?
5-10 day trips per year. These are mostly solo trips.

How many overnight trips do you venture on per month? per year?
My wife & I typically do one overnight weekend trip per quarter to Dallas. Then we also usually take a trip during Spring Break in March (9 days), one trip in July (typically 10-12 days; this year's is planned to be 14-15 days long), and one to St. Louis in the fall (3-4 days). Then I usually take a solo trip for a Spring/Summer roadmeet, and these are anywhere from 2-5 days in length.

When you go overnight, do you usually stay in a hotel, sleep in your vehicle, or stay elsewhere?
We stay in a hotel or with family. I worked for Marriott for several years so that helped me with hotel employee discounts. Now that I work for an independent hotel, I don't have nearly as many discounts available. But I do earn reward points with Choice, Hilton, and IHG, so after I rack up enough points, I can redeem them for free nights.

For long distance trips, how long do you go?
The March trip is usually in the 3,000-4,000 mile range over a 9 day span. The roadmeet trip length depends on where the meet is (ie. In 2013, I went to the Wichita meet and drove ~1,300 miles in 2 days around Kansas and the Texas panhandle; in 2012, I went to the Joliet, IL meet and drove there via Little Rock, AR, and returned back home to Oklahoma City via western Kentucky & Jackson, MS, so that trip was 3,150 miles over 5 days). The summer trip is usually 4,000-6,500 miles long over 10-12 days. The longest multi-day trip we've taken was the Summer 2010 trip my wife & I took to the Pacific Northwest; it was 12 days & 6,647 miles long. The most miles I've ever driven in one day was 890 miles in June 2004. Surprisingly, that trip was a one-day trip from OKC down to southeast Oklahoma and southwest Arkansas to collect some state highway termini in the southeast corner of Oklahoma, and to collect my final Oklahoma county (McCurtain County).

Do you use paid vacation time for your long distance trips?
Yes, which is why I didn't take a long trip during the summer of 2013, because I had just started a new job and had no paid time off to use yet. Thankfully, this summer should be a different story, as we're planning on taking a 14-day trip to the northeastern corridor & New England.

Are your long distance trips usually circular or do you fly somewhere and rent a car?
So far, they have all been circular. I almost always take a different route to and from the destination so I can see different roads & counties & scenery. Sometimes, the "destination"  is just the farthest point away from home.

Have you ever driven all the way across the USA?
In separate trips, yes (I've clinched all of I-40 & I-70, and almost all of I-10, most of I-80 & I-90). But never all in one trip, as it's kind of hard to do that when you live in Oklahoma City.

How often do you eat packed groceries versus fast food versus sit-down food on a trip?
We sometimes eat snacks from a convenience store while on the road. Typically, our meals are the hotel continental breakfast (or fast food breakfast if the hotel we're staying in doesn't offer continental breakfast), fast food for lunch, and then a sit-down meal for dinner. We try to eat dinner at restaurants we don't have in Oklahoma City.

When you travel, do you make the roads the main attraction, or do you work the roads around a main attraction (like visiting a family member or a destination city)?
On my solo trips, clinching highways & counties & taking pictures all along the way are typically what I'm going after. On trips with Mrs. OKRoads, we do tend to stop at one place and spend more than one night in that area before moving on to the next destination.

How often do you stop to look at nearby sites (anything from roadside americana to stopping at a museum or national park)?
On solo trips, I don't typically stop to look at nearby sites very often. When Mrs. OKRoads is with me, we stop at state capitols and college football stadiums along the way as she enjoys taking pictures of those. We have stopped at some national monuments also (ie. Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Golden Gate Bridge).

D-Dey65

Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
I'm curious how you all road trip. I'm always amazed by some of your travels and was curious how you personally do it. I've found that I've falsely assumed that some of you regularly take massive trips, while instead you've accumulated mileage on lots of shorter trips.
There was a thread here earlier this year that made me think the same thing.


Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
How many day trips do you venture on per month? per year?
Roughly two or three a month, depending on the reason for the drive.

Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
How many overnight trips do you venture on per month? per year?
At least two, and they tend to take about two days... sometimes even three.

Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
When you go overnight, do you usually stay in a hotel, sleep in your vehicle, or stay elsewhere?
Oh, a motel. Honestly very little else is possible, since the rest areas are always closed to anyone trying to sleep overnight, and all the cars I've had on these trips are too small to sleep in, especially with the additional luggage.


Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
For long distance trips, how long do you go?
I've never really paid attention to the mileage, and I can't give you an exact measurement, because I can't work the goddamn Google Maps to show my exact route. But I'd say roughly under 1200 miles up, and more or less the same distance back.

Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
Are your long distance trips usually circular or do you fly somewhere and rent a car?
More often than not, they're close to circular, since I don't always take the same roads coming as I do going back. I really don't like to rent cars. They're too damn expensive, you never get the one you ask for (and no, renting online does not make it easier), and you have to rush to fill the gas tank back up for the next customer.


Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
Have you ever driven all the way across the USA?
No, and I'm not likely to do so.

Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
How often do you eat packed groceries versus fast food versus sit-down food on a trip?
I tend to do both.


Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
When you travel, do you make the roads the main attraction, or do you work the roads around a main attraction (like visiting a family member or a destination city)?
Both, which is part of the reason I prefer driving as opposed to flying.

Quote from: Laura on March 03, 2014, 02:21:06 AM
How often do you stop to look at nearby sites (anything from roadside americana to stopping at a museum or national park)?
Quite often. Some might say too often.





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