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Ridiculously long day trips

Started by bandit957, March 09, 2015, 04:57:43 PM

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skaguy

#50
Two notable trips that stick out in my mind for storm chasing:

Bloomington, IN to near Cedar Rapids, IA via Rockford, IL and back.  A little over 1,000 miles and 20 hours.

Murfreesboro, TN to Paducah, KY to Effingham, IL to Terre Haute, IN to Evansville, IN to Murfreesboro, TN.  700 miles and some change after driving state and US routes east of Effingham.


Jim

Growing up, we did a lot of day trips from Amsterdam, NY, to places like Cape Cod, southern Maine, the Jersey shore, etc.  Usually we'd get up and be on the road well before sunrise, be at our destination for at least a late-ish breakfast, do the things we went to do, and be home before too late at night (usually).

Now, my longer day trips tend to happen when I am somewhere on business and I can extend a day or two on either end.  As a few examples, about 10 years ago in the San Francisco area, I had one day ride up to Muir Woods (for redwoods), Santa Rosa (for the Schulz museum), up to Ukiah (why not?) then down through Napa and back.  Not a ton of miles, but a very long day.  When in Minneapolis for a while almost 20 years ago, I made several day trips.  One that included Duluth and International Falls.  I made a ton of day trips out of Albuquerque as well, though some ended up as overnights somewhere so don't count.  My last conference in Denver included two "out and back" loops from my hotel in Aurora: one up through Cheyenne and one out to Sterling.  So these don't compete with some of what has been posted, but long and enjoyable days, though.
Photos I post are my own unless otherwise noted.
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Twitter @JimTeresco (roads, travel, skiing, weather, sports)

vtk

When I was a kid, my family would take biennial vacations at a rental cabin in eastern Idaho just across Palisades Dam from US 26. Each time we went, we would make at least one day trip into Yellowstone. Sometimes our route took us through West Yellowstone, MT in at least one direction, though more commonly we went via Jackson, WY and Grand Tetons NP.

In 2003 I went with a couple of friends (driver and financier; I was the navigator) from my home near Columbus down US 23 to Jenkins, KY to check out some railroads that turned out no longer existed. So we headed east to Breaks Interstate Park. From the high scenic overlook, we saw a southbound coal train rolling through the water gap, and decided to chase it down. We caught up with it a dozen or so miles into Virginia (just before driving off the page of my Delorme Kentucky atlas).  It was almost dark so we headed home, stopping to wait out a heavy storm in Piketon, OH. After getting back home a little past midnight, before my friends continued home themselves, my brother and I convinced Mom to take in a kitten from our front porch, who still lives here.

After Ed moved in, for a few years we would make semi-regular day trips to Coldwater, MI and Monroe, MI to visit his parents and friends.  Now that he has a license and a satnav, he makes those trips by himself, though he usually overnights in Michigan somewhere when he does it.

In 2008 Ed got a part in the movie Secretariat, filming in Louisville.  (One of the trackside security guards, visible for a couple of seconds in the movie, uncredited.) We overnighted for the audition and the shoot date, but in the interim we made a day trip for the costume fitting.  Five hours each way, just to spend ten minutes at Churchill Downs, and not even see a horse race – that was ridiculous, for sure. (Ed did some of the driving that time, but he was very inexperienced so was of almost no help as a relief driver.)

I don't take a lot of long trips anymore because I drive hundreds of miles a day for a living, and usually want to stay local on my days off.  But a few months ago a quick errand to my brother's house spontaneously became an expedition to Washington C.H., OH to investigate a suspected reroute of OH 38. What should have been a 40 minute round trip became over two hours.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

Duke87

From New York City, I've been to Maine and back in one day. I tell people that and they look at me like I'm batshit insane, superhuman, or both. But really it sounds a lot more impressive than it is. People don't think it since there are several state lines and so many other points of interest in between, but from NYC it only takes you a bit over 4 hours driving direct to get to the NH/ME line. Fun fact - Kittery is actually closer to New York City than to the northern end of I-95, still in Maine.

Of course that trip was not just a quick run to Maine and back. It involved being in Maine for about an hour in the early afternoon but was overall a 20 hour trip (6 AM - 2 AM) poking around in RI, MA, and NH in addition to Maine.

I've been on a few other day trips that have lasted 20 hours or close to it.

Meanwhile I do find myself growing less fond of the idea not because of fatigue while on the trip itself, but because doing that doesn't actually fit more in a day compared to staying overnight, it just borrows time from the days on either side by making me go to bed early the night before and sleep late the morning after.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

JMoses24

#54
Florence, KY to Cape Girardeau, MO to St Louis, MO back to Florence: Left home at 5:30 AM, back home at 3:30 AM the next day.

Edited to remove the second one, which didn't fit the definition of the OP and I JUST now realized it.

iBallasticwolf2

A few days ago I took a trip from Cincinnati to Point Pleasant WV, I went back on OH-2 and drived all the Ohio River brigdes in Huntington, Ashland, Ironton, and Greenup, I went back on the Greenup spur of the AA highway and then the mainline AA highway.

Must say it was quite the road trip
Only two things are infinite in this world, stupidity, and I-75 construction

freebrickproductions

The farthest I've been on a day trip so far has been to Gadsden, AL from Huntsville, AL.
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

JMoses24

Quote from: JMoses24 on May 12, 2015, 01:53:23 AM
Florence, KY to Cape Girardeau, MO to St Louis, MO back to Florence: Left home at 5:30 AM, back home at 3:30 AM the next day.

This was a one day storm chase...I didn't have time to think during part of it!

Rothman

#58
Longest day trip was an 18-hour county clinching trip from the Capital District in NY down a winding route down through Virginia, NC and crossing into SC and then turning back north a ways.

Never doing that again.  Learned my lesson on that trip that 14 hours is really my daily limit for driving.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

noelbotevera

#59
Longest was a ten or so hour trip to Providence RI. Insult to injury was that the hotel we were staying at was in Fall River, in Massachusetts. Ugh. Took us a day, going through 4 states.

Edit: the first day was in NYC - the next day took us to Fall River through 4 states

NJ


J N Winkler

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 16, 2015, 06:04:57 AM
Quote from: J N Winkler on March 22, 2015, 01:16:58 AM
When I ate dinner in Bricktown at what turned out to be a chain restaurant, the waiter, angling for a bigger tip, carded me.

Which restaurant was it, if you don't mind me asking?

Sorry to be late getting caught up with this question--it was Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill.  I gathered it was the offspring of some kind of deal where the country singer licensed the use of his name but had little, if any, involvement in the day-to-day operations.

The old Crosstown expressway was in the process of being deconstructed when I was there.  If you change to satellite view and pan a bit to the south and west, you will see the lot where I parked, which is just south of a section where the deck has been reduced to bare girders.
"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

Pete from Boston


Quote from: NJ on December 23, 2015, 10:27:06 AM
New York City - Toronto

When I did a day trip from Massachusetts to Montréal, the border guards gave me a hard time because admittedly, it was a ridiculous distance to drive and not stay over, and therefore seemed suspicious.  Did you get any such grief upon your return?

jp the roadgeek

From CT to Cooperstown, NY and back in 15 hours.  Managed to hit both the Ommegang Brewery and the Hall of Fame.  Did another one from CT to Kittery, ME, then back over to Manchester, NH. And a few times went to Riverhead and The Hamptons on LI (50 miles as the crow flies, 150 miles as the car drives).
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

roadman65

I once covered Dallas from driving back between Houma, LA and Hobby Airport.  I had an extra day where I did have time to do some extra roading, so I drove up I-49 to check out the construction on the now completed I-49 north of Shreveport (it was 2012 when I was there) and the then signed AR 549 and roads around Texarkana.

I ended up staying the evening in Shreveport where I should have really headed back to Houston from there, but I wanted to see Dallas so badly I went up US 71 and AR 549 to I-30 W Bound to Dallas and then back down I-45.  My flight was at 5 AM the following day so I had to travel through the evening to get a motel close enough to Hobby to be there at take off time, so I had to sacrifice some good photo opportunities along I-45 to get to Houston as most of the way was after dark even in the Summer as it took me till after Midnight to arrive at the Motel 6 at Hobby.

However, as ridiculous as that was, I got to see Dallas and the I-49 construction.  Even though I did not get many I-45 photos especially around Houston, it was worth it.  An excuse to visit Houston again I call it.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

US 41

The longest day trip I have ever done is when I drove to Madison, WI, and back in one day.
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

DAL764

Longest day trip I've done was this past September when I did an Autobahn-clinching roadtrip mostly through Eastern Germany. Left at 546am and arrived back home at 130am the next day, after a total distance of 1031,39 miles.

I did do a trip about 2.5 years ago that went from 610am until 230am the next day, but that was 'only' 875 miles.

NJ

Quote from: Pete from Boston on December 23, 2015, 01:17:08 PM

Quote from: NJ on December 23, 2015, 10:27:06 AM
New York City - Toronto

When I did a day trip from Massachusetts to Montréal, the border guards gave me a hard time because admittedly, it was a ridiculous distance to drive and not stay over, and therefore seemed suspicious.  Did you get any such grief upon your return?

:colorful: Same thing happened to me but I told them spending 10 - 12 hours in the city was enough for me to see a taste of the city.

wanderer2575

#68
Back in the day (when I was younger and single), I regularly did ridiculously long day trips seemingly every Saturday because I had nothing else to do.  From metro Detroit, I thought nothing of a round trip to Pittsburgh and back, or to Whitefish Point and back (in the Upper Peninsula, about 730 miles round trip, not all freeway).  Probably my most brutal day trip in terms of miles and hours was a loop around Lake Superior Erie -- that's right, out to Buffalo and back.  This was all before I got into taking photos of highway signs, so I was able to put in the miles.

EDIT:  Superior, Erie -- one o' them lakes.  Yep, I did it alone.

NJ

Quote from: wanderer2575 on December 31, 2015, 09:44:24 PM
Back in the day (when I was younger and single), I regularly did ridiculously long day trips seemingly every Saturday because I had nothing else to do.  From metro Detroit, I thought nothing of a round trip to Pittsburgh and back, or to Whitefish Point and back (in the Upper Peninsula, about 730 miles round trip, not all freeway).  Probably my most brutal day trip in terms of miles and hours was a loop around Lake Superior -- that's right, out to Buffalo and back.  This was all before I got into taking photos of highway signs, so I was able to put in the miles.

Interesting... you drove alone?

briantroutman

Quote from: wanderer2575 on December 31, 2015, 09:44:24 PM
Probably my most brutal day trip in terms of miles and hours was a loop around Lake Superior -- that's right, out to Buffalo and back.

Did you mean Lake Erie?

wphiii

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on December 23, 2015, 01:28:32 PM
Managed to hit both the Ommegang Brewery and the Hall of Fame.

My problem would be needing like 6 hours at the HOF.

AsphaltPlanet

Quote from: wanderer2575 on December 31, 2015, 09:44:24 PM
Back in the day (when I was younger and single), I regularly did ridiculously long day trips seemingly every Saturday because I had nothing else to do.  From metro Detroit, I thought nothing of a round trip to Pittsburgh and back, or to Whitefish Point and back (in the Upper Peninsula, about 730 miles round trip, not all freeway).  Probably my most brutal day trip in terms of miles and hours was a loop around Lake Superior -- that's right, out to Buffalo and back.  This was all before I got into taking photos of highway signs, so I was able to put in the miles.

Out to Duluth and back? or was it a loop around Lake Erie and not Superior...
AsphaltPlanet.ca  Youtube -- Opinions expressed reflect the viewpoints of others.

Brandon

Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on January 07, 2016, 11:35:24 AM
Quote from: wanderer2575 on December 31, 2015, 09:44:24 PM
Back in the day (when I was younger and single), I regularly did ridiculously long day trips seemingly every Saturday because I had nothing else to do.  From metro Detroit, I thought nothing of a round trip to Pittsburgh and back, or to Whitefish Point and back (in the Upper Peninsula, about 730 miles round trip, not all freeway).  Probably my most brutal day trip in terms of miles and hours was a loop around Lake Superior -- that's right, out to Buffalo and back.  This was all before I got into taking photos of highway signs, so I was able to put in the miles.

Out to Duluth and back? or was it a loop around Lake Erie and not Superior...

Duluth and back around Lake Superior is a bit much for a day trip from Detroit.  It's the miles to/from Whitefish Point plus going around the lake.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

Pete from Boston

Quote from: wphiii on January 07, 2016, 11:28:57 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on December 23, 2015, 01:28:32 PM
Managed to hit both the Ommegang Brewery and the Hall of Fame.

My problem would be needing like 6 hours at the HOF.

Definitely a reason to hit Ommegang first.



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