The other "most miles driven" thread made me think of this question. What's the farthest you've ever driven by yourself in one 24-hour period? Where were you going and what route did you take?
For me, the answer is 873 miles, according to Google Maps. A few years ago I drove to L.A. via the Grand Canyon, and I made it from Jackson, MS to Tucumcari, NM on the first day.
From Jackson, I drove I-20 to Fort Worth, then U.S. 287 to Amarillo, then I-40 to Tucumcari.
The thing I remember most about that day was the l-o-o-o-o-n-g period of evening twilight as I drove up 287. I had never experienced such an extended twilight, at least not in the U.S.
gotta be at least 1500 miles. I've done many a long run that extended over several days without sleep.
I know I've done San Francisco to Miami in 50 hours. So, pick the fastest slice of that. Probably one involving I-10 in West Texas.
I once drove non-stop from outside Portland, OR to Albuquerque, NM, a little over 1400 miles. Ah, to be young and foolish again . . .
Quote from: agentsteel53 on February 24, 2011, 10:26:38 PM
gotta be at least 1500 miles. I've done many a long run that extended over several days without sleep.
I figured somebody'd have me beat pretty quickly! :)
I could never drive that far without sleep, even when I was 18. Not that I couldn't stay up that long - I have many times. But when that happens I'm in no way competent to drive. Then and now, anything potentially dangerous, from driving to cutting tomatoes for a salad, scares the hell out of me if I haven't slept. I don't know why.
Hmm, in terms of miles I think it's this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=laramie+wy&daddr=41.48557,-102.98364+to:41.81169,-103.15033+to:42.66959,-103.88728+to:43.00095,-103.64182+to:42.66954,-104.02428+to:42.82847,-103.03017+to:43.11809,-102.64678+to:41.29402,-102.34164+to:I-80+W&hl=en&geocode=FYdcdgIdw860-Sl5m9qO94RohzGT5cSh98GJjg%3BFQIFeQIdKJjc-SnzXBBUSV1whzEgfIW8vZV8Jw%3BFer-fQIdBg3a-SmNWJCV6Z96hzFvoB1c36xBqA%3BFRYWiwIdUM7O-Sm_mOdMv79khzFVs1-orvzuAQ%3BFXYkkAIdJI3S-SnfZuLhd1ZjhzENSxuTOxT3Rw%3BFeQViwIdKLfM-SmhZ8wTdpRkhzG1jzujs5bGwg%3BFbaCjQIdZuLb-SkLOsj2Y257hzE3xJ-c7eycHw%3BFQrukQIdBLzh-Sm7B8RdSHh8hzEHNwQ86hJwNg%3BFcQYdgId-GPm-SnPW-wxLNlwhzFl8eu9i2vNaw%3BFcQTdgIdYgi1-Q&mra=dme&mrsp=9&sz=8&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8&sll=41.93089,-104.057007&sspn=2.100514,5.410767&ie=UTF8&ll=41.934977,-104.0625&spn=4.200622,10.821533&z=7), the first day of my 3-day "let's clinch every state highway in the Nebraska Panhandle" marathon drive wherein I thought I was moving to Lincoln NE (therefore requiring me to drive every mile of state highway in Nebraska) and realized Laramie would be an easier base for panhandle clinching and wanted to get that done before I moved. Oops. 906 miles.
In terms of time it's definitely this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=mccall+id&daddr=42.45646,-111.36009+to:41.9688923,-110.6480827+to:42.10815,-109.45162+to:laramie+wy&hl=en&geocode=FZ5JrQIdUHkU-Smhm5cw5lmmVDE2ijHgYBe1Yw%3BFYzVhwIdpsdc-Sl7ToNEv85VhzGjoSX5xownlw%3BFfxkgAId7qRn-Snl9zRr2ctWhzE-NqH0_VQXKg%3BFfaEggIdnOZ5-SltufpTDgJahzEgHFfExD7M_A%3BFYdcdgIdw860-Sl5m9qO94RohzGT5cSh98GJjg&mra=dpe&mrsp=2&sz=11&via=1,2,3&sll=41.854219,-110.421524&sspn=0.262882,0.676346&ie=UTF8&ll=43.468868,-108.435059&spn=8.195834,21.643066&z=6) trek from Idaho back to Wyoming after Christmas 2009- 853 miles, but the roads were bad the entire way and I almost never got about 55 MPH, with much of the driving at closer to 35/40. It took 17 hours.
My overall mileage counts aren't that impressive because I rarely exclusively use interstates on a trip (and try to avoid them as much as possible).
QuoteI could never drive that far without sleep, even when I was 18. Not that I couldn't stay up that long - I have many times. But when that happens I'm in no way competent to drive. Then and now, anything potentially dangerous, from driving to cutting tomatoes for a salad, scares the hell out of me if I haven't slept. I don't know why.
I nodded off behind the wheel for a couple seconds in 2007 during my freshman year of college while driving over Snoqualmie Pass during a Coeur d'Alene -> Tacoma run where I had just spent a few days in CDA partying and not sleeping. It was only a couple seconds, but when I regained consciousness I was about half a second from being in the guardrail at 75 MPH. I've been scared of that ever since as well.
Quote from: corco on February 24, 2011, 10:57:38 PM
My overall mileage counts aren't that impressive because I rarely exclusively use interstates on a trip (and try to avoid them as much as possible).
I can't say that I rarely use them, but I do take alternate routes on more routine trips whenever I have the time. I've taken any number of different routes to Chicago, and I regularly use two different ones to Atlanta. The alternate Atlanta route, using US 80 in Alabama, can sometimes be a real time-saver.
I've made round-trips to Atlanta and St. Louis, well within 24 hours, a few times, but I've always had someone with me to help drive.
On that 50 hour run, I got about 3 hours of sleep in Mississippi. the most I've done without any sleep is 76 hours, but I only covered about 4100 miles because I was busy exploring two-laners and whatnot.
The farthest I've ever driven was from Jackson to Augusta, GA, over 500+ miles.
New York to Western Illinois was about 800 miles in 22 hours. It was the 55 days and it was with a friend.
My late Father did Washington state to Illinois in the pre -Interstate days so probably beat me and I had another friend who did San Franciso to Illinois straight through alone.
The most I ever did was a nonstop run from Nashville to Bloomsburg. From where I was living at the time, that was around 800 miles.
I've also done an Alaska run in 31 hours of driving, but there was a total of 38 hours as we got 2 hours of sleep just before Dawson Creek and 5 hours of sleep around Haines Junction to line us up with a morning (as opposed to middle-of-the-night) border crossing back into the US. That was 2360 miles from Seattle to Anchorage.
actually now that I think about it, I've done a 1556 mile run in 22 hours including a stop for dinner in Los Angeles! left at 2am, was home by midnight. San Diego - Vegas - St George Utah - Vegas - Barstow - Bishop - Yosemite - Fresno - LA - San Diego. This was just this November. (October?)
I also remember doing a ~1530 mile run in 2005: San Francisco - Reno - Battle Mountain - Austin NV - Caliente - Vegas - Barstow - Bakersfield - San Francisco but I think that may have been 23 hours.
the trick to going fast is not to go fast: it is to never, ever ever go slow. You lose a lot of time by slowing down to 35 to take that damn curve at the East LA on 5 southbound. Keep cruise control on 77, even through advisory curves, and you make surprisingly good time without attracting the attention of anyone. (When you know there is no one's attention to attract, then do 90-100 at your leisure.)
Quote from: corco on February 24, 2011, 10:57:38 PMI nodded off behind the wheel for a couple seconds in 2007 during my freshman year of college while driving over Snoqualmie Pass during a Coeur d'Alene -> Tacoma run where I had just spent a few days in CDA partying and not sleeping. It was only a couple seconds, but when I regained consciousness I was about half a second from being in the guardrail at 75 MPH. I've been scared of that ever since as well.
It's even more fun when that happens and you actually run off the road (as I did years ago).
Alone in my car? 228 miles. I really need to work on that. :-P I HAVE been to Boston and back Home (near Montréal, 717 miles total) in a single day, but we were three, and the driving was shared between two of us.
About nodding off while driving... that happened to me once... even worse, as I entered a tunnel. That was freaking dangerous. Now, I know better. I find a rest area or a Park & Ride and take a power nap.
According to my mileage log, I drove my car 574.2 miles the day I went to the Baltimore meet last April. Wasn't driving at the meet itself and didn't bring anyone with me, so that was all just the trip there and the (indirect) trip home, all solo.
Here's the kick in the head: between when I got gas in York, PA and when I arrived home about 4½ hours later, I drove completely non-stop. The length of that segment of the trip? 299.9 miles. Sooo close....
Of course, the record for completely non-stop is more practically limited by the very finite size of gas tanks. Most I've ever gone between fill-ups is 331.3 miles, and that took me down to about an eighth of a tank (normally I do not let it go below a quarter, but the promise of cheaper gas in MA than in CT made me make an exception).
In January 2002, while visiting Boston again, I decided i was going to move back to Boston after moving to Atlanta for 4-5 months.. so in one weekend:
Friday: I drove from Boston, MA to Atlanta, GA -- 1108 miles, alone in the car.. left at 6am, got there at 12:30am - so 18.5 hours straight. only stopped to get gas a couple times, and while pumping gas bought a sandwich and ate it in the car.
Saturday: collapsed nearly dead all day
Sunday: loaded up my stuff and did the same exact drive back to Boston - leaving around the same time, getting home around the same time..
So i dunno about 24 hours, but between Friday 6am and Sunday night at 12:30am I drove 2216 miles alone.
By the time I was close to getting back, I was actually almost in tears from delerium.. banging my head against the window and stuff.
A few other choice tidbits:
-- I didn't have a working radio/cd player/etc so it was totally silent the whole way
-- for about 550 miles on Sunday I was driving through a torrential downpour, mostly through Virginia on I-81.
-- NO CRUISE CONTROL!
Also, in general, that drive is absolutely horrible and boring.
I've probably never felt worse in my life..
My single-day record appears to be a fairly modest ~700, from my home here to somewhere in metro Atlanta. Hard to get an exact reading because it's a trip I've made many times, but to one of a few different specific destinations in the area and (lately, anyway) almost never using exactly the same route twice. It's definitely somewhere between 680 and 710, though, done in somewhere between 10 and 12 hours.
as for the ultimate speed run: Placerville to San Diego, 534 miles in almost exactly 6 hours. 89 mph, which isn't bad considering that I had to stop for gas twice. Lousy 280 mile gas tank!
I did the San Diego-Gilroy-Placerville-San Diego run (about 1190 miles) in about 15 hours. that includes time stopped buying and selling some signs, gas station, and the inevitable incapability of doing 90 down the drive-thru. I left at 2am, I was home by 5pm.
My personal highest in one sitting is 950 miles, driving back from Augusta, ME to Lansing, MI. It took 17 hours, including a stop at Niagara Falls.
At about hour 15 into the trip, I started having trouble staying awake and was suffering from hallucinations. I have only been that tired one other time, and that was on a 500 mile road trip back to Lansing from the Upper Peninsula after sleeping a total of 6 hours in 3 days.
http://www.sykotyk.com/supertrip/
10,473 miles in 16 days. Drove 1,023 from I-40 in western Arkansas up I-540/US71 to I-44, a shortcut to Kansas on US400, I-44 to Oklahoma (taking the toll bypasses of Tulsa and OKC), I-40 west to Albuquerque, and US550 to the continental divide.
Just recently I drove over 1,400 miles in two days from Commerce City, CO to Golden over Loveland to Leadville, to Aspen, to Montrose, down the Million Dollar Highway to Durango, to Milan, NM and spent the night. Drove south on state routes to hit a county, then I-40 to I-25 to Santa Fe to Los Alamos, up US285 to Alamesa to Monte Vista through Hinsdale County (last county to hit in Colorado) to US50 to US285 north through Buena Vista back to Commerce City to return my rental car. That was exhaustive.
for a many-day many-week trip, the longest is about 17000 miles in 21 days. 41 out of lower 48 states visited. it's always fun having to change the oil in your rental car.
My longest one day trip was Las Vegas to Olympia via I-15, I-84. 1300 miles. It took 18 hours.
My longest trip i have done by myself in 1 day is from Bolingbrook, IL to Groton, CT using I-55 North (East), I-355 South, I-80 East, I-81 North, I-84 East, I-691 East, CT 66 East, CT 2 East, CT 11 South, CT 85 South, I-95 North (East). If i remember correctly it was roughly 975 miles. I took about 16 hours.
Between my brother living in Brooklyn and my cousin in CT i usually fill my summer with this type of trip.
Doing that kind of driving I am used to though. I stormchase in the spring/summer anywhere from San Antonio up into Saskatchewan and from Denver to Chicago depending on the time of year and the weather. Longest trip i did in 1 day of chasing (with some friends but i did 80 % of the driving) was from Minot, ND back home to suburban Chicago - 990 miles.
My longest drive so far has been only around 700 miles, doing Hamburg-Frankfurt and back some 3-4 times years ago. I'm always wanting to do longer trips to finally break the 1,000 miles in a single day, but alas, time, money and fuel prices are not on my side.
I know I've topped 700 miles in a day on my own a number times such as Schenectady, NY, to South Bend, IN, and St. Louis to southern GA. But most of my longest days have been when I had someone to share the driving (even if I did the majority myself). We've had a number of upstate NY/SW Fla runs without an overnight stop, and on my way back from Alaska, we did Kadoka, SD, to Troy, NY, with only brief rest stops. We definitely passed 1000 miles in some 24-hour period there. Growing up, we did Amsterdam, NY, to Rapid City, SD, with no stop but 2 drivers and I was only 15 so I was a year short of helping. And Amsterdam to the Orlando area was a pretty common trip for my family, rarely involving an overnight stop, but usually involving at least 2 drivers.
My longest was a trip from D.C. to Madison WI, probably in the early 1990s. I forget the exact route, but it included a side trip to look at the infamous I-180 in Illinois.
The mileage that day was about 1125 miles. Alas, the trip out was really exhausting, and it took me several days to recover for the trip home (done in two days). Now that I'm older, something that long would be out of the question, except maybe on western Interstates with 75mph limits.
2 years ago, the day after my father passed. About 1,162 miles from DC to Minneapolis. Needless to say, I was operating on adrenaline most of the trip...
For me, approx 580 miles from south of Lumberton, MS home to Fayetteville, AR.
Pretty much I-59 to Hattiesburg, US 49 to Jackson, I-20 to Tallulah, LA, US 65/I-530 to Little Rock -I-40 to Alma- I-540 to Fayetteville (plus a couple local streets).
I don't do that much anymore because it's very tiring.
The longest one-day session I've done is around 900 miles, when I went up to the Panhandle and back. Towards the end I was forgetting vast swaths of territory, being in El Reno at one point and western Oklahoma City another, with no recollection of Yukon in between the two...
785 miles, part of a move out west from Hartford area to Fort Wayne, Ind. Crossing from PA (I-80, 55 MPH limit back in the day) to OH (65 MPH) was cause for a fist pump.
For me at the moment it is just under 200 miles driving to Hampton Roads and back on a cold March Saturday morning, but that will sooner or later get way higher.
In terms of distance, I have three ties at 430 miles, give or take: Salt Lake to Las Vegas, Los Angeles to Oakland (via 1, 23 and 101), and Oakland to Winnemucca via Tracy on 580 and 205. Lackluster, I know, but any solid driving for more than seven hours is too much for me. You try driving I-80 between Reno and Salt Lake and you'll see that 85 mph for hours on end (through the desolation of northern Nevada) isn't as easy as it sounds.
24 hours is for pikers...LOL! In 1988 I drove a 12 hour shift in the cab, waited 4 hours for these Korean fishermen to get themselves together after their boat which served a mother ship had broken down, then drove them to LA from Coos Bay, where I waited another 6 hours to collect the rest of the money from their company, then I drove as far as Modesto before taking a nice snooze in a parking lot.
Honorable mention goes to driving from SE Louisiana to LA with a 45 minute nap in West Texas in one fell swoop in 1999.
Nowadays I can't do that as I got too old to put out that kind of energy but when I used to rock, I sure would roll! Going on the road was so much fun.
Rick
For me, probably a 400 mile Mobile-Birmingham-Huntsville-Birmingham trek I made 4 years ago (my dad drove the first 80 miles from Mobile, I then drove all the way home, with a stop in Greenville, dropped my dad off at home, and then drove all the way to Huntsville (actually Madison) then drove back to Birmingham where I arrived around midnight after leaving Mobile middle of the morning).
I think I went just over 1000 miles in a day going from Orlando to Nashville the long way. Took FL TOLL 429, US 441, and FL 44 out of Orlando for some reason I still haven't determined and hit I-75 at Wildwood. Then took I-10 west across to the exit that was the furthest east I had previously been to (FL 81), then turned north into Alabama where I took US 331 most of the way towards Montgomery but jumped over to I-65 north once I was close enough.
I didn't drive all of it, but in college I went from Lincoln, NE to Montgomery, AL(1040 miles) in one 24-hour period. It was more of an adventure than just the long distance though. It an included getting a speeding ticket between Lincoln and Nebraska City on NE 2(my brother was driving at that time) and having to bail him out of the Otoe County Courthouse because of previous unpaid speeding tickets. Then we ran out of gas on I-29 N. of St. Joseph-I stayed with the car while my brother took the gas can and started to walk to get gas(fortunately a trucker saw him fairly quickly and picked him up and took him to the next exit). It was below zero windchill at the time too. Then we ran into freezing rain in St. Louis in the middle of the night and snow in Paducah, Ky. after sunrise finally arriving in Montgomery(where it was about 60 degrees) about 24 hours after leaving. The route taken was NE/IA 2, I-29, I-435, I-70, I-270, I-255, I-64, I-57, I-24, I-65, I-85.
My 1-day record is a little over 1K miles from Sault Ste Marie back here to NJ via northern Ontario, with some driving around Toronto for fun mixed in. Alternatively, I've driven for 21.5 hours with only one stop longer than 5 minutes (dinner); though I wasn't keeping track of mileage, I think it was just under 1K. (Roughly 40-45 mph average, mostly in Delaware)
Toronto-Bemidji, via the northern tip of the UP...
ON 401, QEW, 403, 401, 402, I-69, I-75, M-123, 28, US 41, M-28, US 2
Monroe, LA-Los Angeles, via Jackson and NOLA was a 36 hour haul, with stops (naturally in NOLA) to eat and catch some rest.
I-20, 55, 12, 10, CA 60. Got my 80% clinch of I-10 in the process, though.
QuoteI didn't drive all of it, but in college I went from Lincoln, NE to Montgomery, AL(1040 miles) in one 24-hour period. It was more of an adventure than just the long distance though.
My record with other people (2 others) over one day is Hartland WI to Lincoln NH via South Bend IN, Flint MI, and Montreal. 1,175 miles. I drove from Hartland to South Bend and again from Toronto to Montreal.
On the same trip we also drove straight from Pickerington OH to Broomfield CO- 1,284 miles. I didn't carry my weight that day (I drove most of the day before from NH to Ohio) and only drove from Pickerington to Marshall IL (282).
When I was a pup and we moved west, we drove from Geneva IL to Rock Springs WY (1,177), but I was 8 and didn't drive any of it.
Quote from: corco on March 05, 2011, 08:45:59 AM
QuoteI didn't drive all of it, but in college I went from Lincoln, NE to Montgomery, AL(1040 miles) in one 24-hour period. It was more of an adventure than just the long distance though.
My record with other people (2 others) over one day is Hartland WI to Lincoln NH via South Bend IN, Flint MI, and Montreal. 1,175 miles. I drove from Hartland to South Bend and again from Toronto to Montreal.
On the same trip we also drove straight from Pickerington OH to Broomfield CO- 1,284 miles. I didn't carry my weight that day (I drove most of the day before from NH to Ohio) and only drove from Pickerington to Marshall IL (282).
When I was a pup and we moved west, we drove from Geneva IL to Rock Springs WY (1,177), but I was 8 and didn't drive any of it.
I did that once: there was a vanload of 6 of us who drove non-stop from NW Arkansas to Slippery Rock, PA for Pennsic War. Approx 20 hours, counting food and gas stops. We rotated drivers about every 4 hours.
I was regularly driving from Simsboro, LA to Columbia, MO before my mom died....~550 miles. Before I got married, I could make that drive in under 10 hours w/only 1 stop for food/gas at Batesville, AR. US 167-> Hardy, AR-> US 63-> Columbia.
In college, I made a railfan excursion to Mississippi--over 700 miles.
I also drove to Augusta, GA to visit my sister--about 660 miles in 14 hrs.
800 miles +- is probably my record for a single day's drive - Evansville IN to Clearwater FL and/or visa versa.
The longest single trip I ever took was Lawrenceville, GA (near Atlanta) to Anchorage, AK....................4,806 miles in 12.5 days. The only stops more than a night were a half day at Mt. Rushmore and a half day in Edmonton, AB to walk through the West Edmonton Mall. My daughter spelled my driving from time to time, but I did most of it myself.
I drove about 1,400 miles in 24 hours, myself. I drove from Sothern California to Salt Lake City and back to pick up my sister. Hardest drive I ever did. I left at 3:00am Friday morning and got home at 3:00 am on Saturday morning.
I've never actually done over 300 miles that I recall . . . the most I did was exactly 290.0 miles on my Central Oregon roadtrip back in October. I've actually done above-200 mile trips with quite some regularity, though. I've done the western outskirts of Portland-to-Eugene and back in one day a bunch (which, depending on what routes you take, is somewhere in the 220-260 mile range), and when I was doing my Master's degree up at Central Washington, I did the Ellensburg-to-western outskirts of Portland drive quite a few times, which is also just a hair over 250.
Quote from: Tarkus on March 05, 2011, 04:43:32 PM
I've never actually done over 300 miles that I recall . . . the most I did was exactly 290.0 miles on my Central Oregon roadtrip back in October. I've actually done above-200 mile trips with quite some regularity, though. I've done the western outskirts of Portland-to-Eugene and back in one day a bunch (which, depending on what routes you take, is somewhere in the 220-260 mile range), and when I was doing my Master's degree up at Central Washington, I did the Ellensburg-to-western outskirts of Portland drive quite a few times, which is also just a hair over 250.
I soooooo agree with your avatar!
The most I've done in one day is about 600 miles from Reno to Portland, with a stop along the way at Crater Lake NP. Was driving a rented van without cruise control, as me and several other colleagues were on our way to a conference.
Quote from: Interstate Trav on March 05, 2011, 02:49:25 PM
I drove about 1,400 miles in 24 hours, myself. I drove from Sothern California to Salt Lake City and back to pick up my sister. Hardest drive I ever did. I left at 3:00am Friday morning and got home at 3:00 am on Saturday morning.
Wow, there've been very few instances of me having even
flown that far in a day, let alone driven! My hat is off, sir, but I damn sure don't envy you.
I had forgotten about a couple long drives my wife made in one day. One was from the eastern Cleveland suburbs to Fancy Gap, VA, and back in one day, a distance of about 870 miles (including the side trip to the Cleveland airport for a rental car).
Another of her drives was from Houghton, MI to Cleveland, a distance of 750 miles.
She is not a roadgeek, but she's done some respectably long-distance drives.
1100 or so from Maine to Jacksonville in 17 hours. I had to get back to get underway for a no notice deployment.
One thousand miles (plus or minus ten miles or so) from Cocoa (Port St. John) to Philadelphia to visit family. Usually the trip takes anywhere between 12 1/2 to 14 1/2 hours, depending on traffic and weather.
Last August I went to pick up my wife at Whitefish Mountain Resort (Montana) and drive back to Long Beach. Left at 10:30 AM...meant to drive until I got sleepy, but around 11:00 PM in St. George, figured it was easier (and cheaper) to push through and get home, which we did just after 5:00 AM. 18 hours, 30 minutes for 1355 miles. She slept most of the time, so I drove the whole way.
Also have driven Portland to Long Beach in one sitting (980 miles) a couple of times.
Longest I guess I've done is from the Badlands area of South Dakota home to eastern Kentucky back in 1991 when I was traveling with my dad and brother. We started looking for motel rooms along the I-74 corridor in Illinois but everything was full, so once we got to Indianapolis my dad basically decided to head on home. The three of us took turns driving but he decided to stop at the welcome center in northern Kentucky for a short nap early in the morning before we headed on home.
The most I've done in one day was last summer from Marshalltown, Iowa to home. It was an indirect route, though, including a ride across the Mississippi River on the ferry connecting Missouri and Kentucky. I intended to spend the night somewhere in the Paducah/Kentucky Dam area, but circumstances dictated me driving on home.
1410 Miles, Stafford CT to Hallandale Beach, FL in just over 21 hours.
That was 10 years ago.. In order to do that now... same trip in that amount of time, I believe I'd need a break (aka someone else to share driving with, if only to take over for a couple hours).
I do remember having to "coach" myself and start smacking myself a lot around Port St Lucie :sleep:.... around exit 64-65 (exit 120's in the new mileage based system?)
738 miles from Springfield, MO to Ypsilanti, MI via Indianapolis.
1150+ miles back in 2006, from a bit east of Laramie to Santa Clara. A lazy 22 hours including food, bathroom, fuel, a slight amount of sightseeing detours...
Longest drive in nasty win'ah weathah was when I followed a blizzard from Oneonta to Arrowsic.
Longest I've done so far is Hampton Roads to Boston. Took maybe 12 hours. Nothing too impressive now, but for someone who only had a permit at the time it sure was.
The longest I have ever done in one day is from my house in Northern New Jersey to Canton, OH via the PA Turnpike, I-70, and I-77. We only went this way because there were Lake Effect bands coming across I-80 and I-76 in northern Ohio and PA, so we took a southern route.
My massive gonzo drive would have to be from Colorado Springs to Portland, ME. 2100+ miles in just over 29 hours. Considering I stopped for dinner with friends in Cleveland and crashed in a rest stop for a few hours somewhere in New York, I'd say that would fit the 24 hour rule. Simply put, that one hurt and I ended up sleeping about 20 hours when I got to Portland. Route was US 24 -> I-70 -> I-270 around Columbus -> I-71 -> OH 83 to the friend's home, then I-90 -> I-290 -> I-495 -> I-95 into Portland.
Never. Again. In a million years.
Around Colorado, I'd say my long drive with the least amount of Interstates would have to be my site's 1 year anniversary Mega Trip (http://r-dub.us/various/051206/index.html (http://r-dub.us/various/051206/index.html)), which was 720 miles mostly on mountainous terrain north and west of Denver.
Me driving: Manistee-Big Rapids-Cadillac-Manistee or Allendale-Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids-Allendale
In a car: Manistee-Key West nonstop (approx. 28 hours)
Treacherous conditions, me not driving: Franklin, TN to Orlando in 14 hours (included approx. 2 hours for dinner and gas and driving through a heavy rain all through southern Georgia)
I think for treacherous conditions, about half of our return trip from Alaska was in snow. Icefields Parkway was unplowed - 8 inches in the ruts, 12 or so in the high center. We were driving a Corolla! At one point, we high-centered the car and sledded down a hill.
I've driven from Atlanta to Los Angeles several times (in the 1990's) that was broken into 3 12-hour driving periods in 3 days, and I remember a few times at night where it would dawn upon me that I hadn't thought about anything for last several seconds or so. It was a scary reminder that I had started to doze off, which isn't good with the cruise control set at 77mph.
Atlanta to LA in 36 hours :-o
my record for cross-country is San Francisco to Miami in 50.
36. GOD DAMN.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 31, 2011, 09:46:52 PM
Atlanta to LA in 36 hours :-o
my record for cross-country is San Francisco to Miami in 50.
36. GOD DAMN.
I think you misread. It's 36 hours of actual driving, but spread over 3 days.
plus I just did out the math and Atlanta to Miami, plus SF to LA is another thousand miles. Damn, Miami is f'n far. I should know this - I've damn near fallen asleep on I-10 and I-75 more than enough times.
when I first read "Atlanta to LA" I thought "oh, that's about 3000 miles" so I did the math and ... averaging 83mph, now that would be something.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on March 31, 2011, 09:46:52 PM
Atlanta to LA in 36 hours :-o
my record for cross-country is San Francisco to Miami in 50.
36. GOD DAMN.
That's an approximate figure. Maybe I drove 14-16 hours some days, I don't remember. I regret some of my hastiness though. I drove by the Grand Canyon several times and never stopped to see it.
I recently did LA (Torrance area) to Sedona. I left around 11am and got to Sedona a little after 8pm. I made a feel stops on the way in Barstow, Neddles, Kingman, and Williams though and I also had the cruise control set to around 75mph. If it wasn't for the highway patrol I probably would have gotten there way sooner.
Drove from Kansas City International Airport to Albuequerque, NM. Do not know the actual mileage, but used I-29, I-35, US 54-400, US 400 (to Dodge City), US 283, US 54, and I-40, It was almost twelve hours mostly cause I spent time in Emporia, KS and Dodge City, KS. Nonethess, I did it in a day and have to give the time zones a part cause I gained an hour going into Mountain Time!
My new record is now 458 miles. Yeah, I know, still small.
Beauharnois, QC to Parsippany, NJ; QC-132, QC-202, Franklin Co. 52, US-11, Northway, then I-787 and I-90 in Albany, Taconic Pkwy to NYC and G. Washintgon Bridge, and then some I-80 in NJ.
My new record as of yesterday is 594.0 miles. Toronto, ON to Stamford, CT
local streets → Gardiner Expwy W → ON 427 N → ON 401 E → ON 137 S → I-81 S → I-84 E → NY17 E → I-87 S → Saw Mill Pkwy S → local streets → my cousin's house → local streets → NY 100A N → I-287 E → Hutchinson/Merritt Pkwy N → CT 137 N → local streets → home
Took about 10½ hours (8 AM-6:30 PM), including a half hour stop for breakfast, three pit stops, waiting a bit at the border, and dwelling for about a half hour at my cousin's house.
Longest with just me driving and no overnight stops is Charleston, SC to back home near Atlantic City, NJ (I-526->I-26->I-95->I-295->US-40->NJ-50). Roughly 12hrs, and 700 miles of driving. Technically it was even higher for the past 24hrs though, because the night before I had gone county hunting, leaving Charleston, driving to Yulee, FL, then turned around and drove back to Charleston, before embarking for NJ early the next "morning" (US-17->I-95->A1A//US-17->I-95->US 17A->I-26->I-526). That little evening side trip to FL ended up being another 470 miles lol.
Longest with shared driving is home near Atlantic City, NJ to Omaha, NE with no overnight stops. NJ-50->ACE->NJ-42->I-76->I-76/70->I-76->I-80->I-80/90->I-80->I-680->I-29->I-680->NE-64. That was a long drive lol, 21hrs, and 1285 miles.
When I moved to Maine, me and my wife drover cross country. The longest stretch of the whole trip I can recall was from Mishawaka Indiana to Niagara Falls Ontario. Yeah a bit of a diversion, but we wanted a couple days break. We took I-80/I-90, not sure exactly how many hours it was but likely about 9 hours including pit stops, etc. All done in a 97 Saturn SL-2. Wish I still had that car!!
New record as of 7/14: 702.1 miles in 11½ hours. Stamford, CT to Covington, KY
Merritt/Hutchinson River Pkwy S → Cross County Pkwy W → I-87 S → I-95 S → I-276 W → I-76 W → I-70 W → I-270 S/W → I-71 S
The drive back (different route) was a couple miles longer (704.8), but I was only behind the wheel for about 40% of it.
My parents and I took an RV from Joliet to Bakersfield, CA while moving them from here to there this past October. My father and I switched off driving (each maybe 50% or so), and we stopped for gas, food, and restroom breaks. Started here at 2am (CDT) Saturday morning, and got there at 4pm (PDT). A total of 38 hours (partially because the RV wouldn't go faster than 45mph up to the Eisenhower Tunnel and up Vail Pass - I know, I drove that section). The route: I-80 -> I-280 -> I-76 -> I-70 -> I-15 -> CA-58. I think I slept maybe 7 of those hours (including all of I-70 in Utah at night - I was a little tired after the mountain driving in Colorado).
840 Billings to Saint Paul. Not as much as many of you but I WAS hung over.
Post Merge: August 11, 2011, 11:29:13 AM
Quote from: Duke87 on April 05, 2011, 07:49:53 PM
My new record as of yesterday is 594.0 miles. Toronto, ON to Stamford, CT
Pilgrimage to WWE headquarters?
Erie PA to Ocean's Grove, MA. 671 miles. included intentional detours to Boston including going through the Ted Williams and Callahan Tunnels and Providence, RI. Took about 12 hours - including time stuck in traffic at the Big Dig on I-93. The NY route of choice was I-86 all the way to Deposit (where I turned onto NY-8 to go north to I-88) and took I-90 through Albany.
830 miles in December 1991 coming home from the Gator Bowl. Two other guys and I went to the game and we stayed some distance west of Jacksonville in a motel in Macclenny, Florida. Did the drive home in one day and we had to drop off one of the other guys in Charlottesville, then I had to drop off the other guy at his parents' house near Mount Vernon, then I finished the short remaining drive back to my parents' house where I was staying on winter vacation. Route was I-10 east to I-95, I-95 north to I-64, I-64 west to Charlottesville and then a few local roads to the one guy's apartment near UVA, then I-64 to US-250 to VA-22 to VA-231 to US-15 to VA-20 to VA-3 back to I-95 near Fredericksburg, then local roads in Northern Virginia. We didn't use I-295 around Jacksonville because this was the period when there was an outbreak of people throwing rocks off overpasses.
(Last month my wife and I made a similar drive from Green Cove Springs near Jacksonville. But we didn't have to go through Charlottesville. It knocked about 100 miles off the trip not having to go there, total 734 miles.)
Close second would be 819 miles from my parents' house in Fairfax, Virginia, to Montgomery, Alabama, summer of 1997 when I was working in Alabama for the summer and went home to visit my parents for a week prior to heading south. I was tired of I-85, so I took I-66 to I-81, south to I-40, west through Knoxville to I-75, southwest to I-24, west to I-59, south to I-459 near Birmingham, I-459 around Birmingham, then I-65 south to Montgomery.
The mileage figures may be off by minute amounts due to exiting the highway for gas, food, or toilet breaks.
My longest really fast trip would probably be from downtown Atlanta to Fairfax, Virginia, on December 31, 1995. I had been to the Peach Bowl the night before and wanted to make it home for a New Year's Eve party Sunday night. 653 miles in nine hours, including one gas stop and one food stop and no piss breaks, via the I-85 to I-95 route. I made it from Durham, NC, to Montgomery (560 miles) in 7 hours of driving time once (not including the stop in Atlanta for gas and to hit the Varsity), via I-85 the whole way.
964 miles from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Williamsburg, VA. Listed to The Da Vinci Code on disc. Fueled by Red Bull. That was 2005, it took 14 hours.
I also did a 550 mile loop in one day exploring Florida, without ever driving on a single interstate or any other limited-access highway, in 1996.
977 miles Newark, NJ to Columbus, GA last year. Took the turnpike and I-95/85. Made it in 16 hours flat.
Would've been faster if I hadn't been stopped on I-85 in Virginia. That road is such a trap, they may as well install a toll booth.
Planning to do it again in a month (the drive, not the ticket).
Quote from: texaskdog on August 09, 2011, 10:33:04 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on April 05, 2011, 07:49:53 PM
My new record as of yesterday is 594.0 miles. Toronto, ON to Stamford, CT
Pilgrimage to WWE headquarters?
Hahaha no. Nor was it to see an episode of Jerry Springer or Maury Povitch taped. :-P
It was a trip home. I live in Stamford. :nod:
As for why I didn't list it in the other direction, well, the route I took the going up was shorter, and split over two days.
Of course, I broke that record last month (see previous page).
New as of yesterday.
152 miles from Wildwood Crest, NJ to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal via GSP, NJTP, I-278 and Bay Rd.
Short visit in Manhattan via ferry and subway, not counted.
then 398 miles to my home near Montréal, QC via I-278, Bronx River Pkwy, Sprain Pkwy & Taconic Pkwy, then I-90, I-787, NY-7, Adirondacks Northway (I-87), A-15, A-30.
Total, 550 miles, with delays on the Brooklyn-Queens Expy (Atlantic Ave to Kosciuszko Br) and at the Canadian customs (random inspection).
762 miles: home near Columbus, OH to hotel near Milford, MA, via I-80 in PA.
Eastbound, did it in about 17 hours with numerous stops, including some naps and visiting relatives in CT.
Westbound, did it in 13 hours, napping only about 15 minutes at a McD's in PA. I find that having snacks ready to much on while rolling helps stave off fatigue.
The longest distance I've ever driven by myself in one day is 1150 miles from Tulsa, OK to Minot, ND.
The longest trip I've made in one day was from Collingswood, NJ to Florida City, FL, 1,231 mi. Technically I was with my mom and brothers, but my mom had gotten my car into an accident the month before and I wasn't about to let her drive my car again; so I drive the entire length myself in one day. :-D
Mostly took I-95 & I-295 through NJ and VA, I guess nothing special there. :-/
Last month, I drove from Phoenix to San Jose in one shot--730 miles, according to my car odometer. That's the farthest I've ever driven in one day by a long shot.
I thought it was closer to 100 miles but mine was driving home after visiting a college roomate that moved to Marshall University
Huntington, WV to Shreveport, LA = 893 miles, with a short sidestop in Nashville to see the State Capitol. I think it took 14 or 15 hours.
West US 60 to South (?) US 52 to I-64 in Huntington (is it signed south? maybe just mapquest)
I-64 west to South US 27/West US 68 in Lexington, then the Circle Hwy to
US 60 west and Bluegrass Pkwy west to I 65
I 65 south to Nashville, taking I 24 south to exit near the Capitol
I-40 west to Little Rock, I 440 west to I-30
I-30 south to AR 245 in Texarkana
AR 245 south/US 71 south to Shreveport
I hit ~800 miles in one day going from New Orleans to Charleston, SC via I-10 and I-95 (the "scenic Gulf Coast tour"), with some stops in lovely towns such as Loxley, AL and Sanderson, FL.
1,064 Miles from Vancouver, Washington to Los Angeles, California. Took me 15 hours and only had to fill up three times there and three times back. Oh yeah, and about 24 cups of coffee.
At least it was better than sitting on a Greyhound Bus for 23 hours.
The most I've done is around 770 miles... Sioux Falls, SD to Little Rock, AR.
Lamar, CO to New Orleans back in 2006. In exactly 24 hours.
Nonstop: Greenwood, SC to New Orleans (via Athens, Atlanta, Birmingham, Meridian, Hattiesburg) in roughly 12 hours.
Greatest distance in 36 hours: Alhambra, Calif to Dallas. (few hours sleep in Phoenix and 30 minute snooze in El Paso...never again).
Not sure the exact number but it was 700-800 miles between Cincinnati, OH and Myrtle Beach, SC. Done that a few times in the last few years.
Quote from: InterstateNG on March 06, 2011, 10:27:45 AM
738 miles from Springfield, MO to Ypsilanti, MI via Indianapolis.
I actually have to correct myself, as I was thinking about a long drive (775 miles and 600+ the next day) I have next week.
778 miles from Ypsilanti, MI to Worcester, MA via Scranton, PA.
Let's see...
Solo drive is 850-900, from Middletown, DE to Middletown, CT via California MD and Virginia Beach... Delmarva county run as well as a few in mainland Maryland and Virginia Beach. Was trying to get back to Boston but started to fall asleep on the 91/84 run (as is the custom), so I slept in the rest area in Middletown.
Paired in 24h is in the 1100-1200 range, not entirely sure when or where but we've probably scraped that a few times.
Also worth noting is the combined bus/driving trip, bus from Indianapolis to Mount Olive, NJ, then driving home after that.
774.2 miles yesterday between driving to and from the Williamsport meet, driving at the meet, and giving someone a ride there.
Left the house at 6 in the morning at didn't get back until 1 AM. Probably spent 16 of those 19 hours behind the wheel.
I drove something like 450 miles on the job just this past Friday. Add miles in my personal car, makes it about 475. Not the longest in this thread for sure, but possibly among the longest of anyone's near-typical days...
I more than doubled my previous record yesterday, having driven 1,020 kilometres (633 miles). I clinched a bunch of highways in the GTA and southwestern Ontario (as far as the 401/402 split), and drove all the way back home, near Montreal.
This is my longest in recent memory:
http://g.co/maps/dzc2e
Roughly 1,040 km, back in September. I got the most out of my rental car that weekend. I like to return my rental cars at night after the shop is closed so I don't have to answer any follow-up questions.
I did this in a day a couple of years ago between ballgames in Philly and New York which I made for a pretty long day as well:
http://g.co/maps/dp9qv
My personal best is non-stop from Madison, Wis. to Utica, N.Y. - 886 miles - back in 2004 on my way back from a computer training class. I don't remember much of it east of Erie, Pa.
This past Thanksgiving, i drove from my brother's place in Park City UT back home to southwest suburban Chicago. It was officially 1381.5 from his door to mine. Did The drive in 20 1/2 hrs. So i was averaging 67.4 mph. Thank god for 75 in Wyoming and Nebraska and 70 in Iowa. My previous record was Minot ND to Glen Ellyn IL about 900 mi.
I did about 800 miles in a day, slept in the car for a few hours, and started off for NJ that evening, Got to about mid indiana, not 100% sure where but it was after portage. Possibly La Porte, i slept in the back of a service center on the road. From there i resumed my east coast journey, on the way back i made it to a motel 6 on the other side of chicago near the airport.
Edit: i forgot to mention i started at grand forks AFB nd and ended at zip code 08060.
I've done about 600 miles in a day.
In my case, 909 miles. It was a long, long day. Savannah, Georgia north to Columbia, South Carolina. Drove around Columbia for about an hour, had a meeting for about an hour-and-a-quarter and then drove all the way home south to Coral Springs, Florida.
I will never do that again.
Nevada to Connecticut in 2 days by auto. Left Nevada at 8:30 AM on a Saturday and arrived in Connecticut on Monday morning around 7 AM. Stopped in Oklahoma City 1 night.
Driving from Jacksonville, NC to home in West Monroe, LA, my goal is usually always somewhere west of Atlanta, usually Douglasville, which is 561 miles going US 17 SB to I-40 WB to I-95 SB to I-20 WB. Pretty paltry compared to some of the numbers I've seen in this thread, but I need my rest and shower and would probably go crazy if I tried to make the entire thousand-mile trip in one sitting.
The longest I ever tried to drive was probably from Tuscaloosa, AL to Virginia Beach, VA, about 815 miles going I-20 EB to I-95 NB to US 58 EB. Never again.
Solo my record is ~850. Middletown, DE to Middletown, CT (no, that wasn't intentional) via California, MD (spur for county), all counties on the Delmarva peninsula, and Virginia Beach. Originally I was intending to get home to Watertown, MA but after going through New York I didn't have it in me. My overall total isn't that impressive because I hate interstates.
With another person, I'm sure it's somewhere in the 1200+ range.
Quote from: DBrim on June 06, 2012, 07:48:47 AM
With another person, I'm it's somewhere in the 1200+ range.
I think it may be as much as 1400, if we take the most favorable 24-hour slice of our Alcan run. at 110mph, those miles add up!
Solo, it's Manistee to Flushing (with a side trip to get Shiawassee County) to Manistee (with side trips to clinch I-675 and the US-10 business routes in Midland and Clare). Roughly 400 miles round trip, and I did the return leg on no sleep. Both legs happened in the same 24 hour period, so I think it counts.
With others, it's either the 1,400 miles from Whitehorse, Yukon to Dawson Creek, British Columbia; or roughly the same distance from Dawson Creek to Regina, Saskatchewan. We even found a few hours to mess around at the West Edmonton Mall on that stretch, which we did in consecutive days. Part of a 4,600+ mile drive from Anchorage, AK to Rock Hill, SC. There were 4 of us and we took turns.
By myself (at least, I was the only one driving) was 750+ miles from New Orleans to Rock Hill, SC. My girlfriend was with me but she was in no shape to drive, the night before on Bourbon Street got to her :sombrero:
With a partner, mine is 1,229 from Bellingham to Los Angeles. I did most of the driving -- except from Seattle to Kelso, WA and from Redding to Dunnigan, CA -- and only slept for about an hour during my breaks. That adds up to 980 for me.
Strictly by myself, my longest is 624 miles -- Bellingham to Aberdeen to Yakima and back to take the photos here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_12_in_Washington) during my Wikipedia days.
Longest I ever drove was from New Carrollton, Maryland to DeKalb, Illinois - starting in the afternoon, and ending-up in DeKalb the next morning.
Google Maps says that's 764 miles and an estimated travel time of 13 hours 34 minutes, though it would have been more when I drove it, since the NMSL was still in effect.
1200 miles, several times, Michigan-Texas and Oklahoma-Michigan. That's straight through stopping only to fill one tank and empty another...if you know what I mean, and I'm sure you do. That was also WITHOUT cruise control (in a Geo Prizm, a clone of the Toyota Corolla) that I kept running for 500,143 miles before I used it for a trade and got $150 for it.
A friend of mine back in his college days would drive straight through from Arlington VA to Orem UT, where he attended BYU. He was a Mormon and they don't drink coffee. Cokes were okay though. He said he would have an early breakfast in Arlington (just outside Washington DC) and his Mom would pack him a lunch. He would drive all day, then all night, then all day the SECOND DAY, and ALL NIGHT THE SECOND NIGHT, before arriving after dawn on the third day and collapsing.
His vehicle: A VW Super Beetle, one of the last versions of the original.
I will preface this by saying I generally don't believe making long-haul trips as quickly as possible, and fortunately, I've never been in a situation where I've had to travel an excessive distance in an extremely limited amount of time...so with that in mind, the winner for me is a relatively unimpressive 724 miles in one day, from Pittsburgh to St. Louis via Kent, Ohio and Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana.
I had a roommate who grew up in both Santa Ana (CA) and México City. He once drove straight from Santa Ana to México City by himself. No matter which route you take, that's more than 1800 miles; this was before México had an extensive system of four-lane highways, and some of the shortcut toll roads hadn't been built, so it was likely 100 or 200 miles longer than that. I remember him saying that, by the time he got to México City, his brain couldn't handle anything over about 40 mph; people would fly past him, but that was all he could do.
Quote from: kphoger on June 27, 2012, 09:48:30 AM
I had a roommate who grew up in both Santa Ana (CA) and México City. He once drove straight from Santa Ana to México City by himself. No matter which route you take, that's more than 1800 miles; this was before México had an extensive system of four-lane highways, and some of the shortcut toll roads hadn't been built, so it was likely 100 or 200 miles longer than that. I remember him saying that, by the time he got to México City, his brain couldn't handle anything over about 40 mph; people would fly past him, but that was all he could do.
As you get tired, speed becomes a lot faster than it really is. What you could drive comfortably at 70mph near feels hyperspeed at 50, etc. If I can't drive at least 60mph comfortably (wide open rural freeway), I know I'm too tired to drive and call it a day.
Quote from: Sykotyk on July 02, 2012, 03:36:01 AM
Quote from: kphoger on June 27, 2012, 09:48:30 AM
I had a roommate who grew up in both Santa Ana (CA) and México City. He once drove straight from Santa Ana to México City by himself. No matter which route you take, that's more than 1800 miles; this was before México had an extensive system of four-lane highways, and some of the shortcut toll roads hadn't been built, so it was likely 100 or 200 miles longer than that. I remember him saying that, by the time he got to México City, his brain couldn't handle anything over about 40 mph; people would fly past him, but that was all he could do.
As you get tired, speed becomes a lot faster than it really is. What you could drive comfortably at 70mph near feels hyperspeed at 50, etc. If I can't drive at least 60mph comfortably (wide open rural freeway), I know I'm too tired to drive and call it a day.
Completely different for me. It's not a function of speed, it's just whether I can keep my eyes open. No matter what is affecting my perception, be it sleep or something else, I still manage to drive the same speed.