Longest period of not driving an interstate

[roadman65]

I was noticing that from another thread I started, that someone posted visits to a specific area and never drove an interstate.  This got me thinking about my last trip to Houma which is not on an interstate as of yet, as LADOTD needs to complete it south of Lafayette.  We all know that this will not happen anytime soon of course, but still you cannot say that Houma as well as Morgan City are on or near an interstate.  Anyway, my last visit there had me a passenger the whole entire time while there for five days.

Three out of the four days I was a house guest of my friend, we did not drive much.  In fact we never made it on an interstate which had me a first where I was three days without being on an interstate.  As I live in Orlando, FL, that has the infamous I-4, I pretty much drive on it quite a lot.  This is probably one of the few times I have not been exposed to the interstate system other than vacations to places like Puerto Rico, when I grew up as rarely in NJ did my parents use the interstates there.  Plus my trips to Disney World many years before moving to Orlando where we stayed on property and never needed to leave it.  Other than these, I have traveled I-4, I-287 ( Route 287 as New Jersey people call it), I-78, I-80, and I-95 (which we called the Turnpike) as a grown up when I needed to commute, shop, visit friends, etc.

What is the longest that any of you have been away from the interstate system?  If you live in an area where you do not have any then tell us about the few times you visit an area that has them and actually used them.

[froggie]

I've gone multiple months in the past, even WITHOUT counting at-sea deployments.

[roadman65]

Let me add this as you gave me the idea.  Leaving the country of course will not expose you to the system, so that would not count.  You could mention the few times that you were exposed to be on or near a specific interstate, or when you were back at home.

[NE2]

Leaving the country of course will not expose you to the system, so that would not count.

What if you don't live in the US? :ohsnap:

[corco]

I probably went months at a time when I lived in McCall, ID- even when we'd go down to Boise there was often no reason to get on the freeway.

As far as individual, within America roadtrips that had somewhat of a linear route...that gets a little bit trickier. I don't know...maybe http://goo.gl/maps/N8V7S ?

[Duke87]

Would have to have been when I was in college. There were a couple occasions where it was 4-5 weeks between me going home for the weekend and for that span of time I would have not been in a car at all (since I did not own one), let alone on an interstate. Could have easily been longer for interstates specifically since our most common route from college in The Bronx to home in Connecticut was all parkways.

[74/171FAN]

Even though when I am in Blacksburg, VA, I am only about 10 miles from I-81 (and I work right off I-81), there are many times when I do not even travel I-81 until I go home during a break.

[Alps]

Probably over several winter months somewhere in my childhood, where we wouldn't have gone across the George Washington Bridge or down toward Baltimore/DC. Once I was old enough to drive, I used I-280 NJ for many things, and now I-287 for everything. I don't go a week without some Interstate in my diet.

[corco]

Actually, as I think about it now, I would go really long periods of time in Tucson without using the interstate too- probably six weeks at the most.

[cpzilliacus]

Well, when I have been in Europe, I have not spent much time driving on Interstates. 

But living in any part of Maryland (except the Eastern Shore), you are not usually far from an Interstate.  Even Western Maryland has had I-68 for 20+ years.

[Scott5114]

My work is practically inaccessible without using an Interstate. It is right next to the only river bridge in 10 miles in either direction, and the next one up in one direction is also an Interstate.

That said the longest period of time I was away from the interstates was probably the week I spent in Custer, SD. No interstates from the time we left I-80 in North Platte, NE on the way there to the time we joined I-80 in Ogallala, NE the next week.

I may have spent longer away from the Interstate when I was in college in Springfield, MO, by virtue of I-44 not being all that useful for anyone who lives in town. Most of the time the only state highway I would use would be portions of Business US-65 when I went to the store, though I did use the non-Interstate freeways sometimes on the way home. This time probably wouldn't count for as much if you consider Business I-44 "an Interstate" for the purposes of this thread.

[Thing 342]

The longest period I remember was a 2-week vacation to Alaska (Although we did drive on some unsigned Interstates). However, it was probably several weeks as a time when I was a wee soybean in Omaha, NE and only used I-80 to go to the zoo.

[getemngo]

I spent 2 years at Michigan Tech in Houghton, MI. My freshman year I didn't see an Interstate highway between moving day in August and Thanksgiving break in November. (I actually flew home for one weekend during that period, but used all surface streets to get from the airport to home.)

Several other times while at school I went 6 or 7 weeks without an Interstate, even with trips to Marquette (100 miles), Iron Mountain (130 miles through two states and two time zones), and to retrieve a friend's car in Watersmeet (80 miles). It wasn't because I was sitting in my dorm all semester.

It helps that Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula is one of the furthest points from an Interstate in the Lower 48. The distance from Copper Harbor to I-39's northern terminus is about 230 miles. And until I-39 was extended to Wausau, "closest Interstate" was a fight between I-35 in Duluth and I-43 in Green Bay!

US 191's northern terminus in Montana is a hair further from any Interstates, but I can't think of many other examples.

[1995hoo]

The longest I've gone without driving on an Interstate was a tad over 15 years and 8 months.

As far as not riding on an Interstate at all, at least since I got my driver's license at age 16, probably two months during my first semester of college. It was against UVA rules for anyone to bring a car to Charlottesville, or for that matter even to drive at all in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, during the first semester of one's first year.

[hbelkins]

As far as not riding on an Interstate at all, at least since I got my driver's license at age 16, probably two months during my first semester of college. It was against UVA rules for anyone to bring a car to Charlottesville, or for that matter even to drive at all in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, during the first semester of one's first year.

Because of a lack of parking?

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I have NEVER been on an interstate, due to obvious reasons

[1995hoo]

As far as not riding on an Interstate at all, at least since I got my driver's license at age 16, probably two months during my first semester of college. It was against UVA rules for anyone to bring a car to Charlottesville, or for that matter even to drive at all in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, during the first semester of one's first year.

Because of a lack of parking?

I don't know. There was never an explanation offered. I kind of doubt it, though, because at least when I was there we had ample parking (you might have had to walk a long way to your dorm after parking at the basketball arena, but there was ample parking). I suspect if they'd been pressed for a rationale, the Board of Visitors would have said something about minimizing distractions as you adjust to college life or some similar line of nonsense.

[bulldog1979]

For similar reasons to getemngo, I can go many months without seeing an Interstate. During my first college years at Ferris State U., I had a similar situation. The freeway outside of Big Rapids is US 131, and unless I went home or to my grandma's on a weekend, I didn't see I-75 at all. Even the few times I went to Grand Rapids, the only Interstate I'd end up using is the unsigned I-296, which I didn't even knew existed until a few years later.

For a while, I lived in Traverse City, and I wouldn't use Interstates very often. Now that I'm back living in the UP, I have to drive 3 hours to use an Interstate, and trips to Grandma's for holidays involve a minimal section of I-75 (exit 326 to 352), about 26 miles out of 200 driven.

[oscar]

I live so close to several Interstates, even local travel often includes a few Interstate miles. 

There've been several occasions when I was unable to drive at all for several weeks at a time, while recovering from various surgeries.  But for the surgery with the longest recovery period, I had to get a ride or two to my doctor in the outer D.C. suburbs, which probably included a few miles on I-66.

The one occasion that unquestionably counts (my non-U.S. travels don't count) is my two-week trip to Hawaii in October.  All but the last day were on Interstate-free Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.  My first trip to Hawaii in 1999 lasted three and a half weeks, mostly on five Interstate-free islands, but I'm not sure how long I was on Oahu or whether it was at the beginning (most likely) or end of my trip.

[sdmichael]

I've traveled all over the Los Angeles area without freeway many times in the past. The last time I went from Claremont to Perris on surface streets and fared quite well.

[Zeffy]

There was one year I didn't get to go anywhere that needed Interstate travel (namely I-287) when I was younger. When I was learning how to drive, the only time I got to go on the Interstate was when I followed NJ 31 to the I-95 junction and needed to get home, so my dad let me drive on it. First time driving at 70mph. Eventually as I got better, I could just go on them whenever. And that's what I did - except for I-280, I-278, I-76, and I-676 not being driven on by me at this point yet. Eventually I'll get to driving on them...

[jp the roadgeek]

Really have to define time here.  If we're talking chronological time, it had to be during the time I lived in Philly during college. Everything was within walking distance, I didn't have a car, and SEPTA was really my only way around.  So, over the course of 9 months, I probably saw the interstate system about a half a dozen times when I went home to CT (I either flew or took Amtrak).  Now, with a 2DI and a 3DI within my town's limits, I pretty much see an interstate every time I leave home.
  Now, if we're talking distance, it had to be going from just outside Baltimore all the way to Newburgh, NY one time, and Brewster, NY another.  The common routes: US 40, MD 152, US 1, US 202, PA 611, Portland toll Bridge, NJ/NY 94. The Newburgh route continued on NY 94 to NY 300 to I-84.  The Brewster route took me onto NY 17 (not an interstate yet), US 6, Bear Mountain Parkway, US 6, NY 312 to I-84.

[vtk]

When I was a kid my family took biennial vacations at a cabin in eastern Idaho.  We'd leave the Interstate at Rock Springs, WY, and thanks to day trips to Jackson and/or Yellowstone, we'd probably rack up several hundred miles in the two weeks before we saw I-80 (or any other Interstate) again.

[mgk920]

Although this will likely be changing sometime in 2014, it is not unusual for me to go two, three or even more months without my car touching an interstate.



Mike

[theline]

As far as not riding on an Interstate at all, at least since I got my driver's license at age 16, probably two months during my first semester of college. It was against UVA rules for anyone to bring a car to Charlottesville, or for that matter even to drive at all in Charlottesville or Albemarle County, during the first semester of one's first year.

Because of a lack of parking?

I don't know. There was never an explanation offered. I kind of doubt it, though, because at least when I was there we had ample parking (you might have had to walk a long way to your dorm after parking at the basketball arena, but there was ample parking). I suspect if they'd been pressed for a rationale, the Board of Visitors would have said something about minimizing distractions as you adjust to college life or some similar line of nonsense.

That reminds me of when my brother enrolled at Purdue in the early '60s. He was told that freshmen were forbidden to drive in Tippecanoe County. If found out, they could be expelled. He took it very seriously. If driving the family car back to campus, he made sure to turn over the wheel to Dad before crossing the county line. The rationale for the prohibition was along the lines 1995hoo mentioned. They also said they didn't want any "Suitcase Suzie's" running home every weekend. That didn't stop my brother from hitchhiking home too many weekends, not to visit the family, but to see his girlfriend. They finally got married and he finished his degree at Ball State.