24 hr gas stations?

[packofjedis]

For those of you who have driven all night, how did you make sure there would be gas stations open along your route? We're considering a drive back from Jacksonville all night, but won't even consider it until I know we'll find gas.

 

[Butterbunkins]

We take a lot of road trips and actually don't really think about it. We have never had problems finding gas stations that are open all night. We prefer to travel at night so we need 24 hour stations.

Travelling along the interstates you will not have a problem. There are plenty. If you are staying off the interstates I don't know.

If you have a smart phone (we don't) you can download Gas Buddy and that will take care of your problem right there.

When I took my first long trip I had a rule. This was in 1999 so long before WiFi or even being able to call information from your phone. When the gas tank hit 1/2 a tank we started looking for open gas stations. This way we had more than enough gas to get to the next open station. We did this also because I was driving alone in my car followed by a friend driving alone in her car. We had CB radios but getting out more frequently to stretch our legs and to chat face to face helped us stay awake for our long drive through the night.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We've driven it several times, always leaving around 3 pm from home. We always stop in the same area for gas, and if I remember right, it works out that it's around 9 pm, maybe 10, but not late enough for the stations to be closed. We can go about 450 miles on a tank in our van, our trip is about 830 miles.

 

[marius97]

For those of you who have driven all night, how did you make sure there would be gas stations open along your route? We're considering a drive back from Jacksonville all night, but won't even consider it until I know we'll find gas.

It really isn't an issue. Not every exit will have one open all night, but at worst every few exits will have one open. What we do is this: we top off the tank sometime after midnight. We can go a bit over 400 miles on a tank. That is about six hours of driving time. By the time we use most of the tank, the sun is coming up an everyone is open. I find gas stations to be wary in the middle of the night. We make a list of all rest stops and what mile marker they are at.