anyone drive from pittsburgh area?

[peonyflower]

we have 3 children...cant seem to get a good airfare to save the day...we r seriously considering driving. we have a GPS and compared to mapquest which looks like almost 16hrs (985 miles)
i was curious to see if that sounds about right...any tricks i should know? suggested stops etc?
we will only be stopping for bathroom,food, stretching etc....driving thru night-so kids will be asleep
does this sound crazy? we r pretty adventurous and i dont think it would be that bad in order to save 1500-2000$
the kids have the dvd plus we have a honda oddessey so its roomy and comfy...also we have travel desks etc so they can do homework, funstuff etc
thoughts>
suggestions?
thanks!!!!!

 

[pipervali]

We haven't driven it yet, and we're from right outside of Philadelphia. It's around a 17 hour drive, nonstop from here, so I guess it depends on what route you take to hook up with I95?

 

[minnierocks]

We have always driven from Akron/Canton area of Ohio...for us, it's 16 1/2 hours. We usually split it up driving either 5-6 hours on Friday night and then one long day on Saturday or driving a long day and arriving the second day by lunchtime. It's a long drive, but not a bad drive. Our kids have always done great and we just take lots of snacks and plenty of things to do. It definitely saves the $$! Even with staying overnight on the road, we only spend about $300 for gas, $200 for hotels (one night each way) and maybe about $50 for food vs. much $$ for airfare.

 

[POOHLUV69]

We've done the drive from Pittsburgh many times, the last being in August 2009. The drive through WVA is the worst, it's just sooo long. We usually don't drive straight through on the way down, just so we won't be so tired when we get there, but we drive straight home. Last time we stopped in Jacksonville for the night, which worked out for us because we only had a few hours to go the next morning to Disney. 16 hours seems about right, but you never know how many stops you are going to have to make. We always leave with the intention of only making gas and extremely necessary bathroom breaks, but it never works out that way and my kids are older. I was really hoping to fly for the next vaca, but DH wants to drive again..oh well, at least we are going.

 

[duffy]

We drove from Johnstown in Feb. 2008. We drove down to our daughter's home which then was in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Stayed overnight at her place, and left the next morning. It was about 16 hours, we took 95 because she lived just off of it.

We'd do it again.