Below is a writeup that I just posted in another thread. We drive from Queens, but my parents have a house near Candlewood lake so I have driven from Queens to your area hundreds of times and know how that would add to this trip.
Even with switching drivers and being young, the drive is tiring. You might want to consider leaving earlier in the day (2-3am) on your day 1, stopping overnight and arriving more well rested for your first "official" day of vacation.
We have driven round trip from NYC in 2015, 2016, and 2017 in late June/early July. Me, my wife, and our triplets (6 years old in '15).
First two trips in a 2009 Toyota Sienna, last year's in a '17 Honda Odyssey. As far as gas goes, roughly 3.5 tanks each way.
We usually leave around 4AM and have been fortunate to not run into heavy traffic anywhere except in 2015 due to a stalled vehicle on I-95 near Richmond that for some reason didn't pull off to the shoulder.
To our surprise, the kids have always been fantastic in the car on these trips.
The first two years we stopped in Santee, SC overnight. Last year we went all the way to Savannah, GA. We have stayed overnights at Hampton Inn which I think has become my favorite reasonably priced national chain.
For our return trips, we've gone straight through. I kind of hate it, but at the same time it's kind of nice just being back home and having an extra day to decompress instead of spending 6 hours in the car...and my wife really likes getting home in one shot, as exhausting as that drive is.
Even with switching drivers and being young, the drive is tiring. You might want to consider leaving earlier in the day (2-3am) on your day 1, stopping overnight and arriving more well rested for your first "official" day of vacation.
We have driven round trip from NYC in 2015, 2016, and 2017 in late June/early July. Me, my wife, and our triplets (6 years old in '15).
First two trips in a 2009 Toyota Sienna, last year's in a '17 Honda Odyssey. As far as gas goes, roughly 3.5 tanks each way.
We usually leave around 4AM and have been fortunate to not run into heavy traffic anywhere except in 2015 due to a stalled vehicle on I-95 near Richmond that for some reason didn't pull off to the shoulder.
To our surprise, the kids have always been fantastic in the car on these trips.
The first two years we stopped in Santee, SC overnight. Last year we went all the way to Savannah, GA. We have stayed overnights at Hampton Inn which I think has become my favorite reasonably priced national chain.
For our return trips, we've gone straight through. I kind of hate it, but at the same time it's kind of nice just being back home and having an extra day to decompress instead of spending 6 hours in the car...and my wife really likes getting home in one shot, as exhausting as that drive is.