For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (II)

[dvczerfs]

In 26 days I'll get to know that feeling

Feeling like a virgin

Yes! We are leaving either June 25th (saturday) around 5pm, or the following morning.

we will be leaving the contemp. at 3:30am on the sunday the 26th heading north while you will be heading south. maybe we will pass each other.

 

[loveysbydesign]

ill be there starting tuesday september 27th to saturday october 8th. at okw!

We'll be starting our drive down on Oct. 8th!

 

[dvczerfs]

We'll be starting our drive down on Oct. 8th!

well, we will be leaving okw at 3:30am. and hoping to hit home in nazareth at 7:30pm. im sure we will pass each other.

 

[blondietink]

We are leaving in 1.5 hours! All I have left to pack is the cooler and then wait for the kids to get home from school. then, we are off and running!

 

[C&G'sMama]

We are leaving in 1.5 hours! All I have left to pack is the cooler and then wait for the kids to get home from school. then, we are off and running!

I was waiting on the sidewalk with my suitcase, you obviously forgot to pick me up. hrmphh!

Have a great trip!!!

 

[floreksa]

In 26 days I'll get to know that feeling

Feeling like a virgin

28 days for me!! We take off from Western MA on May 4th (or 5th)! Still trying to decide if it will be 9pm on the 4th or more like 3 or 4am on the 5th.

 

[dntd]

We are stopping 2 times on the way to and from Disney as I hate night driving but we are planning a few neat things to do along the way( from Niagara falls area).
_ The first day we will be driving all day until we hit Charlotte, the next day we will be driving to savannah GA hopefully in time to get in to eat at paula deans as I heard the wait is long and you must get ressies the day of if your a group under 10.

-On the way back we will be hitting Cleveland GA, going to gem/gold hunt with the kids in the AM and visit the cabbage patch hospital. We will stop Charleston.

I figure stopping at these towns is a trip in it's self Any tips for these towns, we havn't booked our hotel/motel yet though will be doing so soon.

 

[angwill]

You might want to check on Paula Deans a friend told me you have to line up before they open in the morning to get a reservation for that night if your a group under10. Your trip does sound fun though.

 

[Disneyholic]

We are stopping 2 times on the way to and from Disney as I hate night driving but we are planning a few neat things to do along the way( from Niagara falls area).
_ The first day we will be driving all day until we hit Charlotte, the next day we will be driving to savannah GA hopefully in time to get in to eat at paula deans as I heard the wait is long and you must get ressies the day of if your a group under 10.

-On the way back we will be hitting Cleveland GA, going to gem/gold hunt with the kids in the AM and visit the cabbage patch hospital. We will stop Charleston.

I figure stopping at these towns is a trip in it's self Any tips for these towns, we havn't booked our hotel/motel yet though will be doing so soon.

The gold & gem mining sounds fun. Dh & I went to Sheffields Ruby & Sapphire mines in Franklin, North Carolina 3 years ago for his birthday. It was the day after a gully washer rainstorm & it was very muddy, but we had a ball. Got 3 approx. 20 carat "squeakers" between the two of us, but no "Honkers". We also got quite a few smaller rubies & sapphires.

This is from their website:

So just what is a HONKER??
Well first let's start with the squeakers...
Squeaker -
A Ruby or Sapphire that weighs
between 15 and 30 carats
Honker -
A Ruby or Sapphire that weighs
between 30 and 100 carats!
Super Honker -
A Ruby or Sapphire that is
100 carats or larger!
MANY smaller stones are found all day too! Most are good for bragging rights and some are large enough to cut, polish and turn into absolutely stunning jewelry!
So come visit us and start hunting and
maybe you'll even find a "Honker" for yourself!!

 

[dntd]

On Paula Deans website it said 930 they start taking res. My issue is we will be sleeping 4 hours away, so if we hit the road at 8 we wouldn't be thier until 12 ish, oh well at least there wil be other places that sell southern food, I heard hers was over rated though it was something I wanted to say I did.

 

[blondietink]

I was waiting on the sidewalk with my suitcase, you obviously forgot to pick me up. hrmphh!

Have a great trip!!!

Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't see you .... must be we were speeding down the 390.

Anyway,, lots of rain once we got on 15 at Painted Post. Still snow in the southern tier in the hills and also in PA in the higher elevations on the ground. I wanted to report that AAA gave us a differfent route .... usually we just go 15 all the way to Harrisburg. However, this time at Williamsport they had us go on 180 (expressway) all the way past I-80 on 147, I think. We continued down to a little town (don't know the name) and then turn right onto 11, two miles across the river and we were in Schmokin Dam. Yes, it was more miles, but most of the time it was 65 mhp. No stop lights, no going up and down hills, no Lewisburg mess, etc. From the time we got on 390 at Geneseo until that stop light in that little town, we did not have to stop for anything! Less wear and tear on the car, less wear and tear on the brakes and better gas mileage. From our house in Medina to our hotel in Harrisburg tonight we used just over 12 gallons of gas in our mini-van. That is great for driving through the middle of PA.

On to Savannah tomorrow!

 

[marybeth200]

Hi All,

Wonderful thread with great information I must admit that I haven't read every page so please forgive me if these have been asked before.

First, I am coming from the midwest and mapquest sys its about 19 1/2 hours. That route takes us thru Atlanta. I have read horror stories of getting stuck in Atlanta traffic. There is an alternate route that avoids Atlanta but adds about an hour of drive time. What would you guys suggest? Avoid Atlanta and know it's going to be an extra hour or risk that we might get caught in traffic?

Second, I read to add about 4 hours (to whatever time listed on mapqest) for stops, gas, etc. Does that sound right or would it be more? We are looking at about 1250 miles each way.

Finally, we do plan to drive straight thru with a quick power nap if needed. It's just my husband and I so I'm confident we will be able to do this since we can share driving duty. Originally I was thinking to leave around 7-8am on a Saturday morning and hopefully get to WDW Sunday before or about noon. My husband thinks we should look to leave even earlier, maybe 3-4 am. My concern is that if we do make GREAT time we might end up in WDW at 4am on Sunday. We have reservations at POR for Sunday night and *sometimes* they have rooms available and you can check in early, but surely they won't give us a room at 4am or I'm guessing even 6 or 8am for that matter. What do you suggest if we do make it to The World at such an early hour? Or would you stick to the 7-8am departure time rather than 3-4am?

We aren't going until the end of Sept but we have never driven down before so I'm a bit nervous about how to plan this... Any thoughts are much appreciated

 

[Becky2005]

First, I am coming from the midwest and mapquest sys its about 19 1/2 hours. That route takes us thru Atlanta. I have read horror stories of getting stuck in Atlanta traffic. There is an alternate route that avoids Atlanta but adds about an hour of drive time. What would you guys suggest? Avoid Atlanta and know it's going to be an extra hour or risk that we might get caught in traffic?

Welcome. I've decided I must be a really weird one as I have never had an issue with Atlanta traffic. I always read about it & either we time it well or I'm oblivious. I'm thinking I'm oblivious (and compare it to Chicago traffic and I don't think it's any worse than that) because I know we actually stopped in the city and did some sight seeing once & I still didn't think the traffic was bad at all. I just hope I don't jinx myself for this upcoming trip!!

We always go straight through and what we usually do is hop in the HOV lanes which I think as long as there are 2 people in the car you are fine to do. You aren't exiting anywhere so it's no issue and just zoom on through. I honestly don't remember ever having to stop and sit in traffic.

I can't really help you with the rest of your questions because I know there is no way we can physically drive right through. I am curious to know if the adding 4 hours to Mapquest time is a good indicator -- although I think that would depend on what types of stops you are doing. I know we need approx. 1 hour for lunch or so since we have 4 kids, usually do a rest stop picnic and let them run around but the other stops aren't quite that long.

 

[stasijane]

Our trip is 19 hours according to mapquest but I usually make it in like 17. I go the speed limit or 5 over at the most and I stop for gas and fast food that I eat in the car. I dont know how many people you have going or how long you plan to stop for but it really varys from person to person I think.

 

[cruisingkat]

Hi All,

Wonderful thread with great information I must admit that I haven't read every page so please forgive me if these have been asked before.

First, I am coming from the midwest and mapquest sys its about 19 1/2 hours. That route takes us thru Atlanta. I have read horror stories of getting stuck in Atlanta traffic. There is an alternate route that avoids Atlanta but adds about an hour of drive time. What would you guys suggest? Avoid Atlanta and know it's going to be an extra hour or risk that we might get caught in traffic?

Second, I read to add about 4 hours (to whatever time listed on mapqest) for stops, gas, etc. Does that sound right or would it be more? We are looking at about 1250 miles each way.

Finally, we do plan to drive straight thru with a quick power nap if needed. It's just my husband and I so I'm confident we will be able to do this since we can share driving duty. Originally I was thinking to leave around 7-8am on a Saturday morning and hopefully get to WDW Sunday before or about noon. My husband thinks we should look to leave even earlier, maybe 3-4 am. My concern is that if we do make GREAT time we might end up in WDW at 4am on Sunday. We have reservations at POR for Sunday night and *sometimes* they have rooms available and you can check in early, but surely they won't give us a room at 4am or I'm guessing even 6 or 8am for that matter. What do you suggest if we do make it to The World at such an early hour? Or would you stick to the 7-8am departure time rather than 3-4am?

We aren't going until the end of Sept but we have never driven down before so I'm a bit nervous about how to plan this... Any thoughts are much appreciated

We drive down from the Chicago area several times a year. There were only two times where we found traffic in Atlanta to be really bad - and one was the day that they were having a college football championship game and the other was when there was a car fire and traffic was at a standstill until they were able to put it out. But we usually hit Atlanta around 7 or 8 pm going down and around 5-6 pm coming home. We also stay in the HOV lanes since there are two of us in the car and get through with little problem - some tie-ups on the way home but nothing as bad as Chicago rush hour traffic.
To us the worst part of the drive is going through Nashville on I24. Within a couple of miles, you have to keep changing from right and left lanes several times as interstates merge and demerge. The GPS is helpful - but sometimes there just isn't enough time to make the switch - especially if there are a lot of trucks. I ended up keeping a notebook in the car with lane switches for the way down and the way back.
We don't drive straight through, we stop south of Atlanta on the way down and northwest of Chattanooga on the way home. Our only stops are for gas which includes a restroom stop. We pick up Subway as we leave home -both a breakfast sub and a regular sub (regular goes in our cooler for lunch) -and eat as we drive. When we stop for the night, we pick up dinner. We stay at Holiday Inn Express, so morning breakfast is included - we eat a big breakfast and then arrive at Disney about 3pm - in time for a late lunch. I do bring snacks and drinks for the car (chips, 100 calorie packs, grapes, etc) which tide us over if we get a little hungry - also great when you get the 1 am munchies at Disney and the food court is closed.
I do like stopping for the night on the drive down - that way when we get to Disney we know that our room should be available - we can unload the car and because we aren't tired, we can spend the evening at a park or downtown Disney or if arriving on Wed-Sat, even seeing Elliot Dyson perform at POFQ.

 

[marybeth200]

Wow, such quick replies to my questions Thank you all so much!! To clarify, it will just be my husband and I. We will stop for gas and restroom of course. We will pack snacks, but will probably end up with a fast food meal in there too. If we absolutely must stop to sleep we will just do a "power nap" at a rest area but we don't want to pay for a hotel room we will only use for a few hours. By power nap I mean to sleep for 30-60 minutes but that is only if we both feel unable to drive.

I'm glad to hear that maybe Atlanta isn't the nightmare that I had first heard. Perhaps we will just head down and take our chances, especially since the alternate will automatically add an hour.

Stasijane... Interesting that Mapquest told you 19 but you make it in 17. Could I ask how often you have made the drive. I'm very close to your neck of the woods so any input would be much appreciated. What time of day do you head out?

 

[C&G'sMama]

I wanted to report that AAA gave us a differfent route .... usually we just go 15 all the way to Harrisburg. However, this time at Williamsport they had us go on 180 (expressway) all the way past I-80 on 147, I think. We continued down to a little town (don't know the name) and then turn right onto 11, two miles across the river and we were in Schmokin Dam. Yes, it was more miles, but most of the time it was 65 mhp. No stop lights, no going up and down hills, no Lewisburg mess, etc. From the time we got on 390 at Geneseo until that stop light in that little town, we did not have to stop for anything! Less wear and tear on the car, less wear and tear on the brakes and better gas mileage. From our house in Medina to our hotel in Harrisburg tonight we used just over 12 gallons of gas in our mini-van. That is great for driving through the middle of PA.

On to Savannah tomorrow!

Huh, maybe we'll try that. We usually then take 81 to 66 (I think) to 17 to 95 to bypass DC. Do you do that as well. Just out of curiosity.

 

[dvczerfs]

Wow, such quick replies to my questions Thank you all so much!! To clarify, it will just be my husband and I. We will stop for gas and restroom of course. We will pack snacks, but will probably end up with a fast food meal in there too. If we absolutely must stop to sleep we will just do a "power nap" at a rest area but we don't want to pay for a hotel room we will only use for a few hours. By power nap I mean to sleep for 30-60 minutes but that is only if we both feel unable to drive.

I'm glad to hear that maybe Atlanta isn't the nightmare that I had first heard. Perhaps we will just head down and take our chances, especially since the alternate will automatically add an hour.

Stasijane... Interesting that Mapquest told you 19 but you make it in 17. Could I ask how often you have made the drive. I'm very close to your neck of the woods so any input would be much appreciated. What time of day do you head out?

hi marybeth200, i dont come down from your area but map quest and its time never work out for me either. i drive 1086 and do it in 16 1/2 hours total. we stop for gas and rest stops but we dont "stay and visit" to long in one place. we are usualy a tad over the speed limit and map quest tells me all most 18 hours. driving times are hard to fiqure out, eveyone drives dif. and stops dif. but being its just the two of you and sounds like you stick to the road, i wouldnt think you would have to plan more than what map quest tells you. check-in. we got down to wdw early one year a day early. the northeast was going to have an ice storm and i wanted to get out before it hit. the guy at the counter told me i would stand a good chance at 6:30am to get a room. so, we stayed off property and checked in at okw at 6:30am. not saying it happens all the time but i think 6:30 is the start of there day.

 

[stasijane]

Stasijane... Interesting that Mapquest told you 19 but you make it in 17. Could I ask how often you have made the drive. I'm very close to your neck of the woods so any input would be much appreciated. What time of day do you head out?

We have made the drive 3 times now. I work third shift so I usually get off work at 7am and sleep till about 2pm then wake up and leave. We get down there pretty early around 9am or so. Luckly we have been able to check into our hotels early every time so I can sleep a few hours then get up and start the day.

 

[irish dancer]

On Paula Deans website it said 930 they start taking res. My issue is we will be sleeping 4 hours away, so if we hit the road at 8 we wouldn't be thier until 12 ish, oh well at least there wil be other places that sell southern food, I heard hers was over rated though it was something I wanted to say I did.

This would be accurate. They take bus loads of tour groups and that fills it up pretty fast. We got there before 11a and the line was VERY, VERY long and they were already at late evening dinner ressies. I've read recommendations for Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room, according to the reviews it has better food than Paula's since she's not in the kitchen any longer. Here's Mrs. Wilkes' link: http://www.mrswilkes.com/

To us the worst part of the drive is going through Nashville on I24. Within a couple of miles, you have to keep changing from right and left lanes several times as interstates merge and demerge. The GPS is helpful - but sometimes there just isn't enough time to make the switch - especially if there are a lot of trucks. I ended up keeping a notebook in the car with lane switches for the way down and the way back.

Any chance you'd be interested in sharing the lane changes? We're driving in June via that route from Elmhurst.