For 2,000+ mile round-trip drivers only!

[mrodgers]

I am trying to get DH excited about driving for our early June trip so he will stop trying to spend our entire budget on plane fares... LOL!

Is there anybody here who drives from Western PA / Pittsburgh who wants to share some of their fabulous strategies with me? (i.e. time to leave, recommended places to stop, etc.)
Any input would be very greatly appreciated!

Pittsburgh area here also, well, I'm about 1.5 hours north of Pittsburgh. June trip also.

It's our first trip though, both to Florida and first family vacation ever. How to get the husband excited about driving? I love driving, I'm looking forward to the excursion. The kids can see several different states from the road rather than buzzing by in the air. They all have their mp3 players, so I can put some GOOD music on the radio, hehe.

My plan according to googlemaps is hit 79 past Pittsburgh down through WV and I think cut down I-19 to get to 77. Then it heads to 95. Picking up a GPS next week so perhaps it will give me a different route, I don't know.

Googlemaps tells me 12 hours to Savannah, GA, where we plan to stop for the night. I'm sure that time is likely unrealistic with 6 and 9 year old girls. Then it tells me 4-5 hours to Orlando. That would probably be more doable in the time frame on the 2nd day.

I plan on waking up at 4 am, grabbing a quick shower, and dragging everyone to the car. Not sure how that is going to go either.

By my time estimates looking at googlemaps, we will be near Columbia, SC near dinner time. I have a BBQ place picked out for dinner.

 

[dhenrynj]

I will be leaving Bayonne NJ on Sunday 8/8/2010. I can leave anytime between 3 and 7PM. I want to do most of the drive overnight when the kids are sleeping. My question is what time to leave to avoid sunday traffic? Will there be any Sunday Evening traffic in DC? I live close to 95 and also 81. I am 1099 miles from DW using 95 and 1182 miles using 81. Is one of these routes better on a Sunday? Also, how bad is traffic arriving in Florida Monday morning? Is there a public beach that is close to 95 soon after entering Florida to kill a few hours while waiting for traffic to lessen? I kinda want to hit the FL border around the time the kids will wake up(between 7 and 8 am). Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[matosfam]

Pittsburgh area here also, well, I'm about 1.5 hours north of Pittsburgh. June trip also.

It's our first trip though, both to Florida and first family vacation ever. How to get the husband excited about driving? I love driving, I'm looking forward to the excursion. The kids can see several different states from the road rather than buzzing by in the air. They all have their mp3 players, so I can put some GOOD music on the radio, hehe.

My plan according to googlemaps is hit 79 past Pittsburgh down through WV and I think cut down I-19 to get to 77. Then it heads to 95. Picking up a GPS next week so perhaps it will give me a different route, I don't know.

Googlemaps tells me 12 hours to Savannah, GA, where we plan to stop for the night. I'm sure that time is likely unrealistic with 6 and 9 year old girls. Then it tells me 4-5 hours to Orlando. That would probably be more doable in the time frame on the 2nd day.

I plan on waking up at 4 am, grabbing a quick shower, and dragging everyone to the car. Not sure how that is going to go either.

By my time estimates looking at googlemaps, we will be near Columbia, SC near dinner time. I have a BBQ place picked out for dinner.

Thanks mrodgers!

 

[sharadoc]

By my time estimates looking at googlemaps, we will be near Columbia, SC near dinner time. I have a BBQ place picked out for dinner.

Us too! Where are you planning to eat?

 

[bookwormde]

From 95 on Sunday I think yo will be OK on the northern leg, Jacksonvill can be an issue at rushe hour so I would leave NJ at 7pm if you drive straight through.

bookwormde

 

[mrodgers]

Us too! Where are you planning to eat?

South means BBQ, so I searched for BBQ and found Little Pigs BBQ. It's a buffet and sounds pretty good.

 

[thumbalyna]

we will be driving down October 8th from Scranton PA - i will be leaving here between 3-5 am and stopping somewhere around GA or if i am feeling good maybe FL - i am the only driver so i am playing it by ear - i havent made this drive since 1998 - hopefully all works out good

 

[dvczerfs]

okay, whats going on now???? gas dropped 11 cents and is down to 2.32. thats were it has been hanging for a few weeks now!! maybe all the experts are wrong!!!

 

[dvczerfs]

okay, whats going on now???? gas dropped 11 cents and is down to 2.32. thats were it has been hanging for a few weeks now!! maybe all the experts are wrong!!!

here it comes, the tankers cant get thru the gulf into the refineries. theres always a reason.

 

[shafke]

okay, whats going on now???? gas dropped 11 cents and is down to 2.32. thats were it has been hanging for a few weeks now!! maybe all the experts are wrong!!!

experts... that's a good one. They are just like the weather man. They can give general trends but they have no clue what gas prices will be a month from now than the weatherman knows what the temperature will be. They can make an educated guess but that is it. Here is my educated guess (forecasts)... expect a run up in prices as Memorial Day approahes and then prices more or less steady until throughout the summer with a slight decline after Labor Day. Gas prices could spike a bit more due to natural disaster, man-mad disaster, or war. This poster take no responsibility for being wrong. This is just a guess, your mileage may vary.

 

[blondietink]

Gas here is up to $3.09 gallong for regular unleaded. Every day it goes up a penny or 2.

 

[thumbalyna]

while i was sitting at light today i saw gas go from 2.87 to 2.98

 

[angwill]

On our local news they are saying prices should come down after today and stay below $3.00 for the summer. Who knows????

 

[sharadoc]

South means BBQ, so I searched for BBQ and found Little Pigs BBQ. It's a buffet and sounds pretty good.

That does look good. Seems authentic, based on the photos. We also found Doc's Southern Barbecue but it looked pretty big so not sure if it would taste "generic." I'm going to definitely keep Little Pigs on the list!

 

[dvczerfs]

experts... that's a good one. They are just like the weather man. They can give general trends but they have no clue what gas prices will be a month from now than the weatherman knows what the temperature will be. They can make an educated guess but that is it. Here is my educated guess (forecasts)... expect a run up in prices as Memorial Day approahes and then prices more or less steady until throughout the summer with a slight decline after Labor Day. Gas prices could spike a bit more due to natural disaster, man-mad disaster, or war. This poster take no responsibility for being wrong. This is just a guess, your mileage may vary.

 

[dhenrynj]

From 95 on Sunday I think yo will be OK on the northern leg, Jacksonvill can be an issue at rushe hour so I would leave NJ at 7pm if you drive straight through.

bookwormde

That is what I figured. I was hoping to get an earlier start but do not want to sit in summer Sunday traffic. Has anyone left from NJ or PA or further north on a Sunday in the summer? If you have please post your departure time/route/experience. It will just be me and my DS 8 and DS 6 in the car(DW is meeting us on Tuesday 8/10) so I cannot do an early morning departure. I have to drive overnight so the kids can sleep.

 

[Vickis3js]

experts... that's a good one. They are just like the weather man. They can give general trends but they have no clue what gas prices will be a month from now than the weatherman knows what the temperature will be. They can make an educated guess but that is it. Here is my educated guess (forecasts)... expect a run up in prices as Memorial Day approahes and then prices more or less steady until throughout the summer with a slight decline after Labor Day. Gas prices could spike a bit more due to natural disaster, man-mad disaster, or war. This poster take no responsibility for being wrong. This is just a guess, your mileage may vary.

I swear the experts are paid by the oil companies LOL. They say hey gas prices are going to go to $12.00, they never said that just using it as example. We start preparing for the price increase and teh gas companies say hey they were told so lets jack up the price. Its like these so called "experts" are really just testing the waters to see what price we are willing to pay.

Who knows anything could happen with gas prices I am sure some silly reason will pop up and prices will go up.

 

[dvczerfs]

okay, gas has fallen another 10 cent. trading for $2.22!!! i happened to notice gas has went from 2.86 to 2.96 over night in our area. they should watch the trade and stock ticker in cnbc, its going down not up.

 

[dhenrynj]

Has anyone taken a video game system in the car?(WII XBOX, etc) Ifyou did how well did it work?

 

[disneyfan55]

Has anyone taken a video game system in the car?(WII XBOX, etc) Ifyou did how well did it work?

No, back when mine were small they really didn't exist. Now with my grandchild we try to do regular activities without all the electronics. It seems electronics are overtaking everything! Sometimes it's nice to do the simple things in life. I'm sure others will provide the answers you're looking for.