how far will you drive in one day?

[kacaju]

We drive about 11 hours to WDW and have decided that is our limit! If we ever went anywhere further, we'd have to break it up. So, I'm thinking that your trip to the beach is doable. Maybe you can get hubby and mil rolling by 10 a.m., and then you'd be at the beach by dark!

hmmm... I will have to see if they are up for that...that may work.

 

[Nancy]

we drive to orlando from western NY state. we stop once we reach the Savannah area exits on the i-95..maybe 13-14 hours drive..then we finish the trip the next day. arrive in Disney all set to hit the parks. We have done straight through going to Daytona...much younger..won't do it again. I like to be able to get going as soon as get there.

 

[NotUrsula]

I can still manage about 8 hours without complaint, but DH draws the line at 5.

I used to routinely drive 12 hour stretches overnight, but that was back when I was in my 20's and had much better night vision. Now my eyes really cannot take driving for long stretches at night. A 40 yo needs about 6 times the light to see the same object at night as an 18 yo does, and your eyes' reaction to light slows over time, too -- you can't recover as quickly if you get blinded by headlights.

So, my answer is that I'll do 8 hours in daytime, but I won't drive more than 3 hours at night without at least an hour's rest between driving shifts.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I did a San Diego to Boston, and back trip. usually good for 10 to 12 hours a day. usually set about 700 miles or so as a goal. But I wasn't pushing it, and I was alone. With DW along, I would probably not drive that much in a day.

I have driven from San Diego to Omaha straight through, but my intake of coffee was huge!

 

[whogirl'smom]

That is what I am thinking... I just don't know if DH and MIL will be on board with that idea. Plus, if we only drive half way that could be 5 1/2 hours...that seems too short of a drive...then we'd still have to drive that much more. If we drive say 7-8 hours...well then we only have3-4 hours more of driving and it seems silly to stop for the night..
I know the kids would be ok...this way they can see their cousins a day early. Do you think it is a bad idea not to get a hotel room and just wait and get one only if we feel the need to stop??
Since it would really just be for sleeping, I don't care where we go (as long as it is clean!!)
I am not one to *wing it* so the thought of not reserving a room ahead of time scares me some!!

Ok onto another question... how long will it take to get from the NC border of VA to SC Myrtle Beach??

Maybe 5 hours??? I can't remember, exactly; I only drove that way once from my college bf's hometown on the VA border. I'm sure someone else may know exactly. Or see where I95 intersects and then mapquest it to MB.

 

[Melmac]

My DH and I usually try and drive through right to our destination - we don't like to cut up the drive. The most we have driven in 1 go was 14.5 hours from home to CT for a wedding - that was a little long but we took breaks and switched up drivers. We regularly do 9 hours trips to Quebec with no problems.

We do not have children however.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We just drove from Michigan to Disney in June. We drove straight through- 20 hours with stops for gas, meals, etc. DH and I took turns sleeping/driving. I would much rather drive straight through and sleep in the car.

 

[mrodgers]

Few weeks ago I woke up at 5 am to tour around the resort with my camera one more time. Took a shower, went to the Magic Kingdom, took a break in the pool, dinner at the Magic Kingdom, returned to the resort about 9 pm. I couldn't get to sleep at all so at 1 am I finished taking the last of the stuff to the car and we left Disney at 3:15 am. We got home at 10:40 pm. 19 1/2 hours, though my wife did drive for about an hour through Georgia.

 

[tonilea]

We drive from the northwest corner of Arkansas straight through to Disney, stopping of course for gas, food and a bit of running around time for the boy. We usually leave at about four in the afternoon and hit Orlando between 11 and noon. It is about 20 hours. On the other hand, we will never drive back straight through again. It was just too much for the return trip!

 

[graygables]

I have a 12-13 hour limit unless there is an unforeseeable delay and then I'll see how I feel. I used to drive 12 hrs from Hopkinsville, KY to Tulsa, OK by myself, pregnant with a 2yo every month to go to the OB (I was delivering in Tulsa).

If I have someone else who can drive, too, I'd much rather go straight on than stop, but so far, all my road trips are with me as the sole driver.

 

[novajeanjellybean]

We normally have more than one person that's able to drive. The longest we've driven is 24 hours from Houston, TX to Pittsburgh, PA. Then 24 hours back. We have driven it straight through twice. It wasn't too bad since the longest stretch between cities is only about 6 hours.

 

[GJM]

I do that drive about twice a year - and I do it in one day. Driving from Bergen Cty. to Myrtle Beach. I start to get sick of driving about 8 hours, but I am not going to stop because I am so close. I would do the drive in one day. From the NC border to Myrtle Beach is about 4 - 5 hours depending on how fast you drive.

The only times I do stop is when it gets dark early and if DH isn't with us. I will stop in Emporia VA it is exit 11, I stay at the Holiday Inn. We eat at Applebees or Cracker Barrel, it is a nice hotel with the free breakfast.

 

[PatsGirl]

Anything more than five hours requires a plane ride for me

 

[Kimberly]

I used to do this drive every year with my parents when I was younger. We left from Bergen County, NJ to drive to Myrtle Beach in early August. I wouldn't find a place to stay overnight... you'd waste an entire day of your vacaiton by doing so! I found that leaving at 10 at night yielded by best results. I've actually driven this distance straight through one year, completely by myself. I stopped twice for gas, and that was about it.

I know this may not fly over well with your DH and MIL, but I'd tell them to suck it up and do their part in trading drivers. If it were you and your husband sharing the trip, you'd only have to drive for about 5-6 hours, max.

 

[kacaju]

I do that drive about twice a year - and I do it in one day. Driving from Bergen Cty. to Myrtle Beach. I start to get sick of driving about 8 hours, but I am not going to stop because I am so close. I would do the drive in one day. From the NC border to Myrtle Beach is about 4 - 5 hours depending on how fast you drive.

The only times I do stop is when it gets dark early and if DH isn't with us. I will stop in Emporia VA it is exit 11, I stay at the Holiday Inn. We eat at Applebees or Cracker Barrel, it is a nice hotel with the free breakfast.

GJM how far is Emporia Va to Roanoke Rapids NC?? I was thinking of making the stop at Roanoke Rapids.
My 10 year old LOVES Cracker Barrel so maybe Emporia would be a good stopover!!

I did speak to dh, he does not want to be sitting in the car for 11+ hours.

My MIL is 78 years old and this is her family we are going for the family reunion. I will not tell her to suck it up and have her get up super early or head out late at night. I do think we could do it, since it does seem that many here do. It does seem doable, but, bottom line after talking more to dh, my dh and MIL are not the type for this kind of driving.

 

[aprilgail2]

I just took my 82 year old mom with us to Myrtle Beach- we drove it in one day from Long Island--ended up taking about 15 hours because I stopped every two hours to get mom out of the car and have her walk around a bit so she didn't get DVT. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and dinner. It really wasn't a bad drive and I was the only driver in the car--if you have two drivers then its a piece of cake!!

 

[aprilgail2]

GJM how far is Emporia Va to Roanoke Rapids NC?? I was thinking of making the stop at Roanoke Rapids.
My 10 year old LOVES Cracker Barrel so maybe Emporia would be a good stopover!!

I.

There are Cracker Barrels every few exits on 95 LOL....can't go more than a half hour without running into one

 

[GJM]

Sorry not sure how far it is from Emporia to Roanoke Rapids -

I normally leave 5 or 6 in the morning, I hate driving when it is dark out.