How long of a drive (or vacation) is TOO long?

[CdnCarrie]

We often take 14-20 days trips! Love it.
Also love road trips. Sounds like you have a great plan!
As long as you have a great dog sitter no worries. We are leaving our furry one with a sitter for 3 weeks this summer.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

For me it depends on the trip and the company.

I drove from Houston to Denver and back twice last summer. One of my kids was moving there. The first trip we went through Kansas. God, I hated it. Five hours with no cell reception (in the state that is the home for Sprint!), tolls on the interstate highways (I want the Feds to arrest someone in the state for that) and lots of exits with no services. That was the first trip. It sucked. The second trip we went the angled route - Texas, New Mexico, Colorado. That one was enjoyable. I was with my noncomplaining daughter, driving my car (comfy), and I did the bulk of the driving (12 or so hours on the first day and whatever there was on the second day).

So, Houston to Denver (nonKansas route) - a breeze. Houston to Denver (Kansas route) - suckage. Houston to Disney easy peasy (but I wish Walt had built the thing near the Florida/Georgia line).

The fact that Sprint is headquartered in Overland Park has no bearing on cell phone signal or not.

As a reference point here is where it is located at with respect to the rest of KS:



That's like saying when Applebee's headquarters was in Lenexa that all restaurants in KS should then be the best dang Applebee's locations out there or when it moved to KC,MO that all restaurants in MO should be the best or now that it's in CA that all restaurants in CA should be the best because well it's headquartered there.

And tolls..yeah they suck on I-70 and I-35 but I really hated TX tolls when I was driving down from KC to Katy, TX where I felt like I was stopping like every mile it seemed to pay a $0.35 or something like that toll (exaggeration here). That was truly annoying.

True KS isn't the most pretty to look at when driving from one end to the other end (aside from Flint Hills).

 

[22Tink]

thanks! We are coming to Vancouver for the fireworks, lol! My FIL has always wanted to see the contest, I'm excited about spending some time there

The Celebration of Light? We went last year and they were fantastic!! We bought tickets so we had seats in the YRV observation deck. There are a few different options for seating (The Keg and Inukshuk Lounge are a couple of others) and I highly recommend it if you haven't booked already. It was so nice to have preassigned seats and not have to fight the crowds on the beach. Enjoy!!

 

[NFLDERS]

Sorry I didn't read the OP's original post. My reply was totally irrelevant.

 

[amberpi]

If its over 4-5 hours, I fly. I often fly Nashville to Atlanta. Driving is the worst.

 

[amberpi]

And if so, any must-see, non-obvious things to visit in Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah or Kansas?

I'm kinda giggling about these are generally considered fly over states for a reason, although I'm sure they're all lovely. If you weren't already wanting to see them, a 9 day flying trip sounds SO much more pleasant to me. But again, seriously, I'd never spend 30 hours in a car. Ever. The only time I've "road tripped" and not found it to be hell on earth, was a few trips to Ireland. Most of my Ireland trips are anchored in Dublin with forrays out from there.

 

[morgan98]

I have driven home to the Chicago area (Northwest Indiana) from the Northwest Atlanta suburbs and it takes just under 10 hours. That is absolutely my limit! Quite frankly, I hate car trips, but at times the cannot be avoided.

I have always hate long drives, probably because I get very, very car sick. This is something I have not outgrown even now that I am almost 47. Therefore, I usually need to drive most of the long trips.

The vacation the OP is describing sounds like absolute torture to me.

 

[kimblebee]

To me there is no such thing as a road trip thats too long. Last year we drove 30 hours from Toronto to Miami. Next year we will do a big road trip from Toronto to Grand Canyon.

DH was part of a group that drove from Canada to El Salvador donating ambulances.
We love road trippin!

Can you swing through Winnipeg to pick me up? My dream is to see the Grand Canyon..

 

[Poohforyou]

I wouldn't ever do that. I love my family but being in the car day after day for days on end and I'd be ready to kill someone.

Could you fly somewhere within a days drive of Vancouver?

 

[Disneylover99]

I love road trips. I'd totally do it!

 

[mom2rtk]

We've driven to the west coast and back from KC a number of times. So we're not averse to long road trips. But once we got past Kansas, the drive was part of the journey. We had lots of interesting stuff to see every day. I'm not sure if I would do the course you have described. There are some nice things along the way. Probably just not enough to justify the effort for me.

 

[wenrob]

Not a chance. It sounds dreadful to me. Thirty hours in a car? 20 days away from home? Nope. We did 10 days at Disney which included a 15 hr car trip broken down over two days on the way down and back and I swore I would never do it again. We had 3 boys with us with apparently no bladder control and the inevitable are we there yet a thousand times so that contributed to my feelings of never again. Even if it were just my hubby and I, nope. I want to be at the destination as soon as possible and start vacation mode, not dilly-dally around several days.

Of course, it really only matters if you think it sounds like a fun trip or root canal surgery.

THIS. Add the dog to the mix? Absolutely, NO WAY. Nasty restroom rest stops, awful food, very close quarters with smells, sounds, habits all up close and personal for hours and hours and HOURS on end? Just, no. Away from home for so long? No. If you haven't figured it out, I'm not a traveler, lol. My high limit is about 10 hours. Other wise, put me on a plane and wake me up when we get there.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

thanks! We are coming to Vancouver for the fireworks, lol! My FIL has always wanted to see the contest, I'm excited about spending some time there

Can you fly in and then rent car and sightsee home via driving?

 

[bushdianee]

Nebraska depending on what part you travel through has a lot of opportunities to tour. Omaha has the Henry Doorly Zoo which is one of the best in the country. It would be a full day to see it all. Admission is around $20 a person. Boys Town offers tours that I think are free or for a donation. We also have the Old Market which is a warehouse type shopping/restaurant area that draws a lot of tourists and locals. There are casinos across the river in Council bluffs Iowa. The College World Series is held in June. In Hastings they have a Kool-Aid museum. Western Nebraska has Chimney rock.

 

[LilyWDW]

I wouldn't be able to do it for a couple major reasons.

1) I wouldn't want to be away from my cats for that long.
2) My medical condition makes me hate the idea of being in a car that long and having to deal with so many roadside bathrooms.

 

[MIGrandma]

We have driven from Michigan to Florida and back several times, it's 24 hours and we do it in 2-3 days each way. We like to drive to the Smoky Mountains too, and have done 2 trips to New Orleans. And one w-a-y back in 1977 to Texas and back too.

We like doing road trips in the U.P. with the truck camper too, and will be doing another of those this summer. Thinking we may want to drive it to Alaska and spend 2-3 weeks there sightseeing too.

We used to prefer to fly and just "get there" but road trips are nice as you can see/do different things along the way.

 

[ols386]

For me, 30 hours would be too long of a drive. I'd bite the bullet and fly. If I were flying, I'd probably stay for a week (7 days and 7 nights). I've visited Vancouver and absolutely loved it. We were only there for 4 nights, and that wasn't long enough. We didn't rent a car, and that worked out fine. We either walked to where we wanted to go, or took a taxi.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Nebraska depending on what part you travel through has a lot of opportunities to tour. Omaha has the Henry Doorly Zoo which is one of the best in the country. It would be a full day to see it all. Admission is around $20 a person. Boys Town offers tours that I think are free or for a donation. We also have the Old Market which is a warehouse type shopping/restaurant area that draws a lot of tourists and locals. There are casinos across the river in Council bluffs Iowa. The College World Series is held in June. In Hastings they have a Kool-Aid museum. Western Nebraska has Chimney rock.

Ohh see now you've given me ideas on things I can do within a reasonable drive for a weekend getaway. Last time I was truly in Nebraska (we actually drove across the border and then turned around back into KS when we realized we went just a wee bit too far from our end point) was years and years ago for the Omaha Zoo.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

And if so, any must-see, non-obvious things to visit in Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah or Kansas?

In Nebraska, the Oregon Trail museum at Scotts Bluff. Be forewarned, coming from Custer, SD, there is a 72 mile stretch with no towns, no gas stations, no businesses, and no bathrooms of any kind.

Oh, and as a Missourian, I'd almost rather cross KS than MO on 70. There is almost no time of day that traffic on 70 in MO really clears out - anywhere. No such problem in KS

 

[Gumbo4x4]

If its over 4-5 hours, I fly. I often fly Nashville to Atlanta. Driving is the worst.

Eww, by the time you jack with both airports, you could probably drive it faster.