Road Trip From Southwestern Pa-any Tips???

[Beauty-The Beast]

Traveling by van, Nov. 15-22 from Southwestern Pennsylvania, DH, and myself, with our two DD(ages 13 and 14). We'll be taking Inter.70 to I-77 then hitting I-95. at some point. DH is in charge of that part. Any members from PA, and if so, have you driven?

Mapquest estimates travel time a little of 15 hrs. Another map site said a little over 16 hours. How long did it take any of you? Did you drive straight through? We considering driving straight through, just doing the rest stops along the way, but that might change depending on how tired DH gets.

Any suggestions as to where to stay along the way? Good places to eat, anything that would be of help for our trip.

Information on construction areas, road delays or just general info on the trip down would be greatly appreciated.

17 days and counting

 

[Neish]

In May, DH and I drove straight down I-95 from Philly with a 2,7,11, 14, and 15 year old. It took about 16 hrs. We started out early in the morning. We got on 95 at exactly 4am. Around 7am we took our first break, by this time the younger kids were waking up. We mostly stopped for gas every 2-3 hours and ate fast food when hungry. Some breaks were longer than others. DH and I were troopers when it came to driving because of the anticipation of getting there. We switched drivers at each break, sometimes every other break. We arrived in Orlando around 8pm.

For highway info, try http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/trafficinfo/index.htm

Hope this helps.
Neish

 

[bobcat]

I drive from Central Ohio and we also take 70 to 77, just the oposite way. It's a pretty easy drive. Take the outerbelt around Jacksonville, no construction and you move pretty fast. I always dreaded going through Jacksonville until this last trip. Gas in GA is always the cheapest so fill up before you leave. Have a great trip!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We were in WDW in Sept. 2001 for the 9-11 events. We flew down but not knowing when we could get back, We rented a car and drove back to Southwestern PA. It was DH, myself, DS(3) and my DH's GM(80). We drove the 1st day to right outside of NC. My DH wanted to drive straight through but with DS and GM it would have been too much. You may be able to do it though since your children are older. I remember the trip wasn't as bad as I thought but I'm just not a car person so we'll probably never do it again. Good Luck!