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I work and study full time and so I don't have any time for travel beyond weekend trips to visit my brother in Norfolk. I live on the Jersey Shore, I work as a courier and have a company car with unlimited personal use of the fuel card (beyond a daily limit I wouldn't exceed unless gas goes up enormously), and I have been to many regions in the US but not yet the PNW. I'm thinking about, after I finish my studies in the summer of 2018, undertaking a solo road trip from my home in New Jersey to Seattle and back, in seventeen days (which is the maximum amount of time I can have off, it would be the two weeks before Labor Day). This way I can take full advantage of my company car and my moment of freedom in between finishing school and then having to move into a career, moving out and becoming an adult/having a family and so on, at which point this becomes far more complex. I'd like to do it by myself, I've never traveled alone before (my mom's favorite thing to do is organize activity packed trips for the entire family which is great for getting the most out of our time but I'm also ready to kill my family by the time I get home so doing it a different way is highly appealing to me), I'm the only person authorized to drive my company car so a driving partner is not possible anyway, and I've come up with this basic plan and I'm wondering if I'm completely nuts. Keep in mind that I am very much accustomed to driving on my own, as I drive 40-50 hours a week by myself, though with somewhat frequent stops and coming home to my own bed of course. I would have audiobooks and SiriusXM and podcasts galore. I would like to get out to Seattle in four days, though five days is an option if this is too much. Day 1: Home to somewhere in between Cleveland and Chicago. I figure because its the first day and its the closest stuff to where I live, I don't really care to stop and check anything out because I could go to those places on smaller trips. I put in Hammond, Illinois as the furthest out I would go and that's 11.5 hours according to Google though South Bend or Toledo could be options too. That doesn't include stops so that is a long long day and definitely the longest I would go in the trip. Day 2: Get to Fargo, ND, stop midday to meet a friend in Minneapolis. 9.5 hours driving Day 3: Fargo to Bozeman, MT. 10 hours. Day 4: Bozeman to Ceour d'Alene, Idaho: 5 hours, check out the place, continue on 4.5 hours to Seattle. The five day option: Day 1: Home to Cuyahoga NP, Ohio. 8 hours Day 2: Cuyahoga to Madison, WI. 8 hours Day 3: Madison to Bismarck, ND. 10.5 hours Day 4: Bismarck to Missoula, MT. 11 hours. Day 5: Missoula to Seattle. 8 hours. Day 5/6-7: Some amount of time in Seattle, 2 or 3 days, let's assume three for the purpose of this itinerary, take day trips out to stuff like Olympia NP or the San Juans, whatever. Day 8: Leave Seattle and go down to Mount Rainier, taking a winding scenic route west to east and ending up somewhere in Oregon, I penciled in La Grande but perhaps somewhere sooner depending on how much time I spent at Rainier. 2 hours from Seattle to Rainier, 5.5 from Rainier to La Grande Day 9: La Grande, Oregon to Craters of the Moon NP, check that out, then continue on to my cousin's place near Jackson, Wyoming. 5 hours to CotM NP, 3.5 hours to Jackson. Day 10-11: One or two days checking out Yellowstone NP and environs. If I take five on the way out, one of these days may get axed. Day 12: Jackson to Devil's Tower NM, then Devil's Tower to Rapid City, SD. Would leave Jackson as early as feasible, get to Devil's Tower, spend a few hours there in the mid to late afternoon, then get to Rapid City later in the evening. 7.5 hours to DT NM, 1.5 hours to Rapid City. Day 13: Spend in Black Hills area. Day 14: Leave Rapid City, go to Sioux Falls, stop in Wall, check out Badlands NP, then continue on to Sioux Falls. 5 hours, though I may go farther than Sioux Falls to lessen the next day's drive. Day 15: Sioux Falls to Madison, WI. 6.5 hours Day 16: Madison to Indianapolis, then to Columbus, OH. 5 hours to Indianapolis, 3 hours to Columbus. Day 17: Columbus to home. 8 hours. It's ambitious but I think by front loading the longest travel days and not doing the same type of marathon back, it could be done. It would be an early to rise, early to bed, make the most of the sunshine type of trip. I'm not interested in nightlife of any kind on this trip. I do have a day to remove from Yellowstone or Seattle if some parts are too crazy, but some of the drives, especially Fargo to Bozeman to Seattle and Jackson to Rapid City, I just don't see how else to chop them up. And because its late summer, I don't have to contend with winter conditions, because I'll be hearing from my dad for the next two years how in 1975, he almost died in Minot in the back of his truck in the freezing cold high on Quaaludes. If anything jumps out as completely impractical, let me know. Also the places are not specific, they're just regions I'd like to visit, I have a few years to work this out but I'd like to have a framework of it set in stone so I can count on having X days in Seattle and so on. Thanks. csm141 fucked around with this message at 09:38 on Feb 29, 2016 |
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Feb 27, 2016 20:01
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| # ? May 4, 2024 19:33 |
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As far as the whole idea goes.. Sure. If you really think you'll enjoy driving by yourself for 17 days I say go for it. You'll definitely get something out of the whole endeavor. Though that something sounds less like fun and more like torture. If I were you I'd mellow it out a bit and go on a shorter trip distance wise and spend a day or two in a few select cities. This sounds more like a personal challenge then a vacation. If your cashing in vacation time.. Why not do something fun? Edit: I re-read your itinerary and it actually sounds relatively more sane than the first time I read it. I think you could pull it off. Still don't know if it would be all that exciting. I do not like driving for hours and hours though. If you drive for work why drive for vacation too? I get that the gas is paid for, but still. I LIKE COOKIE fucked around with this message at 10:57 on Feb 28, 2016 |
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Feb 28, 2016 10:50
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That's definitely a lot of driving, though once you slog through the Midwest there'll be some great scenery going by. As someone born there however I will say that 5 hours is a pretty long time to be in Couer d'Alene, though do yourself a favor and hit the Hudson hamburger shop by the resort.
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Feb 28, 2016 17:20
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flyingporcupine posted:That's definitely a lot of driving, though once you slog through the Midwest there'll be some great scenery going by. As someone born there however I will say that 5 hours is a pretty long time to be in Couer d'Alene, though do yourself a favor and hit the Hudson hamburger shop by the resort. I meant five hours to Coeur d'Alene from Bozeman, it'd be a lunch stop on the way out.
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Feb 28, 2016 20:21
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I have spent a lot of solo time in the car the past few years, putting on about 35,000 miles in 2015 with most of them taking place between Jan - October. Personally, I don't have a problem on the first day of a long drive, but getting back on the road for a second or third gets a little rough and I find myself stopping a lot more often. As long as you keep pacing yourself, you shouldn't have a problem especially considering you spend so much time driving already. Besides having plenty of audio to listen to, I would say make sure you pack a good cooler and keep it well stocked. Eat and drink as healthy as you can while on the road, and make sure you get some good sleep. And of course, if you're tired, take a break. With your hard limit of 17 days it might be hard, but keep a flex day or two in case you really love an area or the weather doesn't cooperate along the way.
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Feb 29, 2016 08:49
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I came up with a five day plan that would not be quite as taxing. Instead of the four day plan, I'd do here to Cuyahoga Valley NP, there to Madison, Madison to Bismarck, Bismarck to Missoula (where I have a cousin who I didn't know until yesterday moved there) and Missoula to Seattle. This would give me some more leeway to stop at places, it would be 7/8/10/10/8 instead of 12/11/11/11. It would come at the cost of the third full day in Seattle but get me there in time to have essentially a half day. Thanks for the input.
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Feb 29, 2016 09:27
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| # ? May 4, 2024 19:33 |
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Update: apparently I was wrong and I can take three weeks off, and therefore this entire thing is moot. Thanks for the input.
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Feb 29, 2016 22:22
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