Originally Posted By: John_Conrad
u mentioned satellite radio, i keep my cd full of what I call road pounding music, so that i can keep driving steady and it helps make the time go well.
an insulated coffee mug and or thermos is an essential for me as well as water and or a pop or two in case i need the caffeine. other wise i'm not to much for pop.
there are some things you can't avoid, but i try to pass the largest cities after or before rush hour. for example Dallas/Fort Worth Area is a huge metropolis with major traffic during rush hour. I have been stuck there many times. So i always try to drive through this area at night.
best of luck, if i think of anything else, i will post back.
I've also got Slacker Radio, which allows downloading of stations, so I can play what I like, while minimizing data usage. Unlike Sat radio, we can skip as many songs as we like, or bad comedy sketches, etc.
I'll have a Thermos full of hot cocoa and my own travel mug full of coffee. With just the wife and me, we made it all the way down to FL (drove straight through the night) without finishing either. With four of us in our car, it should be better. We'll also have a cooler full of cherry soda, root beer, orange soda, and of course water.
I prefer to drive through the night, like you, and like I've done the past three long road trips, but I was overruled by the majority. I asked if we could at least leave at 0500 and that was turned down, too. I compromised and said that they could sleep until 0700, so long as they can do so through reveille.
Originally Posted By: datech
I really doubt you will average 65 mph, even though that might be your road speed. Figure 50 if you're lucky. less with heavy holiday traffic, possible inclement weather.
For estimation, does it make sense to include a low average speed AND add in time for traffic delays? I chose to keep my average the speed limit, but add 2 hours for traffic for the first day of driving (just to NC.)
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
I'll be taking my 8 year old car with 105k on a 800 mile trip soon. I think I'm less worried about it than the OP is.
I actually love driving, and am a big fan of road trips. The point of the thread was for every one to share their thoughts and past road trip lessons-learned and stories.
Originally Posted By: John_Conrad
Slow but steady!!! That's my motto.
Do what you can when you can. You really are at the mercy of the flow of traffic during the holidays. Add rush hour traffic and you have a mess.
We didn't experience much traffic last time we drove down to FL, but I was once stuck in an ice storm headed through IL, which meant that the 3 hours remaining to our destination turned into 7. I guess watching all of the cars on their sides and upside down on the side of the road helped the time go by. People never seemed to learn from others on that trip...
What I'm doing that I haven't done is planning out the stops, so no one is surprised when the worst happens and it does take us 15+ hours to get through our first day, to NC. If we went by the GPS or google maps, we might be upset when that time slips significantly. Slow and steady, aye.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
The chase car and tools get you a lot. Safe travels! I bet you'll donate the GC to the RAV.
Believe both Rav4 and subaru takes 5x100 rims, so your spare being inflated, could, worst case scenario, fit the other car.
What did you mean by your first sentence? It does make me think of a good question, though. Who should lead, assuming we're on a long straight-away, with minimal traffic (can't really stay together for sure if there's traffic,) but early in the morning and late at night, when we might be a little more tired...) It probably doesn't matter much, but they have the accident avoidance tech I have (Eyesight.)
Another good point. So long as my brother-in-law doesn't mind, I'll check his car over before we leave, too, including checking his oil. If he's low when he gets to my place (they live 2 hours north of here) I'll top him off with VWB or, if he doesn't mind, the 10 oz. or so of RT6 I have left.
I don't know if the Rav4 has 5X100, but my Subie does. Worst case, even if the overall diameter is off, I'm sure it would do in a pinch.
u mentioned satellite radio, i keep my cd full of what I call road pounding music, so that i can keep driving steady and it helps make the time go well.
an insulated coffee mug and or thermos is an essential for me as well as water and or a pop or two in case i need the caffeine. other wise i'm not to much for pop.
there are some things you can't avoid, but i try to pass the largest cities after or before rush hour. for example Dallas/Fort Worth Area is a huge metropolis with major traffic during rush hour. I have been stuck there many times. So i always try to drive through this area at night.
best of luck, if i think of anything else, i will post back.
I've also got Slacker Radio, which allows downloading of stations, so I can play what I like, while minimizing data usage. Unlike Sat radio, we can skip as many songs as we like, or bad comedy sketches, etc.
I'll have a Thermos full of hot cocoa and my own travel mug full of coffee. With just the wife and me, we made it all the way down to FL (drove straight through the night) without finishing either. With four of us in our car, it should be better. We'll also have a cooler full of cherry soda, root beer, orange soda, and of course water.
I prefer to drive through the night, like you, and like I've done the past three long road trips, but I was overruled by the majority. I asked if we could at least leave at 0500 and that was turned down, too. I compromised and said that they could sleep until 0700, so long as they can do so through reveille.
Originally Posted By: datech
I really doubt you will average 65 mph, even though that might be your road speed. Figure 50 if you're lucky. less with heavy holiday traffic, possible inclement weather.
For estimation, does it make sense to include a low average speed AND add in time for traffic delays? I chose to keep my average the speed limit, but add 2 hours for traffic for the first day of driving (just to NC.)
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
I'll be taking my 8 year old car with 105k on a 800 mile trip soon. I think I'm less worried about it than the OP is.
I actually love driving, and am a big fan of road trips. The point of the thread was for every one to share their thoughts and past road trip lessons-learned and stories.
Originally Posted By: John_Conrad
Slow but steady!!! That's my motto.
Do what you can when you can. You really are at the mercy of the flow of traffic during the holidays. Add rush hour traffic and you have a mess.
We didn't experience much traffic last time we drove down to FL, but I was once stuck in an ice storm headed through IL, which meant that the 3 hours remaining to our destination turned into 7. I guess watching all of the cars on their sides and upside down on the side of the road helped the time go by. People never seemed to learn from others on that trip...
What I'm doing that I haven't done is planning out the stops, so no one is surprised when the worst happens and it does take us 15+ hours to get through our first day, to NC. If we went by the GPS or google maps, we might be upset when that time slips significantly. Slow and steady, aye.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
The chase car and tools get you a lot. Safe travels! I bet you'll donate the GC to the RAV.
Believe both Rav4 and subaru takes 5x100 rims, so your spare being inflated, could, worst case scenario, fit the other car.
What did you mean by your first sentence? It does make me think of a good question, though. Who should lead, assuming we're on a long straight-away, with minimal traffic (can't really stay together for sure if there's traffic,) but early in the morning and late at night, when we might be a little more tired...) It probably doesn't matter much, but they have the accident avoidance tech I have (Eyesight.)
Another good point. So long as my brother-in-law doesn't mind, I'll check his car over before we leave, too, including checking his oil. If he's low when he gets to my place (they live 2 hours north of here) I'll top him off with VWB or, if he doesn't mind, the 10 oz. or so of RT6 I have left.
I don't know if the Rav4 has 5X100, but my Subie does. Worst case, even if the overall diameter is off, I'm sure it would do in a pinch.