2,700 mile road trip report

[PimTac]

I'm surprised no one has caught the math error yet.

1200+1200=2700? Must be the new math.

Sounded like a good trip but a whole lot of driving in a short period of time.

 

[Schmoe]

He did say that they went on some excursions around the area, pretty sure that makes up the 300 mile difference.

 

[Zee09]

That 95 ride sucks
Doing it tomorrow 970 miles but I drive the speed limit.
That Jacksonville area is always a fiasco. It got me too Tuesday.
2 hrs to go 3 miles.

 

[2dogs]

Sounds like a great trip! Laughed when you wrote the your wife argues
with the GPS.

 

[nicholas]

Spent the past week at a family gathering on Anna Maria island in Florida. Made the 1,200-mile drive each way straight through in my 108,000 mile 2011 Ford Fusion SEL 2.5.

Friday - Left New Haven CT area at 8pm. Me driving, wife napping, 11yo daughter watching Harry Potter movies on her phone.

9pm. George Washington bridge traffic
930 - Cleared traffic and speeding south along the NJ Tpke.

2am - Driver change/fuel stop. Theoretically this would give me a chance to sleep, but the wife sees driving as some kind of moral crusade/battle of wills and she argues incessantly with the female voice on the gps. Oh well.

6am - Fuel up at Waffle House. Got gas (for the car).

7am - Torrential rain in South Carolina. Pedro is quite sad.

Noon - Free oj at the Florida welcome center outside of Jacksonville.

5pm. Six mile traffic jam getting onto the island. The extended family has the beer cold and poolside grill hot when we arrive.

5:01 pm Saturday - Thursday : Beach/pool/margaritas. Saw a manatee in the wild. Saw lots of sea turtle nests but no turtles. Lots of seafood from local beachfront shacks. Lots of heartburn from beachside seafood shack dinners and margaritas. Played mini golf at a place where you can feed live alligators. Shot a 7-over 45.

Friday - Harry Potter World of Wizardry with the daughter. Mom bailed due to heat/sunburn/hatred of crowds. Really hot. Really humid. Really expensive. Daughter forced me to wear a Hogwarts robe in 95-degree heat. Daughter drenched me activating a magic rainstorm with a ($50) interactive Hermione wand. Awesome day. In a few years when she doesn't want to hang out with Dad on vacation I won't miss the $$$ but I'll treasure the memories.

Saturday 10 am return trip departure.

2pm. Georgia gas station has hot boiled peanuts? What delicious non-driving-friendly snack deviltry is this?

7pm. T-storms AGAIN in South Carolina. (Dammit Pedro!). 45-minute rest area nap at 2 am. Drove through NYC at 65mph. Home at 9am Sunday.

Car ran all 2,700 miles without a hiccup. Didn't burn any visible amount of Mobil1 AFE 0w20 but I did go through a full gallon of RainX bug cleaning washer fluid.

Averaged just under 34mpg for the trip with a career best 548-mile fuel run through virginia and the Carolinas. Highway runs at 75-80 averaged over 35.

The air conditioning's Auto setting stayed at 68 the entire time. Never touched it. Wife and daughter did use fleece blankets to sleep.

Audiobooks helped pass the time. Listened to The Witches about the 1692 Salem hangings (17 hours) and A More Perfect Heaven about the Copernican heliocentric revolution (9 hours). Daughter has decreed that she picks the books next time.

Would definitely do it again, as long as someone else is paying for the beach house rental again.

Thats too bad....we love to stretch our legs and say hi to Pedro.
Glad you had a safe drive and fun trip.
We also desperately miss Florida.....Anna Maria is amazing.

 

[nicholas]

OP, are you certain you are husband and father? Or were "they" imaginary?

In Texas we have some Interstate that allows 75-80 mph travel given that traffic volume is low enough to accommodate that. I doubt the upper limit was that high where you were.

At speed, were you EVER within 300' of another vehicle? Was there EVER a situation where you were jammed in with others in the passing lane trying to get around slower traffic?

If so, you're a [censored] fool. Failed at first responsibility of a man as the protector of his wife and children.

It's the literal (and moral) equivalent of being a drunk 13-year old with an automatic weapon.

A vacation needs a plan. Guess your Daddy didn't much like you either. As you'd have understood risk. 1,200-miles straight through? Ha!

Firearms and motor vehicles. To have a long life simply avoid ever being shot or in a car wreck. No other causes need apply. Not smoking, obesity or whatever. It's these two.

You're not alone, FWIW, as stupidity is America's new clothing. It's todays norm. Not at all the way Americans drove up until 20-years ago. Cross that off your list of titles as well

.

Way to go Judgy pants......

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted by JLTD

Originally Posted by AlienBug


2pm. Georgia gas station has hot boiled peanuts? What delicious non-driving-friendly snack deviltry is this?



To be eaten whole....


Is that seriously how you're supposed to eat them? I feel like this could just be something you tell the yankee boys so you can laugh at us when we do it.
OTOH I was wondering how the heck the truckers manage to eat them while driving. I was one-handed cracking them, squeezing the meat out then stuffing the shells in an empty coke can

Boiled peanuts you probably can pop open the shell and then squeeze them out one at a time like a soy bean pod in Japanese restaurants.