Driving Thread- Tell me I'm not crazy - Pump me up for the drive !

[migel]

Awesome I think this will be the closest to my plan. From 6pm until 6am I am only planning on one or two stops for gas / bathroom (hoping the little one sleep through the night like he does at home). Not intending to speed beyond a 4 miles per hour over pound out about 12 hours of near straight driving before the morning.

I try to go 4 hrs between gas/washroom breaks, although we occasionally pull off at rest area for a quick pit stop if need be. I never push the tank past 5 hours, that's cutting it a bit close for us.

 

[mort1331]

You must have a very large gas tank. By either our car or truck, there are 4-5 gas stops each way (both have about 600km range per tank, but you never want to go more than about 550 between fills). BTW - gasbuddy is a great app/site for helping you plan your gas stops. They have a trip planner that will help you pick the least expensive spots for gas along your route. Nothing more annoying than crossing a state line with a quarter tank a realizing that gas prices just jumped $0.20 a gallon.

We drive a Honda Odyssey, It will get us between 900 to 1000 km so about 8-9 hours drive. So we do try and push it thru the night if we can, and then our stops are 4-6 hours apart after that.

 

[Cheerio]

We drive a GMC Yukon, from just east of Toronto we stop for Walmart in Erie, PA (right off the highway 3h35m from our house) and then first gas between Waynesburg PA & Lost Creek WV.

 

[DisFanDad]

You must have a very large gas tank. By either our car or truck, there are 4-5 gas stops each way (both have about 600km range per tank, but you never want to go more than about 550 between fills). BTW - gasbuddy is a great app/site for helping you plan your gas stops. They have a trip planner that will help you pick the least expensive spots for gas along your route. Nothing more annoying than crossing a state line with a quarter tank a realizing that gas prices just jumped $0.20 a gallon.

Have a 2018 Hyundai Tucson 1.6L Turbo. Get around 800km / tank. It's extremely good on gas.

 

[canuckgirl]

We are planning on driving down this summer. We live just North of Toronto. I was wondering for those who have driven down before, do any of the routes have reststops on the highways as we know it up here? Like, you just pull into a gas station with restaurants on the side of the highway a la 400 series? When we have driven in the states before it seemed like we had to always leave the highway and drive into a town to find gas/restaurants... which is a waste of time imho. We will be driving a 12 passenger van with 9 kids and 2 adults and so will have to be stopping often, but I want to make it as painless as possible Thank-you!

 

[migel]

I found the rest areas are pretty well dispersed along the route (through the Virginias, Carolinas, etc.) and right off the highways. Although we try not to stop until it's time for gas, we pulled into rest areas a couple of times for pee breaks. Quick in and out, clean facilities, always others stopped there, so safe.

 

[isabellea]

We like the rest stops along the highways for a quick stop with our kids. The only state that is pretty bad in quantity of rest areas is South Carolina (I-95). Basically one at each state border.

 

[Terrarankin]

We did this last year and took that route (we are about 2 hours north of Niagara Falls). Biggest regret was leaving at night. Bigger regret, not booking 2 hotels on the way down. We were so tired we had to pull into a gas station at about 3AM to sleep for a couple of hours. We stopped in South Carolina the next night. I would never drive straight through. On the way back we changed our plans and stayed in 2 hotels on the way home. I felt so much better doing it that way. Good luck and safe travels! And you never know how long it is going to take to get there - we got stuck in a HUGE traffic jam, highway construction, etc. All the little things added another 8 hours to our "20 hour" drive

 

[canuckgirl]

I found the rest areas are pretty well dispersed along the route (through the Virginias, Carolinas, etc.) and right off the highways. Although we try not to stop until it's time for gas, we pulled into rest areas a couple of times for pee breaks. Quick in and out, clean facilities, always others stopped there, so safe.

So what I’m understanding is that “rest stops” in the states are just public bathrooms and a parking lot? When I think of rest stops up here, I think of a gas station and restaurants all in one complex. Do they not have those on any of the routes down?

 

[bankr63]

So what I’m understanding is that “rest stops” in the states are just public bathrooms and a parking lot? When I think of rest stops up here, I think of a gas station and restaurants all in one complex. Do they not have those on any of the routes down?

Pretty much. Very few, if any, states do. Most are just bathrooms, vending machines, and possibly a tourist information counter. Gas and real food are not available.

The one spot you do seem to see them setup like on the 401 (which is the only place I've seen them in Ontario) is on the Turnpikes (toll highways) as you would have to exit and reenter the pike to get food and gas. (Are there any rest stops on our 407?). I have been to such stops on the NY State Thruway (I90) and on the Mass. Pike. (I90).

 

[migel]

The only one I know of is the Angola service centre, but that's still in NY State. The closest to an all-in-one are actual exits where you'll usually have a choice of a couple of gas stations, coffee/restaurants and hotels. Most bigger ones are right off the highway, although in the past I've taken an exit only to have to drive a mile or so to the ammenities. When it's time to gas up, I watch the signs that display what ammenities are available at which exit. Usually the more options shown, means the gas, etc is right off the highway.(I also peak to make sure the super tall gas station signs are visible from the highway). Just a heads up though, Bathroom cleanliness at the gas stations varies from okay, to not so good.

 

[canuckgirl]

Ok, thanks guys! I mostly travel up & down the 400 to cottage country and the all in one gas/restaurant on the highway is what I was used to! I will use the rest stops for bathroom breaks and gas station stops/food stops separately then.... it just bugs me because it’s more stops and so inefficient!

 

[peterparker520]

Did the same route May 2017...did in 2 days of 11 hours driving, towing our trailer...I could never do it in one drive...I don't like driving at night but that is me, if you are ok driving at night it is very doable...

 

[lizzyb]

Last time we went DH was coming off a night shift so he drove from 6pm until about 4am and then I took over until about 11am. We only stopped for meals and gas. Driving through the night made the trip feel a lot faster for the kids. I would not have done that if Dh wasn't coming off a night shift. The time before we started our drive at 4am and drove until we reached Orangeburg, SC and then started up the next morning. Good luck!

 

[DavidL]

I don't think that there is a generic answer that fits all in regards to driving non-stop. It is dependent on the number of drivers and the age of the drivers, as well as how flexible or rigid the timeline is.

We drive each year from London Ontario to Florida, and we schedule 2 stops along the way. We take the kids out of school a couple of days early and drive anywhere from 8 to 12 hours depending on traffic and weather.

Back in 2013 we drove "as far as we got" each day and would try find a motel/hotel when we were tired of driving. After struggling a couple of times to find rooms at 10PM at night, we've changed our strategy and now have rooms reserved at predetermined destinations each day. When planning our stops, we allow a bit of buffer for traffic delays, and we always plan around what time we will arrive in the Atlanta area to try avoid traffic there.

We try to make the road trip an exciting part of the adventure along the way. We take the time to have stops at restaurants that we never see in Canada such as Waffle House, Cracker Barrel as well as Steak 'n Shake (meals for under $4!!).

Back in 1999 a buddy and myself drove non-stop from London Ontario to Minnedosa Manitoba. I've done all night driving. We were young back then, and shared the driving. These days I'm 19 years older and I need sleep more now than I did back in my younger days. I am now the type of person who falls asleep within 2 minutes after my head hits the pillow, so in my case I don't like driving too much after 10PM.

 

[Sunelis]

I'm from Montreal and I always drive down. I'm a solo traveler and should probably go by air (which I probably will do after the parking fees are in effect for me). My usual route is usually I-87 -> I-287 -> I-95 -> I-4. With one or two stops for sleep depending on traffic and my level of tiredness.

 

[friedela]

We saw TONS of Ontario license plates when we went in February. I think lots of people drive it! If it's cheaper to do so then all the power to you!

 

[Mumketeer]

Hey, there

We saw TONS of Ontario license plates when we went in February. I think lots of people drive it! If it's cheaper to do so then all the power to you!

Hi there, How is driving once you cross the border and especially Orlando. Do you find the driving easy. What about the rules are they similar to Ontario. OOPs sorry just realized you are from Alberta, I haven't driven there yet.

 

[mshanson3121]

Couldn't pay me to drive straight through. So not worth it in my opinion. A) you may think you're fine awake for 24 hours, but your reaction times go down. As those go down risk of accidents go up. B) it's exhausting. Why exhaust yourself like that for the sake of a $60 hotel room? Why wear yourselves out right at the start of your vacation? C) At 1.5 my kids would have gone beserk strapped in a car seat that long. Why set them up for tantrums etc? D) You have no hope at all of making it in less than 21-22 hours.

Myself, I would do 2 days. Let everyone enjoy the pool for a nice break, get a good night sleep etc...

If you're set on it, then make sure your first day in Florida is nothing but a rest day. Pay attention to when you'll be crossing the mountains (night not recommended) as well as when you'll be going by the major cities (avoid morning and supper rush hours. Hitting a city at supper time is a quick way to add 1 hour+ to your trip and when you're stuck in rush hour traffic jams there's no ability to get off the road to soothe a screaming toddler, change diapers etc....).

 

[friedela]

Hey, there

Hi there, How is driving once you cross the border and especially Orlando. Do you find the driving easy. What about the rules are they similar to Ontario. OOPs sorry just realized you are from Alberta, I haven't driven there yet.

Yeah, we never drove down, we just saw lots of Ontario plates