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The do's ..and do not's on a road trip....


Silas_Sancona

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With family, and a fellow Palm Talker passing through town this past week/weekend, & now that summer starts this week. figure it might be fun to discuss past or present road trip dos / ..or don'ts considering i'm sure many will be taking ..or seriously considering some sort of epic summer trip, even if in state, just for a few days, and not hundreds or thousands of miles away..

Starting things off, Looking back on some of mine, i can say this..

* Never try to travel from San Jose, CA. to Topeka Kansas in under 30 hours, ..on less than 2hours sleep.. Not totally advisable either  when driving to say Panama City, Florida from Cincinnati, Ohio ..though no one will blame you fo trying, haha.

* Never look at Gas prices, especially out this way:blink2:

*Driving through the Everglades, after spending 9+ hours baking in the sun? ( ..and not realizing how well done you are )  Not fun, ..even after the sun goes dawn..

*When getting gas out in " the sticks " .. if  someone standing in front of the gas station you're at  introduces themselves as some sort of reptile ..-or other animal ( Guy introduced himself as Gator, in my case.. )  Get your gas, and move along, no matter how amused..

* Never pass on a chance to pull over for the night anywhere you can sleep next to the ocean, and walk a beach as the sun rises..

...And Never -ever- pass up breakfast at Wafflehouse,  **Esp. important for those of us in/ from California, lol**:D


 

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Don't stop for gas in St. Louis and yes, Arkansas smells that way, no one messed themselves.

That's about all I have.

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44 minutes ago, amh said:

Don't stop for gas in St. Louis and yes, Arkansas smells that way, no one messed themselves.

That's about all I have.

St. Louis ..and San Antonio drivers,  both are crazy, lol

And..

..If you think you can cross Texas in a day ..or less? Good luck to ya.:floor:

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6 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

St. Louis ..and San Antonio drivers,  both are crazy, lol

And..

..If you think you can cross Texas in a day ..or less? Good luck to ya.:floor:

Also, in Texas, you have to stop at Buc-ee's. 

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10 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

St. Louis ..and San Antonio drivers,  both are crazy, lol

And..

..If you think you can cross Texas in a day ..or less? Good luck to ya.:floor:

Not so much the drivers, but San Antonio has some real crazies in four wheel drive.

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22 minutes ago, amh said:

Also, banks have the cleanest and least used restrooms.

Truck stops.. That's all i'll say,  ..lol. :innocent:

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Just now, Silas_Sancona said:

Truck stops.. That's all i'll say,  ..lol. :innocent:

The ones with good lighting.:evil:

But I learned about banks because liquor stores wont let non employees use the facilities.

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11 minutes ago, amh said:

The ones with good lighting.:evil:

But I learned about banks because liquor stores wont let non employees use the facilities.

:greenthumb:  So true..

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Don't try to cross France on their national roads. Every foreigner is an enemy for the french drivers and they need to overtake you even it's not possible... Better to use the toll motorway.

Eckhard

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wxBanner?bannertype=wu_bluestripes_metri

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Last week I drove a rental box truck from Bethlehem, PA west to San Franciso. (long drive and long story).  We usually stopped for fuel at the major truck stops, Loves and Pilot.  These were always clean and well stocked with elaborate stores of retail items.  Don't laugh,  I was grateful to purchase polarized clip-on sunglasses for my prescripton eyeglasses.

  Most states do not have a lower speed limit for trucks, unlike California.  It was quite un-nerving to be passed by an 80,000 pound truck traveling 80 mph.

  If you drive on Interstate 70 through Kansas try to avoid an overnight stay in Colby.  All the motels there are a rip-off at twice the normal price.  The nicest motel in Rock Springs, Wyoming is the Outlaw Inn, (listed as a Best Western).  DO NOT EVER, stay at the Aloha Inn in Sparks, Nevada.   :unsure: 

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San Francisco, California

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2 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Last week I drove a rental box truck from Bethlehem, PA west to San Franciso. (long drive and long story).  We usually stopped for fuel at the major truck stops, Loves and Pilot.  These were always clean and well stocked with elaborate stores of retail items.  Don't laugh,  I was grateful to purchase polarized clip-on sunglasses for my prescripton eyeglasses.

  Most states do not have a lower speed limit for trucks, unlike California.  It was quite un-nerving to be passed by an 80,000 pound truck traveling 80 mph.

  If you drive on Interstate 70 through Kansas try to avoid an overnight stay in Colby.  All the motels there are a rip-off at twice the normal price.  The nicest motel in Rock Springs, Wyoming is the Outlaw Inn, (listed as a Best Western).  DO NOT EVER, stay at the Aloha Inn in Sparks, Nevada.   :unsure: 

Yep, lol.. Even in the biggest moving truck offered, being passed by a semi doing 80 ( or more.. ) raises the hair on your neck. Not fun when impatient truck drivers box in everyone else either.

A note on " interesting " Hotels/ Hotel stories..  for anyone visiting Phoenix, better to avoid those close to Sky Harbor/ Downtown..

Traffic up there is a nightmare anyway, and about to get much worse.  ADOT plans for a major re- alignment/ adding lanes for a stretch of the I-10 in that area starts next year..  Southwest extension of the south side of the loop 202, which opened last year, is an easy way to avoid what i anticipate is going to be absolutely insane mess around downtown. Nice scenery along that part of the 202 as well. Connects to I-10 well west of downtown, and back at the 10 on my side of the area, well south of downtown.

Next big project may be finally adding lanes to the section of I-10 that passes between just south of where i'm at,  and Casa Grande..  Is enough of an bad accident trap that i completely avoid it whenever i have gone to Tucson. ( back roads are nicer anyway ) Widening of the 10 south of Casa Grande has been done and is safe all the way south. They also installed a state of the art Dust Detection System there that seems to be doing it's job keeping travelers safe during our dust storms.

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When you live in the Deep North of Australia, everywhere you drive to is an epic Road Trip. In fact my youngest son put it me last night to accompany him on a trip from Darwin to Sydney at the end of July....I thought, "why not"..... its about 2.500miles.
20151126_070606.thumb.jpg.48662f4653166306964685e0cd4df6e8.jpg

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I've done Sydney-Mildura-Port Augusta- Alice Springs-Darwin-Mt Isa-Townsville-Brisbane-Sydney loop over 3 weeks but with 4 drivers.

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Philip Wright

Sydney southern suburbs

Frost-free within 20 km of coast

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With kids….at all costs try to drive at night when they can sleep and you can drive in peace. Lesson learned the hard way

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I did road trips in Brasil ,  Mexico, South Africa, Bolivia  and Dominican republic ---- 

 

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i have done Darwin-Melbourne,  Darwin-Sydney,  Darwin-Karratha ( and Perth )  and return more times than I care to remember. if I'm in a hurry I can do the trips to and from Darwin in about 3 days and thats mostly avoiding night driving, simply because of the increased risks of animal strikes. Kangaroo collisions are very common in the outback and rural regions of the country, in fact the most successful small businesses out in the country are panelbeating workshops. 
And with literally thousands of miles of unfenced highways, the risks of running into wandering cattle, horses and donkeys is very real.
The other important tip with long hours behind the wheel, is that 'yawning is a warning' . Driving fatigued is deadly, you start yawning, you should pull up and take a break. Amazing what you can do after a 20 min power nap....
Oh, and I like listening to Audio Books to help combat fatigue.

Edited by greysrigging
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A question ? what are the fuel costs like in the States ?
We ( Darwin ) pay around the AU$1.40 per litre or about  $5.30 a US gallon. Much worse out in remote regions, S2.00 a litre or $7.60 a US gallon.

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California has the highest gasoline costs,  and San Francisco most likely the highest in the state.  Earlier today I paid $4.29 per gallon for 87 octane regular gasoline.   This is the lowest price in the southwest quadrant of town.  Adjacent to the downtown financial district there is one station with prices  over $5.00 per gallon. 

 I drove across the continent last week and the price for 87 octane regular gasoline varied from $2.77 to $3.49 in most states.

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San Francisco, California

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A few from my own experience. I used to do a north-south trip along the East Coast twice a year, over several years...

- Do NOT bring a sick baby with you.

- Do NOT bring an ultra-talkative person, without some counter-measure.

- Do bring your own locking device for the motel door.

- Do NOT touch anything in a motel. Bring a black light with you for some photo-journalistic fun.

- Do NOT rely on your phone or GPS device, have an actual paper map.

- Do NOT get a room next to the ice machine, elevator, stairs, etc.

- Do pack extra supplies, parts, water, etc.

- Do NOT accept free sushi. I was smart enough, another party member was not.

- Do have someone navigate, if you are not traveling alone. If you are the better navigator, do so and have them drive.

 

I know others have lots more.

Ryan

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South Florida

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1 hour ago, Palmarum said:

- Do NOT rely on your phone or GPS device, have an actual paper map.

All 3 will fail in Amish country.

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3 hours ago, greysrigging said:

i have done Darwin-Melbourne,  Darwin-Sydney,  Darwin-Karratha ( and Perth )  and return more times than I care to remember. if I'm in a hurry I can do the trips to and from Darwin in about 3 days and thats mostly avoiding night driving, simply because of the increased risks of animal strikes. Kangaroo collisions are very common in the outback and rural regions of the country, in fact the most successful small businesses out in the country are panelbeating workshops. 
And with literally thousands of miles of unfenced highways, the risks of running into wandering cattle, horses and donkeys is very real.
The other important tip with long hours behind the wheel, is that 'yawning is a warning' . Driving fatigued is deadly, you start yawning, you should pull up and take a break. Amazing what you can do after a 20 min power nap....
Oh, and I like listening to Audio Books to help combat fatigue.

After experiencing this first hand, Can't stress this enough..  I might try to make it a 2 hour nap - if possible- vs a 20-30 min one though for really long trips.. 

Think I might have gotten 30-45 min on the most memorable example of this experience and was seeing mountains and forests, ..and driving through imaginary overpasses where there were none ( Flat, tree-less  East Central Kansas ) when continuing to drive to my destination that night after what i'd thought was enough of a nap ( after briefly falling asleep at the wheel )..  Not sure how the last leg of that trip didn't end up badly, but glad it didn't. 

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I run a long range fuel tank in my Toyota 4WD, so basically I can do between a 1000 and 1200klm ( about 600-750 miles between stops ) . I did this to avoid the horrendously expensive fuel ( Diesel ) out bush. It is, however, somewhat counterproductive inasmuch I tend to drive longer without a break for fuel. So yeah, with out a doubt, you feel tired, take a rest break. fatigue is just as dangerous as driving drunk behind the wheel.

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22 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

Last week I drove a rental box truck from Bethlehem, PA west to San Franciso. (long drive and long story).  We usually stopped for fuel at the major truck stops, Loves and Pilot.  These were always clean and well stocked with elaborate stores of retail items.  Don't laugh,  I was grateful to purchase polarized clip-on sunglasses for my prescripton eyeglasses.

  Most states do not have a lower speed limit for trucks, unlike California.  It was quite un-nerving to be passed by an 80,000 pound truck traveling 80 mph.

  If you drive on Interstate 70 through Kansas try to avoid an overnight stay in Colby.  All the motels there are a rip-off at twice the normal price.  The nicest motel in Rock Springs, Wyoming is the Outlaw Inn, (listed as a Best Western).  DO NOT EVER, stay at the Aloha Inn in Sparks, Nevada.   :unsure: 

I feel like there’s a good story here about the Aloha Inn?

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Nothing serious or dramatic about the Aloha Inn.  We had already driven for 5 days and were pretty burned out.  We started at a really nice motel in Rock Springs, Wy. and then drove 700 miles across Utah and Nevada.  We saw about 50 wild horses and 7-8 pronghorn antelope west of Salt Lake City.  We agreed that we would just stop at the first motel we encountered.  When my friend requested two beds the clerk demanded my ID to prove that I was over 18.  The room smelled, had no items at all  other than two beds and two towels.  Holes in the bedspreads.

  It seems to be the sort of place that 'customers' would prefer to rent by the hour, the sort of place that feels dirty and demoralizing.   :( 

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San Francisco, California

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On 6/21/2021 at 1:05 AM, amh said:

All 3 will fail in Amish country.

The Amish areas I've explored in eastern Pennsylvania were kinda tricky to navigate. I found it easier to make my own map as we went, while traveling. We were looking for antique sellers, places, etc. I would be in the passenger seat drawing on grid paper in quarter-mile increments. It works as long as you remember where you started... and the driver takes directions well.

"No, that's Right... your other Right..." "That's a driveway!"

Ryan

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South Florida

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