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A few suggestions about long distance travel.
My wife and I drive from NJ to Maine regularly. It is a about a 500 mile trip.
Allowing for gas and rest stops, it takes about 10 hours. Longer if we stop for
dinner at a real restaurant.
That is pretty much an upper bound on normal daily driving. Probably a good plan
is to rotate drivers every 100 miles or 100 minutes, whichever comes first. (If you have
not driven 100 miles in 100 minutes, you are probably stuck in traffic and that even
more exhausting than just cruising along.) Figure on, when all is said and done,
averaging 50 miles per hour, 60 at most.
Before leaving, check the NOAH (forecast.web.gov) for weather info about the places
you will be passing through.
Before leaving,be sure to check the tire pressure (including spare), wipers, belts, hoses,
etc. Depending on the age of your car, a visit to the shop for an oil/filter change and
quick check up may be advisable.
Stuff to have:
- Paper towels and glass cleaner.
- Spare bottle of windshield washer fluid.
- Hand wipes.
- Surgical gloves (I use them when pumping gas....every read the warning on the gas pump?)
- I always carry my portable jump start tool and air pump. Most tools are useless, as most
cars contain no user serviceable components.
- Standt makes a very neat "Insta-fill" gas cap that does not have to be removed to pump gas
through it. It meets all emission standards and is very cool. You may want to consider getting
one. It saves time and is much neater when getting gas.
- Bottled water and some snacks.
- Maps for the states you are passing through. AAA guides if you are a member.
Remember, circumstances may have you picking a place to stay other than what you
planned.
- Think about what music you and your wife are going to listen to (CDs, iPod, etc).
Trust me, you will be ready to kill each other after 5 hours of station searching.
- A GPS is cool to have. Don't leave it in plain view when you park!
One other bit of advice....never, ever leave this highway to stop for gas or a rest area
unless you can see it from the road. Some of those "food fuel next exit signs" have
you driving MILES, sometimes in the wrong direction to get food and fuel. Know how
far you can go on a tank of gas and, unless you know exactly where you are stopping,
start thinking about gas when you are down to about 50 miles of range. Trust me,
when that "low fuel" light comes on and you do not know where you are or how far
the next gas stop is, you are giving yourself stress you do not need.)
Realize that, unlike NY (and LA) most states roll up the sidewalks by 10 at night,
so don't expect you can just stop anywhere at any time and get stuff. Sad because,
if you are not given to getting easily tired, night driving is far less stressful with
much less traffic. Even many turnpike rest areas virtually close down at night.
Remember that if you are going east to west, you may find yourself driving with
the sun in your face all afternoon. You may want to plan your daily drive around
leaving early with the intention of stopping early in the afternoon before that
becomes annoying.
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