Over The River and Through The Woods

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
11/21/2014 at 09:12 • Filed to: road trip

To grandmother's house we go. Hitting the road this afternoon for the drive from Austin to Short Pump (Richmond, basically). It's going to be a three-day drive to get there. It's a long ass way to go for turkey and dressing, but we'll be visiting my wife's mother, who is very ill with ALS and probably doesn't have long in this world. I told our boys, "This isn't a sightseeing drive. This is a get there drive." Day one takes us to Texarkana (we're leaving after school), day two we go to Crossville, TN, and day three we get to Short Pump. I'm looking forward to seeing the Shenandoah Valley again. Let's hope the weather holds!

DISCUSSION (25)

Sweet Trav > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:13

Safe travels my friend. I wish the trip was for a happier reason.

doodon2whls > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:17

Sounds like a great family road trip. I remember doing these as a kid, and you know what? They were epic. My family navigated most of the eastern seaboard over several trips in our 1983 Reliant K Station Wagon (Manual Transmission, front bench seat).

Have a great trip with the family. Look out for all of the _other_ drivers out there. Pack some snacks for the kids. Have fun !

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:19

Safe travels. I'm 5hrs into my current 29hr drive

ttyymmnn > Sweet Trav
11/21/2014 at 09:19

Thanks. So do I.

Mattbob > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:19

I hear folks are thirsty in atlanta.

ttyymmnn > Mattbob
11/21/2014 at 09:21

That's a great song. Jerry Reed rocks, and he was the real acting highlight of that movie. And he's not even an actor.

ttyymmnn > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
11/21/2014 at 09:21

Not too much man touching, I hope. What are your endpoints?

ttyymmnn > doodon2whls
11/21/2014 at 09:23

Oh, we've got a crapload of snacks. I can't afford to eat at restaurants all the away across the southern tier. Reliant K wagon? Wow.

Milky > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:24

Kinja'd!!!

Excuse me sir, but I believe all of these hours actually fit in one day.

ttyymmnn > Milky
11/21/2014 at 09:26

Not with three kids in the van, they don't. When I was in grad school in Houston, and my finacée (now wife) was in school in VA, I made the 24-hour drive a few times straight through. Speed limits were lower then, though. If it were just me and my wife, I'd do it in two days. But we can't leave until after school/work today. So rather than wait until tomorrow morning, I want to get a few hours in before bedtime.

doodon2whls > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:36

Yeah - eating on the road is pricey and usually not so healthy.

Reliant K Wagon 4MTX ? Yeah. I am that old. Humble beginnings. My parents bought it new to replace their 1971 Mercury Comet (3-spd MTX) since three kids were hard to transport in the 2-door Comet.

I learned to drive in the K-car Wagon (and a Scottsdale 350 V8 4MTX with creeper gear), and I taught my wife how to drive stick in it in 1992. I hauled my drums around in it. It was a great car for the family - at the time. Lots of great and not so great memories in that old wagon - mostly great memories, though.

Milky > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 09:42

Damn kids always getting in the way. But damn, good on you for doing that straight by yourself. I've only done something like that while swapping out drivers in a car full of friends.

ttyymmnn > doodon2whls
11/21/2014 at 09:42

You and I are probably just about the same age. I graduated HS in 1984, and started driving in 1982 (VW Rabbit, still with VW to this day). I remember the K Cars well. I'm not sure if I should be surprised that I never see any still on the road. Certainly not back east, but I would expect to maybe see one or town down here in TX. But there is definitely a quality gap in car manufacturing that means you see things older or newer, but not much from the '80s.

ttyymmnn > Milky
11/21/2014 at 09:57

The first time I made the straight drive I had a codriver, a nursing student whose boyfriend was also at school in VA. We left at 10 pm, drove all night and got to Meridian, MS for breakfast. It was then that I found out that she didn't know how to drive stick. So we got to a highway rest area, changed seats, and I got her started. Once we were at highway speed in 5th gear, she was fine and I got some shuteye. I woke up and she was going 85 mph. Next rest area, drop it out of gear, coast to a stop, good job. I drove the rest of the way. Got into VA and rolled all the windows down in the 30 degree chill to stay awake.

I made the drive alone a couple of other times, and it's tough. Drive until you can barely stay awake then hit a rest area to close your eyes for a few minutes. Drink some of the worse gas station coffee in the planet. It was an experience, but I won't do it again any time soon. It's no wonder truck drivers are falling asleep at the wheel.

Milky > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 10:11

Ha, thats sounds like an experience. Sometimes the 4-8 hour drives I take are hard/boring enough, good luck!

ttyymmnn > Milky
11/21/2014 at 10:14

Thanks. I routinely drive from Austin to Abilene (TX), and that's about 4 hours. But I do it alone, and it's good head time and I can smoke cigars and listen to music. No cigars in the family truckster.

Slave2anMG > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 10:42

Gaaah. That's a hellish drive, mostly due to the dullness of I-40 across Arkansas and Tennessee....I've never driven 20 across Louisiana but know it's less ghastly that I-40 when you're on 20 east of Jackson MS. I'd be sorely tempted to go that way...also avoids Memphis and Nashville which can go stupid quickly...

ttyymmnn > Slave2anMG
11/21/2014 at 11:06

I've driven both ways, and I can assure you, AR, state troopers notwithstanding, is better than driving across the oppressive tedium that is MS and AL. You have to drive all. the. way. across. TN, but it's not too terrible, and the mountains start as you get east. The drive up from Crossville to Bristol is really pretty exciting, even for interstate.

I definitely prefer the northern route over the southern. I prefer to skip LA altogether, meaning no disrespect to our distinguished Opponauts who hail from that illustrious state. Driving I-10 from Beaumont to Nawlins will turn your brain to pudding.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 11:33

Thats a long drive. I like long drives not super boring for me. When I'm driving that is. Hope everything goes well.

ttyymmnn > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/21/2014 at 11:37

Thanks. I like long drives, too. The summer of '13, we drove from Austin to San Diego, then to the Grand Canyon and home. I drove every mile of it. Not that I don't trust my wife, she's a great driver. I just can't stand being a passenger. If I'm going to be sitting in a car (or van), I want to be driving it.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 11:50

Summer of '13 we drove from Upstate NY to Western Montana. Overall round trip was around 5500 miles and we were gone for around 23 days. Unfortunately I couldn't drive at that point. So far the longest I've driven is 3 hours. Wasn't tired at all during the drive but as soon as I got to the place I fell asleep. But I was up around 8 am that morning too.

ttyymmnn > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/21/2014 at 11:56

It's amazing how tired you can get from sitting still. It's more mentally numbing than physically tiring.

Back in about 1982, my family took a driving vacation from Norfolk, VA all the way up to the northern tip of Newfoundland (St. Anthony). I wasn't driving yet, either. My father, the king of Epic Vacations, planned it, and we were gone for a month. It was absolutely amazing, though, with the possible exception of New Brunswick. I guess I inherited the family driving genes; my dad with his epic vacations, my brother and his army trucks and school buses, my cousins who "drive truck" in PA. I love it.

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > ttyymmnn
11/21/2014 at 12:00

That trip west was, and still is, one of the best trips I've ever been on. I got to see so much of the country. It was so beautiful in North Western Montana. A lot of it is just so amazing.

ttyymmnn > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
11/21/2014 at 12:05

That's one of the parts of the US I have still not visited. We've driven west from Austin, and we've driven east, but we haven't driven due north. That's our next trip.

Slave2anMG > ttyymmnn
11/22/2014 at 10:22

Interesting...I take the word of one who's done it. The worst part of I-81 is dealing with truckers overtaking on that rolling terrain. TN has some truck lanes on the northbound side; VA just can't be bothered. Arg...I drive from central NC to Knoxville a couple of times a year and usually go up thru Wytheville and down I-81 to avoid I-40 thru the Pigeon River gorge...bad truck days are aggravating thru there. Oh, and the state troopers...