I am seriously thinking of doing a fall cross-country road trip.
Was curious as to folks thoughts on whether you think this is doable and/or safe.
Was curious as to folks thoughts on whether you think this is doable and/or safe.
OT: Cross Country Road Trip
- Thread starter albanyknight
- Start date
Why not? We drove from NJ to Sedona, AZ in May. Safe? I was almost robbed by a Native American in Navajo Nation, and we had to navigate past St. Louis, where rioters had closed down the interstate after the death of George Floyd. Other than that, totally safe.
I've done a few x-country road trips but wouldn't be quick to plan one now. Too many headaches and question marks with quarantine rules, differing shutdowns and regs, attractions closed, local spikes, etc. Are you taking a motorhome so you can take care of everything or will you have to figure out where to eat every day? Is it for a specific purpose or just vacation?
I'm sure it's doable, but not the best if it can wait.
I'm sure it's doable, but not the best if it can wait.
I think making it an enjoyable trip would be tough as you are right about it not being carefree but stress.
If I were to do a CC road trip- I would rent an RV for sure. As it would also allow my dogs to travel in comfort.
Many years ago I had a co-worker transfer to LA. Decided to drive rather than ship his car.
He had a new 5 Series BMW, driving thru West Texas or New Mexico, he was so tired he couldn't remember which State. He had some good 'ol boys put a couple of rounds thru his rear doors, unknown caliber.
He had a new 5 Series BMW, driving thru West Texas or New Mexico, he was so tired he couldn't remember which State. He had some good 'ol boys put a couple of rounds thru his rear doors, unknown caliber.
I bought my car about an hour north of Sacramento and drove it home to Edison. Unfortunately I only had 6 days to get it done because I had to get back for a wedding, so I didn't have much time to spend at each place I stopped, but it was still a great experience. Seeing the landscape gradually change as I traveled east was pretty cool.
I just did a 6 hr scoot to Buffalo. I forgot how nice Rt 17 (Roscoe Diner etc etc was) - didn't think NY actually still had roads that were intact. The downside is that driving 6-7 hours a day is not a joy. GPS makes things nice but I think I need a radar detector since I start hitting 80 easy. Alas I'm told they don't work as much anymore because of laser detectors. If I was going X-country I would defo get some sort of protection. I would get a "visible" camera for the dash too . I would stay in some nicer places too. I stayed at a decent place but the place next lot over (Econo Lodge) looked like a crack house. A little extra on the lodging can keep you away from the "elements" to some degree.
I was doing that drive up to Rochester monthly before the Pandemic. Not a bad ride but that one stretch of 17, no exits for miles, 50mphband a trooper waiting about ever 15 miles...
The Troopers were chill the day I drove upstate (Thursday). When I came home on Friday, they were stopping people all over the place. That's when I started thinking a detector of some kind might be smart. I tend to stay around the limit with a little extra, but after awhile 65 can feel like a crawl lol.
I've come to the conclusion that now is simply not the time to do it. I have already hitchhiked across country and spent 2 1/2 months driving it, so it can wait. The next time I do it, I am going to take Route 20 which runs from Cambridge Mass to the Oregon ocean.
Thanks for all of the input.
Thanks for all of the input.
The Waze App has been a reliable detector for us. We used to drive from NJ to Corning, NY quite regularly. We recently went to Canandaigua, NY, and then Buffalo and Rochester day trips for college visits. We saw very few State Police. For the ones we saw, Waze flagged every single one in advance.
I always hear good and bad things about Waze. I know it does traffic in real time, and has a social networking aspect. On the other hand, I hear bad things about the ads, interruptions and invasive permissions/data sharing. I've also heard Waze sucks batteries dry and uses a lot of data. When I used Google Maps I was surprised to hear it alerts for speed traps (guess thats a relatively new feature from last year). If I start doing a lot of driving I think I'll just get another phone to use for GPS/Waze. I have extra phones now but they dont have the large screens
Battery suckage is bad. I usually keep the phone plugged in the charger and it maintains the charge. And there are pop up ads, but I usually don't pay close attention to the Waze screen on longer trips. I just wait for the audible prompts and warnings.
One other odd thing about Waze is it has a strange tendency take shortcuts through some poorer and sometimes dangerous streets. Leaving Atlantic City once, Waze put us on a really bad street, and and I asked my wife if she needed some crack. Maybe there is something we could do in our settings.
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Thanks. I learned not to entirely trust GPS apps in urban areas with a lot of roads clustered in areas. Some highways are elevated over ramps down below, and there are all sorts of exists/entries that confuse directions and readings. Then you have roads that suddenly change name. Rt 108 suddenly becomes the Jiggywitit Highway
On thing I've done that helped was to have two GPS apps on two phones, or on a Garmin etc. People laugh about the old Garmin type units since GPS is on phones but the Garmins can still do some good things. I lost mine a few years ago but I'll get another when they show-up at slickdeals.
On some apps they give you a choice between the fastest route and the simplest. The faster routes tend to be the ones with the most directions. There's a higher chance of ending-up off main roads and touring New Jack City
On our road trip from NJ to Arizona, passing through St. Louis, Waze dumped us into a really bad neighborhood. It was like Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's vacation bad, but fortunately there were not too many people out and about.
Google/Google maps bought Waze in 2013. So the speed trap alerts are taken from waze. I’m surprised they haven’t just integrated the 2 systems. I know there are a lot of loyal users of both.
I took a trip from ASU to New Brunswick back in the 80s. We used paper maps. This woman I worked with had a daughter my age at ASU. We had hung out a few times so the mom flew me out to drive back with her daughter and her car. Good trip
You are way overthinking this. It's a free app, you can download it and try it for a trip or two and if you decide you're not going to continue using it, just uninstall it. I haven't found it to use much data. I used to have I think a 2 GB limit and used Waze every day while working a car parts delivery job and never hit the limit. As for the battery life, if it drains your battery too much, just get a car charger so you can keep your phone plugged in while using the app. Way cheaper than buying another phone just to use as a GPS. The ads aren't a big deal, they only pop up when you are stopped, and if you need to look at the map or adjust something while you're stopped, you can just swipe the ad off the screen. You can completely ignore the social networking features, I don't think I even have an account.
One of my main rules in tech life is to stay away from any app I don't absolutely have to have. The more apps a phone has the more problems. Any app connected to a server and updates - and seeking to crawl through every part of a phone - is not something I like having when I can get along ok with other things. After getting rid of apps, the mystery shutdowns and reboots went away.
Nothing more to this story? Like worthy of Penthouse letters? Anybody remember those?
A good rule to live by. I rarely add apps but somehow have enough to eat my entire memory and serve up random ads in the middle of other programs. Started cutting whatever fat I can.
nothing crazy. Slept in a few bad motels, car overheated. Learned a lot about each other. She was very cute but that trip was enough for me. When we got back to NB I went and woke up this girl I had seen a few times with a bouquet of flowers. Next month will be our 30th anniversary
I would worry about the disinfecting protocols that the restaurants and hotels are using. Too risky for me.
True story when my buddy and I hitchhiked across country.
We got picked up outside of Flagstaff, Arizona by a Canadian couple and their dog in an International Harvester. They took us down to Phoenix and dropped us off.
Two weeks later we are on our way home on Route 80 in Illinois and we saw a restaurant from the Interstate. It was not at an exit, so we climbed over the guard-rail and went and had dinner. This was a small rural road with no signs.
After dinner as we are walking on this road to climb back up the hill to Route 80, the same Canadian couple in the International Harvester picks us up.
We got picked up outside of Flagstaff, Arizona by a Canadian couple and their dog in an International Harvester. They took us down to Phoenix and dropped us off.
Two weeks later we are on our way home on Route 80 in Illinois and we saw a restaurant from the Interstate. It was not at an exit, so we climbed over the guard-rail and went and had dinner. This was a small rural road with no signs.
After dinner as we are walking on this road to climb back up the hill to Route 80, the same Canadian couple in the International Harvester picks us up.
hitchhike and hop on the rails- it's a side of America you have likely never seen.
Thumbs up, America.
Thumbs up, America.
I was reading the NY State Police have been targeting RT 17. The article mentioned a NJ guy doing 145 mph lol.
'It's like people forgot how to drive:' State police crack down on speeders in Mid-Hudson
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/20...ickets-during-crack-down-speeders/3344446001/
'It's like people forgot how to drive:' State police crack down on speeders in Mid-Hudson
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/20...ickets-during-crack-down-speeders/3344446001/
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