Dominique is safely tucked away at Indiana State University.
Toni prepared for the trip by printing out directions from MSN Maps & Directions.
The trip out was described as covering 693.5 miles, requiring an estimated total time of 10 hours, 14 minutes.
The return trip, on the other hand, was pegged at 650.6 miles in 9 hours, 58 minutes.
If these estimates were anywhere near accurate, the good folks at MSN must have figured that we could do the extra 43 miles in 16 minutes. For those of you counting, that’s about 172 miles per hour.
West Virginia may be Wild and Wonderful but, not that much!
It was the estimates that were wild. It took us 14 hours to get from Gordonsville, Virginia to Terre Haute, Indiana. Even subtracting the 2.5 hours of rest stops, the trip is at least an hour and a half longer.
As for the return trip, we took a leisurely 19 hours, including over 4 hours of breaks and at least an hour of circling the fair city of Dayton, Ohio.
Just for fun, take a vicarious romp with us and please be ready to answer some burning questions:
- What could possibly be uglier than entering Kentucky from Huntington, West Virginia?
- What gorgeous, leafy green crops spread like emerald waves on either side of Interstate 70 in Indiana (between Terre Haute and Indianapolis)?
- How in the world do you get to Keowee St. in Dayton, Ohio?
Thursday, 6:45 pm, Tearful goodbyes in the driveway
Thursday, 7:30 pm, Mom, Dad and Nique get on Interstate 64 West
Thursday, 9:27 pm, we cross into West Virginia and, we’re about to find out why they call themselves Wild and Wonderful!
Thursday, 11:57 pm, after ascending and plunging through the mountains, oohing and aahing at the splendor of dark shapes and the proximity of the moon, we pay the second of two tolls
Friday, 1:47 am, we cross into Kentucky. The thrill of visiting a new state is marred by the unsightly industrial vista – is that oil refineries, or the distilleries (South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a similar blight on I-76)
Friday, 3:46 am , Fog! This is NOT fun. The locals are zipping by, way over the posted 70 MPH speed limit.
Friday, 7:00 am, we cross into Indiana
Friday, 9:45 am (approx), we arrive at Indiana State University.
Friday, 10 am – 7:00 pm, we get Dominique situated
Friday, 7:30 pm, Mom and Dad head back.
We spend the rest of daylight in Indiana and reach Ohio after dark (we stopped logging times)
At some point, the directions instruct us to do all sorts of things with the van, some of which are unnatural.
The intention was to get us on to US route 35 East by getting off the main drag, looping around a local road and aiming in the general direction of Xenia, OH:
- At exit 33a, take Ramp (RIGHT) onto I-75 / Dayton
- At exit 54C, turn LEFT onto Ramp towards Ohio State Route 4 (SR-4) /Webster St.
- Take Ramp (LEFT) onto SR-4 towards SR-4 / Springfield
So far, so good …
- Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto N Keowee St towards Keowee St
- Bear RIGHT (SOUTH) onto SR-4 [N Keowee St]
- Bear RIGHT (SOUTH) onto (N) Keowee St
- Bear RIGHT (South) onto Ramp towards US-35 / Xenia
That doesn’t work. At. All.
We try three times, doubling back and re-reading the instructions, chewing up the 50 mile savings in the process. We wind up on Leo Street, where I stop inside the convenience store to learn that US 35 is “right up that street and over the bridge”.
Whatever. MSN maps suck.
The absolute lowlight of this trip occurs after we get onto US 35:
Imagine your dining room table with a piece of thread running its length. Now, imagine that you are a crumb, creeping along this thread at 65 MPH.
After one hour you, the crumb, have moved perhaps six inches. You don’t know it yet, but there is nothing on this road for another 9 inches!
And you are tired. Dead tired. Pull-over-to-the-side-of-the-road-and-sleep-for-three-days tired.
Somehow, we get through this desolate strip of concrete and see a glorious blue sign: REST AREA ONE MILE.
It is Saturday, 1:30 am.
Saturday, 5:00 am, slightly chilled and thoroughly refreshed, we saddle up, turn on the heat and drive…
Shortly after sunrise, we enter West Virginia and vow to get a GPS device for the next trip.
Within a half hour, we slip into some serious fog. We’re still on US 35 East, but we only see white lines and oncoming headlights.
The nice trucker behind us maintains a safe distance all the way to I64. There are periods of clarity, during which we see rustic country scenery and the biggest grain silos ever.
Once we hit I64, we get to see the West Virginian mountains by day. Wow.
Saturday, 2:15 pm (approx) We’re home.
So, which GPS do you recommend?
Ah, yes, long drives. I sincerely and passionately hate driving. My family lives in Pennsylvania, and I’m in Georgia. GPS is my absolute best friend in the car, except for parts of the 200ish mile stretch on I77 when the GPS tells me that I’ve suddenly become “off route”. There are no places to turn, and I’ve never taken its advice to turn left in 500 feet at 70 mph!
Heh. I’m from Philadelphia and used to think that the 222-mile drive was torture.
It still is, due to the nightmare of Northern Virginia and the infernal beltway. But I never had to sleep for three hours enroute!
Do GPS software get updates like the Microsoft Streets and Trips downloads?
Mitch
Oh boy, do I remember a trip like that one. When Bri and I moved back across the country to LA, we drove 6 days through all of America’s wonders and glories…some more wonderful and glorious than others.
I actually developed a dependence on Amp energy drinks (and their remarkably high levels of caffeine) on that trip, and went through withdrawal the week after we settled here.
However, the trip went miraculously smooth thanks to the assistance of one Sanyo. That’s the name of our GPS (and the company that makes her). I’m not sure of the model, but she works like a dream. I think everyone loves their GPS
-K
Hi Kyle,
Amp sounds like it would have been better than that vending machine swill at the rest stops. (What a waste of seventy-five cents – it didn’t even keep me awake!)
Everyone may love GPS, but does your wife appreciate your feminization of the thing? Or is that because of its sexy voice?
I must consider getting one. Thanks for giving me a brand to research.
Cheers,
Dad
At least the drive was nice, judging by those pictures. Straight road through the mountains, makes me wanna go road tripping. Especially since i haven’t had a break from work at all this summer.
Richard recently posted..How to Spray with the Paint Zoom Properly
Richard, overall, the experience was nice. But that stretch through the alfalfa-or-whatever-that-was was horrible! I hate Driving While Tired.
Cheers,
Mitch
Take short breaks. 30 minutes of sleep can help a lot, just give it a try next time.
Richard recently posted..Wagner 0525002 Power Painter Max Review
Richard, I was not going to pull over on that stretch. It was pitch black.
I’ve tried to catch naps at the various rest stops. On this particular trip, that blue sign was almost as welcome as the one we hit during the Blizzard of ’09
Cheers,
Mitch