Driving from Pittsburgh, PA to Fremont, CA

[Cadop]

I will be packing up my personal belongings and driving out to California with my friend. We plan on doing this all in one weekend.

Has anyone ever driven that long of a distance in that short of time? What can I expect? Any tips or anything I should be aware of?

 

[BrokenVisage]

Other cars.

 

[RedCOMET]

from what part of Pittsburgh and what time?

The parkway is a reall PITA, especially with the tunnels.

 

[Cadop]

Soutwest of Pittsburgh, I'm only about 10 minutes out from the city. I'm not worried about initial traffic going through Pittsburgh. Just kinda worried about the constant driving and how boring it is going to be.

 

[sunzt]

Fly, it's worth it unless, of course, you're planning to have a really long road trip for just the fun of it.

 

[Cadop]

I can't fly, I need to take my belongings with me and I can't pay for shipping. Way too damn expensive.

 

[Ronstang]

Last Thursday I left Houston at 5 PM and returned home at 10 PM Sunday evening. Between those two times I drove to LA and dropped of an engine and transmission that was sold on E-Bay (we were pulling a trailer). Then we went up to Los Gatos and dropped off a special suspension package for early Mustangs to a buyer found on a forum. Afterwards we drove up to San Bruno and stayed in a hotel for 5 hours and in the morning drove over to Pacifica to load a Mustang on the trailer we bought. Once loaded the trip home began. We drove 4000+ miles in 77 hours including all stops for food, gas, and a 5 hour nap. I think you will be fine.

 

[Qwest]

in one weekend?
best of luck.

 

[habib89]

good luck with that.. i woulda figured out a way to pay shipping

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I drove that route solo without sleeping both ways. Took 42 hours each way. Piece of cake.

Best rock station on that route is the one in Omaha NE. No tickets, but was warned about speeding in Wyoming, so watch out there. Utah and Nevada are so flat and boring, you'll really want to plan to drive through that wasteland during the night. Dont' bring any CDs on your trip that you think you will want to listen to ever again.

 

[astralusion]

3500 miles abouts? it's doable, though you might need to drive like 16 hours a day and even then that's like 3 days...so if you drive 24 then eh i don't know...in a weekend won't be much fun, but you can do it

 

[UNCjigga]

You moving to California? Where you working? Are they hiring??

 

[Cadop]

We are going to plan on switching back and forth while driving. Hopefully we won't have to make too many stops besides for gas and food.

 

[notfred]

Heh, when I first read the title I thought it said Pittsburg, CA to Fremont, CA and I was thinking "That's not a lnog drive, that's an hour at most!"

Anyway, I drove from Santa Cruz, California to West Palm Beach, Florida by myself in 4 days. I would have been at serious risk of fallnig asleep at the wheel if I did it in any less time.

 

[KEV1N]

Fremont! My hometown.

 

[Viper GTS]

I did Portland, OR to Pittsburgh in 3 days (two 30 hour driving sessions).

I had car trouble that cost me about 12 hours one of those sessions, so it's probably doable in two (very long) days.

Hell of a drive, that's for sure.

Viper GTS

 

[Cadop]

Originally posted by: KEV1N
Fremont! My hometown.

Awesome place, I love it there. Hence, i'm moving there.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Cadop
I will be packing up my personal belongings and driving out to California with my friend. We plan on doing this all in one weekend.

Has anyone ever driven that long of a distance in that short of time? What can I expect? Any tips or anything I should be aware of?

Take more time...stop in places and enjoy the trip.

I never get a copilot when I do my super-long drives and there's a lot of stuff on the way that I wish I could stop and experience with someone

 

[Cadop]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Cadop
I will be packing up my personal belongings and driving out to California with my friend. We plan on doing this all in one weekend.

Has anyone ever driven that long of a distance in that short of time? What can I expect? Any tips or anything I should be aware of?

Take more time...stop in places and enjoy the trip.

I never get a copilot when I do my super-long drives and there's a lot of stuff on the way that I wish I could stop and experience with someone

I would do that, but he is on time contraints. He has to be back, at the latest, early Monday morning. Thats why we are leaving early Friday and driving the whole weekend.

 

[conjur]

Gonna go digging for gold?

 

[CaptnKirk]

Have driven Orlando Florida to Los Angeles & back twice on vacations.

Stopping to see things along the way, the Alamo, Carlsbad Caverns - outbound.
Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forrest, Painted Dessert - return.
Second trip on the return skipped Meteor Crater but went to the Mamoth Caves in Kentucky.

Each drive reached the destination by 5 PM on the 4th day, never had longer than a
12 hour drive including down time for gas & food.

Expect 4 days with 10 hours travel each day & you're good to go.

 

[Toasthead]

this would have been better if you were moving to Pittsburg CA...its close to Fremont. ( WHY OH WHY Fremont??)

 

[BigB10293]

I'm doing San Jose to Atlanta at the start of August. I've done a cross-country before and it's not too bad.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Toasthead
this would have been better if you were moving to Pittsburg CA...its close to Fremont. ( WHY OH WHY Fremont??)

LOL. Yeah, right. Pittsburg is like this little piece of West Oakland that got magically transported into the middle of the suburbs.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: Cadop

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Cadop
I will be packing up my personal belongings and driving out to California with my friend. We plan on doing this all in one weekend.

Has anyone ever driven that long of a distance in that short of time? What can I expect? Any tips or anything I should be aware of?

Take more time...stop in places and enjoy the trip.

I never get a copilot when I do my super-long drives and there's a lot of stuff on the way that I wish I could stop and experience with someone

I would do that, but he is on time contraints. He has to be back, at the latest, early Monday morning. Thats why we are leaving early Friday and driving the whole weekend.

When you say "he has to be back", you mean in CA, right?

Anyway, the biggest danger is falling asleep. Make sure one person gets some sleep when the other is driving. When you fall asleep driving, you may not catch yourself gradually drifting off. You could be asleep in a split-second headed into a bridge abutment. Graveyards are full of people who thought they could go another hour.

Hope you enjoy the trip!