How can I make a long driving trip fun?

[BillGates]

Thursday starting at midnight, I'm driving about 500 miles to from Madsion, WI, to Cleveland, Ohio in the middle of the night so as to avoid traffic. Alone.

Any hints on stuff I can do to make the trip more tolerable?? This includes alcohol, sleeping pills, and naps, but other than that? I hope to do it straight through, other than a gas and potty stop here or there....

...and I have an awesome stereo, but I have to imagine that music is going to get annoying after the first couple hours...

 

[IJump]

good luck is all I have to say........



a decent book on tape or cd might be one idea......

 

[minendo]

<< Any hints on stuff I can do to make the trip more tolerable?? This includes alcohol, sleeping pills, and naps, but other than that? >>


Why the hell would you drink and take sleeping pills while you are on a long drive?

 

[Maleficus]

tons of hot chix would prolly help

 

[Rallispec]

<< tons of hot chix would prolly help >>


i second that idea.

my g/f goes to school 400 miles away from me-- when i go to see her i usually just play lots of cd's, and bring my cell phone and talk to people durring the ride. takes about 6 hours. not fun.

 

[BillGates]

I really think some people here need to take LONG courses on detecting sarcasm and attempts at humor..... Do you REALLY think that I would be drinking, taking sleeping pills, and taking NAPS WHILE DRIVING A CAR ON A ROAD TRIP ALONE?? Hehehe.... I can just see this go right over your head man......

Hrm, maybe playing "Pick up the creepiest hitchhiker possible" would make things more interesting?

 

[RSI]

Road rage...

 

[toant103]

bring good music and radar detector.

 

[Zenmervolt]

<<Any hints on stuff I can do to make the trip more tolerable?? This includes alcohol, sleeping pills, and naps, but other than that?>>

Well, if you try any of the things that you listed I'd suggest that you be prepared to get intimately involved with a large tree, a bridge abutment, or a semi grill. And I wouldn't know. For me, long car trips are fun by definition. Been known to drive for hours without the radio on or anything, just listening to the engine and the road. Sounds like about a 7-8 hour trip, which means you would be hitting Cleveland at morning rush hour if you start at midnight. Not the best time to be avoiding traffic. I'd recommend starting at 21:00 or 22:00 instead. One thing, if you ever feel like you need caffeine to continue, STOP. If you're not used to distance driving the third hour can be very problematic as this seems to be when most people start to hit their "wall".

ZV

 

[ScottyB]

I drive that all the time, just play some music and stop at gas stations to go to the bathroom, walk around and eat something.

 

[conjur]

Get plenty of sleep before hand.

Take some good driving music.

Take frequent breaks (for Mountain Dew and then for draining the remains of the Mountain Dew).

And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, if you feel sleepy and start nodding...PULL OVER AND STOP!

Have fun!

 

[Rallispec]

i saw this thing on tv the other day that siad tired drivers are worse than drunk drivers
be careful and have fun.

 

[BillGates]

Thanks for the tips and good words guys..... I'm coming from Madison, and decided to leave at around midnight so I can cruise through Chicago in the dead of night - where it is never going to be slow and deserted, but I can avoid the bad traffic and toll booth lines, etc...

Mt. Dew is the breakfast of champions, and I'm definitely hooked on it already, but I don't know if it's a good thing to be drinking on that trip... On the other hand, I do really enjoy road trips. I'm going to Ohio to buy a new motorcycle... Meeting my grandparents who agreed to drive their pickup and trailer there... I'm going to drive all the way there, give the guy the check, check out the bike some more, and then we plan on driving maybe halfway back and stay over night somewhere, which will be a very welcome stop. We'll drive the remainder of the trip on Friday morning.

The huge excitement of picking up the bike will be a good way to keep me up and motivated to keep driving. The only bad part is that I'm on a few roads for over 100 miles, so setting the cruise and entering a daze is going to be easy to do as well.

I downloaded a few audio books - I did find all of "Hannibal" and that could be interesting to listen to. I think I will also enjoy checking out all of different radio stations.

 

[BillGates]

Hehe, I just had a funny idea - call my grandparents on their cell phone in the middle of the night with the cell phone that I will have with me without ever leaving and say - "Hey guys, oh my god, the car broke down, I'm getting towed back now, can you get the bike and bring it back to my apartment??" Then I'll roll over and go back to sleep, hehe.

 

[IJump]

Mt. Dew is good, but I like the combination of Peguin caffeinated mints and KMX.......

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I know what I would do - download a week's worth of commercial-free Howard Stern shows from alt.binaries.howard-stern, burn them to a CD, and plug my CD/MP3 player into the car's cassette deck (this is the only reason I am glad I have a tape deck in addition to in-dash CD on my Maxima).

 

[propellerhead]

Audio books are cool.

Also consider a CB radio. Listen to Channel 19. Truckers continously advice each other of speed traps. You'll know where the cops are for 5 miles in front and behind you, with or without a radar gun.

Don't put all your trust in a radar detector. The more recon you do, the better your chances.

 

[Perknose]

Singing all 100 verses of 99 Bottles of Beer on the wall in a maniacally loud and enthusiastic way is a surefire diversion, but the most important thing, really is to wear no pants while driving! It enhances just about everything else you might choose to do!

Two more words of advice here: Road Theatre! Just bring lots of fun props like sex toys, power tools, and exotic fruit. A mannequin is near must! Now, remember, those kids in the Minivan are just too easy. They're bored, and would laugh at anything, anyway. No, your target is that staid couple in the beige LeSabre.

Now, the key here is your first impression, so it's important to leave no more than 8 inches between your car and theirs as you zoom up abreast of them from the inside lane. Always have something foreign oozing or sticking out of either your nose, mouth or ears. A starter pistol just adds to the overall impression of "anything goes".

Finally, be sure to have competent legal counsel on your cell phones speed dial.

Enjoy!

 

[db]

Lots of good comments already.
Getting sleepy is a huge problem, cuz it happens so slowly you don't realise it.
When that happens, you MUST stop and walk around. If you still can't wake up, take a nap.

edit: oh yeah, if you have a talkabout or other 2-way radio, that can be fun too if you get bored. Lots of people on those channels.

 

[StageLeft]

<< I really think some people here need to take LONG courses on detecting sarcasm and attempts at humor..... Do you REALLY think that I would be drinking, taking sleeping pills, and taking NAPS WHILE DRIVING A CAR ON A ROAD TRIP ALONE?? Hehehe.... I can just see this go right over your head man......

Hrm, maybe playing "Pick up the creepiest hitchhiker possible" would make things more interesting? >>

Actually sleeping pills and alcohol cancel each other out.

 

[BillGates]

I have a mp3 CD player in my dash, so I can fit a good 10 hours of music or a ton of spoken words... I just picked up the new Korn CD, which comes out in June..... I'll have to stop listening so I can give it the debut on the nice car stereo.

 

[BuckleDownBen]

I think you're blowing this out of proportion a little. Its only 500 miles. I've done that many times. The most I did was 1150 miles in one day, from Laramy, Wyoming to Reno, Nevada. That was a chore. If your seats aren't comfortable, bring along a pillow or two to sit on, or else your ass will get sore.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<< I just picked up the new Korn CD, >>


*shudders*

 

[BillGates]

500 miles is out of proportion?? This is going to be like working an 8 hour work day, except trying to do it while I would normally be sleeping... Driving through the night bored out of my mind is not going to be too exciting... We're hearing lots of good suggestions though, thanks much everybody!

 

[Cyberian]

<< How can I make a long driving trip fun? >>


Console yourself with the fact that you don't have three whiny kids with you constantly asking "are we almost there"?