Driving Thread- Tell me I'm not crazy - Pump me up for the drive !

[DisFanDad]

Hey there all, driving down in may from Niagara Falls. We are planning on driving straight through, and I am reading so many mixed reviews I just want someone to tell me its all good !

Taking 90, 79, 19, 77, 95 ....

Departure 6pm: We have a 1.5 year old, bed time is 7pm. Going to feed him and put him in his PJs like normal for around 6 and then head out. Driving straight through the night to hopefully have him sleep the vast majority of the trip.

I plan on waking up around 4pm that afternoon, so don't worry I wont be driving tired at all.

There is just such a mixed bag of advice, a lot of people saying its going to take 24 hours, which I guess would be fine and put us at the resort for 6pm, but I was really hoping it would be more like 18 - 20 hours. Planning that first leg to be almost straight through, stop around midnight for gas / bathroom, and then drive another 6 hours straight til 6am at least.

In the morning, my wife will take over for a bit of the drive and I might sneak in a nap (though I am usually good to go 24 - 36 hours awake).

Anyone else do this kind of thing ? Anyone else go straight through the night ? Tell me I am not crazy !!!

 

[CanadianMouseDad]

As long as you’re comfortable with it, then more power to you.
My wife and I drive straight through every year. We actually leave in 10 days. We take the I75 down though, and we leave at 10am. Still drive straight through though.

 

[kuhltiffany]

No, it's not 18-20 hours unless you go so fast you risk huge speed fines and accidents. This time of year there are fog and storms, in an unfamiliar area you need to proceed with caution. Take your time and be safe...

 

[CanadianMouseDad]

No, it's not 18-20 hours unless you go so fast you risk huge speed fines and accidents. This time of year there are fog and storms, in an unfamiliar area you need to proceed with caution. Take your time and be safe...

FWIW, it takes us 21 hours to drive from Kitchener to Orlando. We leave at 10am and arrive around 7am. That’s driving the typical 120/Km on the 401 and 8mph over speed limits in the USA. With stops for gas and bathrooms every 3-4 hours.

 

[mort1331]

So we have done this many times from Aurora, On. Just north of TO. We average 23-25 Hr straight. So you have a 2 hr head start on us. We do go from I75 but have come back 95 and about the same..
We also take a little more time when we stop and eat, let our girls run and play for about 30mins, so that adds some time. For now I would not do it any other way. As we get older maybe stopping but for now I would rather rest when I am at my happy place.
Dont as CanadianMouseDad says speed at any cost in the states, not worth it. I set my cruise to only about 3 or 4 mph over the limit as long as there is traffic passing me. Dont need the lead there.

 

[CanadianMouseDad]

So we have done this many times from Aurora, On. Just north of TO. We average 23-25 Hr straight. So you have a 2 hr head start on us. We do go from I75 but have come back 95 and about the same..
We also take a little more time when we stop and eat, let our girls run and play for about 30mins, so that adds some time. For now I would not do it any other way. As we get older maybe stopping but for now I would rather rest when I am at my happy place.
Dont as CanadianMouseDad says speed at any cost in the states, not worth it. I set my cruise to only about 3 or 4 mph over the limit as long as there is traffic passing me. Dont need the lead there.

I’m just wanting to make it clear I’m not recommending speeding anywhere. I just do what I’m comfortable with, and the majority of the time I’m constantly being passed by people as well.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Only thing i can add to the conversation is to be ready for the chance that your little guy might decide that he has been strapped into his seat for too LONG before you're ready to stop. One of ours would either be content to snooze but the other would scream loud enough to crack the windows of other cars on the road after the 3 hour mark. You didn't mention if you've done long car trips yet, if so ignore my comments, if not, be ready to handle a very long meltdown (not necessarily his )

 

[FigmentSpark]

Have you figured out when you'll be in the mountains? My only concern would be going through mountains in the middle of the night when you really are getting tired of driving.

We go from Oakville and do 2 - 2.5 days. But I think it's really more like a 21 hour trip straight through. Of course, you may be stopped at the border (we were "randomly" pulled into secondary at the U.S. border, which took about 45 minutes) and you'll want gas and coffee breaks from time to time.

The thing about driving straight through is that you may be able to make it fine, but you may well be exhausted and not ready to tour the world the next day. Have you got a second driver to spell you off? Maybe take over in the morning and do the last push while you sleep? That would help.

 

[isabellea]

You're not crazy at all! We do it every year but from Montreal. The first time we did it, my youngest was almost 2yo so not much older than your kid. We like to put as many hours as possible when they are awake at the beginning of the trip, not the end. At the same time, we don't want to leave too early so we're not too tired for the night driving. We found that the best time for us is to leave at 1pm after a light lunch. The kids would have a nap in the afternoon and are still excited about the trip and movies in the car (they are limited at 4h per week of screen time at home so unlimited time is a HUGE treat for them). We then stop for dinner and change them in their pajamas. When the kids are awake, we stop every 2h to run and for a short potty break (we bring a ball to play on the grass at rest areas) and each break takes about 15 minutes so that adds up. We try to keep their bedtime routine similar to what we do at home, a short story and songs and then it's no talking or radio until they fall asleep.

For the driving itself, we take turns. DH is used to work long hours (12-16h in a row and many overnights) but I still do my fair share of the driving so he can rest his eyes. Usually, DH has the first shift from 1pm to dinnertime. Then I drive until midnight so he can rest his eyes and maybe take a nap. Then he drives during the night. He has driven until sunrise before but I usually take over around 4-5 am for 1 or 2h since the worst time of the night for us is 3-5am. And then we alternate. Our rule is if you feel tired or your eyes start to fix, you find the nearest exit with a McDonald, gas station or rest area and we switch or nap. We once did a power nap in a McDonald parking lot until one of us was ready to start again.

For your 1.5yo, if he doesn't like watching movies (my youngest had no interest in a screen until age 4), bring some big Lego blocks (Megablocks or Duplo). DD5 played hours with them in the car. We also had a cookie sheet for her to put her blocks on and I made some Disney magnets (photo glued on magnetic sheets, not metal dots as they are a chocking hazard). Water Wow books were (and still are) a big hit with her.

Good luck!

 

[Cheerio]

Not crazy at all, but it's a long day with no sleep! We do the same route, hubby is a shift worker so we plan our trips when he's coming off a night shift, sleeps all day and we head out about midnight. You'll be going through the mountains at night, just beware the lighting isn't always the best - use the waze app for up to date traffic.

 

[starvenger]

So we have done this many times from Aurora, On. Just north of TO. We average 23-25 Hr straight. So you have a 2 hr head start on us. We do go from I75 but have come back 95 and about the same..
We also take a little more time when we stop and eat, let our girls run and play for about 30mins, so that adds some time. For now I would not do it any other way. As we get older maybe stopping but for now I would rather rest when I am at my happy place.
Dont as CanadianMouseDad says speed at any cost in the states, not worth it. I set my cruise to only about 3 or 4 mph over the limit as long as there is traffic passing me. Dont need the lead there.

I live on the east side of Markham, so my time is about the same as yours.

My planned route down is the same 90, 79, 19, 77, 95 route OP is taking. But there's 8 of us, so I've been working on a Triptik (seriously. Figured the kids might enjoy seeing something old school. Minus the binding) that gets us a break every two hours or so. I think if it was just my family of four, I'd be doing longer stretches. But with eight... yeah, we need the breaks. Including an overnight in Charlotte.

Speeding, I think 5mph won't raise any red flags, provided you're not the only one on the freeways. This forum has often mentioned the US 19 speed trap, and that's definitely been marked as a "go at speed limit" zone for me.

And fwiw, I've done 10 over on I-90 in Pennsylvania and Ohio with no issues. Wouldn't risk it past 5 in New York though, even if that 55 zone seems maddeningly slow.

 

[hardis5]

Done this several times driving thru the same route (our youngest being 18 mos as well the first time overnight). We'd start out leaving the GTA dinner time (all eating enroute) taking 407 to Hamilton.

The mountains at night through southern PA and Virginia can be a little scary as you'll see a lot of deer on the sides of the highway, but as long as alert you'll be fine. We almost religiously stop for a walk around the vehicle/bio-stop/pit stop every 2 hours. Driving straight through is a 22-23 hr drive for us with our breaks. We've also done several times a noon departure to avoid most of the mountains at night or a midday layover in Columbia SC with an early morning departure but that was with the youngest a little older and then entertained by the DVD player (now tablet).

 

[DisFanDad]

Just wanted to say thank you all for the feedback. So good to read positive stories and the helpful tips !

 

[FigmentSpark]

Headphones and a nice long playlist on your phone/ipod.

 

[starvenger]

Headphones and a nice long playlist on your phone/ipod.

Just don't do this if you're driving.

 

[migel]

I've done that particular drive straight through 3 times (only on the way back though). There's just the 3 of us, one 14-year old. This past March Break we left our condo at 5:04 a.m. (West Kissimmee, 5 miles west of Animal Kingdom), pulled into our driveway (Grimsby) at 1:00 a.m. -20 hours with only quick stop breaks, me driving the entire way, and speeds no more than 10km over the limit. We hit traffic near Charlotte (you always will unless it's the middle of the night), and also had to GPS around an accident in W Virginia, otherwise traffic was fine.
As others mentioned, the Virginias can be a bit daunting, especially at night, if raining, or if very tired. Good luck!

 

[DisFanDad]

I've done that particular drive straight through 3 times (only on the way back though). There's just the 3 of us, one 14-year old. This past March Break we left our condo at 5:04 a.m. (West Kissimmee, 5 miles west of Animal Kingdom), pulled into our driveway (Grimsby) at 1:00 a.m. -20 hours with only quick stop breaks, me driving the entire way, and speeds no more than 10km over the limit. We hit traffic near Charlotte (you always will unless it's the middle of the night), and also had to GPS around an accident in W Virginia, otherwise traffic was fine.
As others mentioned, the Virginias can be a bit daunting, especially at night, if raining, or if very tired. Good luck!

Awesome I think this will be the closest to my plan. From 6pm until 6am I am only planning on one or two stops for gas / bathroom (hoping the little one sleep through the night like he does at home). Not intending to speed beyond a 4 miles per hour over pound out about 12 hours of near straight driving before the morning.

 

[bankr63]

Awesome I think this will be the closest to my plan. From 6pm until 6am I am only planning on one or two stops for gas / bathroom (hoping the little one sleep through the night like he does at home). Not intending to speed beyond a 4 miles per hour over pound out about 12 hours of near straight driving before the morning.

You must have a very large gas tank. By either our car or truck, there are 4-5 gas stops each way (both have about 600km range per tank, but you never want to go more than about 550 between fills). BTW - gasbuddy is a great app/site for helping you plan your gas stops. They have a trip planner that will help you pick the least expensive spots for gas along your route. Nothing more annoying than crossing a state line with a quarter tank a realizing that gas prices just jumped $0.20 a gallon.

 

[lisaviolet]

I miss driving down south. That route is so incredibly peaceful and gorgeous.

I just wanted to add that you really do want to watch your speed on the US19. It seems like a good majority of the cars pulled over on that route are an Ontario plate! We actually start to play the game "oh that one is going to get it" and unfortunately for them we are often bang on.

We have driven it so many times and although we stay one or two nights, as I love the drive, we usually add up to about 21 -22 hours from Toronto. So it's certainly not 24 hours from Niagara.

Enjoy your trip. I am envious.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Very true about I19. CAA still marks that as a speed warning on their TripTiks. We got caught in a trap 20 years ago (speed lowered halfway down a hill and a cop waiting at the bottom for people who couldn't brake fast enough) and now we watch the signs and the speeds through that stretch very carefully.