My wife, 5 month old baby, my dog and myself will be driving from Houston to Virginia, leaving in the wee hours of the morning. You might think, "what's the big deal?" We came down last week and what should've took 22 hrs nonstop took us closer to 30. With the baby, you have to stop every couple of hours to feed or change him, and after a while he just doesn't sleep because hes tired of being in the car seat. Everytime we stop, every single one of us has to go to the bathroom, including the dog, and even the dog needs to drink water. Ontop of all this, my wife has pump milk to make bottles for the baby. We can't really afford to stay at a hotel, so it's going to be rough. Having the baby not really getting much sleep, that means if my wife is driving while I try to rest, its not happening. I recall driving and I drove for a good 5 minutes "cross eyed" from being so tired. No amount of caffeine helped me. When we drove down here, I had just gotten off work doing the overnight shift so maybe thats why I was so exausted, maybe we'll be ok. Stopping in NC for an hour or so to see the family then off to Williamsburg, VA. Hoping to be in Williamsburg by 1pm EST on Sunday. Will update this thread when we arrive.
Goodluck Toycen, I have noticed you stopped making conspiracy threads much to my chagrin...I enjoyed those. I will send a prayer out for ya.
Goodluck and may god be watching over all of you. Road trips are always fun, right now you may not realize it but your building memories. And the great thing about it is that their with your family.
I've been away from home. Give me til Monday night and I'll have a interesting little piece of 9/11 that I'm sure 99% of the members of this board has never heard of, and can't offer an explanation. Stay tuned.
Have a safe trip Toycen. If you begin to see strange night lights in the sky while driving, that's your cue to find a motel and sleep for the night. But seriously, it's worth the extra money if you are dead tired. AAA offers discounts and some sites spots cheaper online.
Sounds brutal...unless, of course, you have the appropriate transportation: Be safe, and have a great trip! :grin:
We went through all of that with two kids, including the milk pumping routine and the travel, and survived it. Believe it or not, you guys will too. Good luck!
Made the drive from Houston to DC a couple of weeks ago... about 24 hours with gas/food stops. Drive itself was probably around 21 hours. I don't think I'll try doing that drive again non-stop, even with a partner. It's hard to get any sort of decent rest in a car, so fatigue will set in during the last stretch. If at all possible, crash for a night at the cheapest motel you can find off the highway. Surely you can afford an $40 night stay?
Don't underestimate the power of a nap. If you can find a place that you think is safe, stop and let everyone nap for a couple of hours.
I know you said the expense of a hotel is an issue, but for a drive like that with a baby, I would at least try some lowball offers on Priceline for a hotel in any of the several places on your route. The risk of driving 30 hours without sleep is not worth it.
Agreed, a friend of mine fell asleep at the wheel on a stretch of the interstate where there's no barrier in between opposing lanes. He veered into oncoming traffic and woke up just in time to see the tree he was about to hit. He ended up coming out ok, but the point is, driving when extremely tired more than equals driving while intoxicated. Pull over and get some rest at some point, please.
Be careful! At least park somewhere and try to get some sleep, You need it to drive that kind of time, dont risk your family, its the important thing!
Good luck. I've got two little ones, and I know how strung out with sleeplessness you can get. As others have said, find a place to nap or suck it up and stay at a dirt-cheap motel if you get to the point of exhaustion.
May the coffee be with you! Seriously, stop at a gas station and fill out those one gallon cups that they have at the coffee machine.
