Unless you live on an island, and a small one at that, you’ve probably had occasion to drive at least a few hours non-stop. On a proper road trip, perhaps your driving stints go as long as six hours, assuming you’ve got a co-driver to switch off with.
But what about really big solo hours? Not necessarily alone in the car, but a single driving session where you didn’t relinquish the wheel? Perhaps you’ve gone eight or ten hours.
Or even longer?
Mind you, I’m not trying to determine who among us has the biggest fuel tank and/or bladder. Ya gotta stop for gas and the call of nature, and while that may count as a leg-stretching, it’s not a proper break if you just gas up, hit the head, and grab a snack that you only unwrap once you’re back on the interstate. Side note: If you’re picking up a brisket sandwich at Bucc-ee’s, I recommend you just take the extra 15 minutes to eat it in the parking lot or else you’ll be wearing it.
The longest I’ve gone with only quick gas and/or drive-thru stops is about ten hours, in an effort to make up time when the first two legs of a Dallas to Newport, RI road trip took longer than expected. After that much wheel time, I’m just too tired to keep going. I don’t really fall asleep, but my brain does this weird thing where there’s a lag between what I’m seeing and what I’m doing. Maybe it’s a sleeping-with-eyes-open thing. Anyway, that’s when I ask my wife to take over or ask Waze to find a motel.
Your turn: what’s the longest you’ve gone/can go in a non-stop driving session?
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
I’ve done DC to Milwaukee twice. Roughly twelve hours; once in a Jaguar XK8, once in a Mercedes C-Class. Got out of the Jaguar feeling like I’d just gone to the corner shop. Got out of the Benz feeling like I’d sat in one of those corrective chairs they give kids who sit weird at primary school.
Hollywood to Pocatello by motorcycle. Memphis to Albuquerque by Buick.
I once drove from Santa Barbara to somewhere northeast of Denver? Things were a bit mentally hazy at that point. It was a long time ago, and I couldn’t do even half of that now.