The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu is credited with having said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Well, this journey – Road Trip 2010 – will be something over four thousand miles, and it began with a single step… on the accelerator pedal of our 2007 Nissan Quest 3.5 SE minivan. We left the dogs with the house sitters and off we went!
Overall, there will be 5 major milestones on this trip: Colorado Springs, CO, for a couple of nights; Pagosa Springs, CO, for a few days of vacation; Roswell, NM, for some alien hunting; Dallas, TX, for OpenCamp 2010; and Nashville, TN, for an evening at the Grand Ole Opry and breakfast with my sister and brother-in-law. And then, of course, back home to Salisbury.
The first day’s journey was all travel, all day: a total of 18 hours and 40 minutes. Here are the stats:
Depart Salisbury, MD, Wednesday, Aug 18 at 6:20 a.m.
Arrive Shiloh, IL, Thursday, Aug 19 at 2 a.m.
Actual driving time of 16 hours 38 minutes
963.9 miles at 57.8 mph average
On the first day, we drove across Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, the southern tip of Indiana, and most of Illinois. We waited and ate breakfast at the Cracker Barrel on Kent Island so that we wouldn’t be near Washington, D.C., at the peak of rush hour traffic. Still, traffic on the Beltway around Washington, D.C., was heavy and slow. Also, it rained from the time we left home in Salisbury, MD, until we got to somewhere in West Virginia. Other than that the day went reasonably well.
…and the Journey Continues
We spent a too-short night in Shiloh, Il, and then hit the road again, bound for Colorado Springs, CO. We didn’t have quite as far to travel on the second day, but it was still a very long way, so the second day’s journey was also all travel, all day: a total of about 16 hours. Here are the stats for day two:
Depart Shiloh, IL, Thursday, Aug 19 at 10 a.m.
Arrive Colorado Springs, CO, Friday, Aug 20 at 2 a.m.
Actual driving time of 13 hours 38 minutes
826.6 miles at 60.5 mph average
On the second day we drove across the remainder of Illinois (about 20 miles), Missouri, and Kansas, and part of Colorado. A truly uneventful day, which is the best kind when traveling by car.