Mini Cannonball. Any prep advice?

chaparral said:

Go find a church halfway home from Alabama to go to on Sunday morning?

This is basically a Tour de Bible Belt. Good idea.

I drove from Portland OR to Baileyville KS in a single siting once.  Solo.  I don't know if will ever do that again and I really probably shouldn't have in the first place.  I've driven from Portland OR to Wichita KS in two days solo once and that's not bad at all.  Support the suggestion of finding a church on Sunday morning and not being so out of it when you go.  Kind of squares up the weekend.

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

I did 1900 miles from Texas to NY in two days. It was long and boring but I did fine on protein shakes, water, and a few brisket breakfast tacos from Buc-ees. 

Which actually sounds like a pretty good choice - there's a reason SR71 pilots were only allowed steak and eggs before flight.

RacetruckRon said:

Have a co-pilot, 1000 miles a day is doable but having someone to talk to along the way and switch off if needed is very helpful. 

It depends a lot on what you're driving, some cars are much more tiring to drive than others.  1000 miles a day in my Miata?  I did it 20 years ago, it was exhausting and I wouldn't care to try it again.  1000 miles a day in my Audi?  I did that a couple months ago and it was way less difficult even though I'm 20 years older.

That said, 1000 miles in a day with the ability to get lots of sleep on either side is pretty different from 1000 miles on two days in a row, starting out after work on Friday and with minimal sleep in between.

Drink coffee, but not water.  Eat carrots and apples--they hydrate and provide physical activity.  When you need real food, don't do cheeseburger/fries/shake (you'll sleep like an obese dog); do trail mix/Subway.  Don't tell yourself that you're a good driver.  If you fall asleep, get off the road and commit to some actual sleep; coffee won't work at that point.  If you're speeding wherever possible, don't be captain obvious about it and change lanes like a crack dealer late for a date with fifty bucks.  Stay cool with AC, not open windows.  Think marathon thoughts.

I read once that people turning up the radio to stay awake are doing it wrong. The louder it is, more uncomfortable it is, and more input your body is getting, the faster it shuts down.

Nowadays I get as comfy as possible as soon as possible, including starting with my noise-canceling headphones (Zone Wireless) and I alternate between talking or audio booking. When I'm less tired, audiobook wears me out faster. When I'm starting to get tired, talking drains me. YMMV 

I was thinking of some stay-awake techniques like water in your mouth, but when you're at that point you just need to pull over and live to see another day. 
 

EDIT: oh yeah, Red Storm Rising - 30+ hours of AWWEEESSOMME book. 

I tell you what, I'll PayPal you the cost of the book if you end up not liking this one. Haha I don't want to start explaining how good it is, I won't stop. 

Keep this handy for when when you're going to start it. There are a host of characters and it's sometimes hard to keep them straight, esp since the Soviet names are foreign:

Dan McCafferty - USS Chicago (submarine)
Bob Toland - intel guy for NSA
Edward Morris - USS Pharis (destroyer escort)

Mikhail Eduardovich Sergetov - Soviet central committee member
Ivan Sergetov - his son
Pavel Alexayef - general, Soviet tank unit

I made it to North Alabama. I was on site here about 35 minutes. Now I'm headed back down I 65 headed to I 20 and will be home tonight late. Thank you for all the good ideas. Gold stars all around

RacetruckRon: Comfy car with a big tank, reduce fatigue and keeps fuel stops to a minimum. Stopped time is lost average, a 70mph average is not hard to do if you have a good fuel strategy. 

Maximize your daylight, driving after dark is hard on your eyes, leave earlier in the morning if possible.

I think a 70 mph average will be incredibly hard to maintain over 2100 miles. Fuel/food/bio stops, speed limited areas and traffic will be your enemy. 

Crxpilot said:

I made it to North Alabama. I was on site here about 35 minutes. Now I'm headed back down I 65 headed to I 20 and will be home tonight late. Thank you for all the good ideas. Gold stars all around

When you wrote this at 9:30 am Saturday, you had been at your destination for at least 30 minutes.

A 1,000 mile drive should take a min of 16 hrs.  I'm guessing you got away from TX about 3pm Friday.

It's near Noon now, Saturday and you'll soon have been driving 24 hours and probably awake more like 30+ hours. 

Be safe, get some rest. 

Aside from that advice, I think I can hear Jerry Reed playing in the background, 'cept now your West Bound. 

What car is your steed for this adventure? 

John Welsh said:

A 1,000 mile drive should take a min of 16 hrs. 

Doable.  This was from my trip to Nationals and back in 2012, with my freshly full-bridge ported RX-7.

Note trip WAS over two days with two and a half days of competition in between, mind you.  Left Thursday morning, home Monday morning.

(Ignore the top speed.  That was the top speed ever from a car I had that had no right to be able to go that fast, and I can't bear to clear it or exceed it.  The gearing and a drivetrain harmonic meant I could only exceed 75mph going uphill so the load neutralized the vibes in the driveshaft)

Thanks all again for the input. I'm back home and dressed for church.  I didn't plan on spending so little time in Alabama but that was the key.

2018 RAV4 with my favorite podcasts on random shuffle.

Left Lubbock at 4:30pm and got to within 30 minutes of Cullman, AL at 7:30am. Took an hour nap and dropped off my load, 700 lbs of library shelving, at the county library at 8:50. Never met my contact but took some pics and saw what I came to see and turned it back home. Walked in the house at 12:40am today.

The sketchiest period was Saturday morning. After that hour nap I did the rest with zero issues.

I'm too late to do any good for this trip but what kept coming to mind while reading this is that the FIRST thing you need to prepare for a trip like this is a good financier:

Then of course a speedy car (speedier than that...).

You can pick up a co-pilot along the way, or so I've been led to believe.

I wondered what the "payload" was and had a few guesses.  Library shelving was not one of my guesses. 

Congrats on the completed journey! 

In reply to ClemSparks :

Not going to lie, I'd try to drive 2100 miles in one weekend if it involved getting Sally Field circa 1977 in my car.

Hell, even in 2021, I bet she has all sorts of cool stories, and I could quietly fanboy.

John Welsh said:

I wondered what the "payload" was and had a few guesses.  Library shelving was not one of my guesses. 

Congrats on the completed journey! 

If it's odd and offbeat and pays, I'm the guy doing it. Thanks.

I did not realize "pays." 

Was this something like a Uship load?  Interesting! 

Crxpilot said:

If it's odd and offbeat and pays, I'm the guy doing it. Thanks.

This sounds like a niche I could get behind!  ;)

Crxpilot said:

John Welsh said:

I wondered what the "payload" was and had a few guesses.  Library shelving was not one of my guesses. 

Congrats on the completed journey! 

If it's odd and offbeat and pays, I'm the guy doing it. Thanks.

Sounds like The Transporter. Hopefully without quite as much organized crime involvement, but I suppose libraries have to survive somehow in this day & age. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Local university was/is remodeling their med school library and I bought 70 shelving "units" at auction. When I went to check out my haul it turned out to be 78 ROWS of shelving. I purchased approximately a half-acre of library shelving.  I've been liquidating it part time for 9 months and still have some remaining.  The whole experience has been entertaining, lucrative, and unique.  If your significant other or life stage allows, I highly recommend auction flips of all types.

In reply to Crxpilot :

Half an acre??

Haha!  That's awesome!