amusing family memory

[cellio]

I was talking with a friend about an impending drive across the country, and this somehow made me think of my own family's cross-country move. I was three at the time, so I don't actually remember it, and anyway, I didn't have the interesting part.

My mother took the kids and perhaps the dog (I'm not sure who got the dog for this) and got onto a plane. They wanted to keep the car, though, so my father and a friend of his drove. The family folklore is that they made the excellent time that they did by simply driving straight through. According to what I was told about this while growing up, the car was pretty much always in motion and the passenger slept as needed.

Except that I just today put a few facts together. My father's vision is worse than mine; he has never been licensed to drive at night, and he's pretty scrupulous about that. They made this trip in November, when nights are longer than days. I strongly suspect that the other guy did not drive 14-hour stretches (I mean, how many people do, especially as part of a longer trip?). They were a couple of (roughly) 25-year-old guys.

Do I really believe that they drove through at the speed limit, rather than taking stops to sleep and gunning it? I may have to call my father on it, out of earshot of my mother. :-)

Comments

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

2500mi. takes five days, no matter what.

Based on known experience, I can go 900 miles in a 15-hour day with two people driving, for several days. I won't do this unless it's necessary, but I could do 2500 miles in two-and-a-half to three days.

However, I'd much rather have the luxury of extra time off, for making many interesting stops en route.