On Sat morning after our usual crack o’ dawn departure (9.00am), TomTom guided us east from Sahuarita to catch I-10 southeast of Tucson. 13hrs20min later after traversing 908mi, we finally arrived at home. Weather was good; roads were fast. Along the way, we made two gas-only stops and two gas / chow combo stops including one in Hatch, NM where we scored some pretty good burritos for the road.
This long drive made me recall a story my grandpa Fred told us the other day about how his parents once drove from western Pennsylvania to Florida during the Great Depression to find work as roofers. At the time, it was gravel roads the whole way and took several days: 100mi in a single day was “making good time” and only possible if one was lucky enough to not get a flat tire that day.
I once drove 1,670mi non-stop, by myself, from Bismarck, ND to San Jose, CA. Another time I drove 1,450mi, again non-stop and solo, from Bakersfield, CA to Dallas, TX. Just 70 years ago, these car trips would be epic adventures rather than simply getting from A to Z. They’d require a great deal of planning and provisioning because you’d have to find fuel, bring spare parts, pack food and water for several days of travel in the countryside. Today, I could get in my car with no more planning than the clothes on my back and a credit card in my pocket, and drive from Denver to any point in the Lower 48 in no more than 2 days:
- 1,330mi to Seattle
- 1,080mi to San Diego
- 2,066mi to Miami
- 1,970mi to Boston
Even Fairbanks which is 3,098mi away could probably be managed in 3 days. The speed of cars and roads along with the supporting infrastructure of gas stations, restaurants and hotels makes it pretty easy. Further, if you think about it, most of this infrastructure was put in place starting in the late 1950s during the post-WWII construction boom which was partially fueled by Cold War concerns. It must have been truly mind boggling for my great grandparents to see such change over the 40 year period from the mid 1930s to the mid 1970s by which time the majority of the Interstate Highway System was completed. I can’t imagine what they thought of traveling by air…
Well, that’s the end of vacation. Thanks for riding along.
Oh… as for TomTom? Superb gadget. If you’re in the market for a portable GPS nav device that won’t dominate your dash and does a great job getting you where you need to go without too many extraneous features, I recommend the TomTom ONE 3rd Edition.
