Cross Country Drive: Wrap-up

I’ve spent the last month driving all over the United States, and it was an extremely enjoyable experience. The specifics of the drive are covered in the daily updates, but there are a few topics I’ve been wanting to cover.

I’m quite proud that over 9218 miles, I did not receive a single ticket! As I spent quite some time driving on back roads (with posted limits well below the “fun” speed), one of my major concerns through-out the drive was receiving a speeding ticket. I also spent many hours driving on perfectly straight interstates just begging for high-speed runs.

While the Valentine 1 and smart driving couldn’t have hurt, the main reason for no tickets was that I nearly spent all of my time on the interstates driving at the posted speed limit. The easiest way not to get a speeding ticket is just not to speed… and I found it relaxing not to need to worry about LEO’s all the time. Never the less, it was fun finding all their speed traps.

As I was making the drive, I kept asking myself if there was anything I would have done differently…

Having made the drive in September, I was constantly taunted by the colorful metamorphosis that was to soon happen.

Doing the drive through the Appalachians only a few weeks later would have been accompanied in an explosion of color along the roads. Unfortunately it would have also come with cold/rainy weather and loads of tourists (and I’d not have been able to make it to Las Vegas in time for GoatRun).

Having made the trip with my own car was great, as I’ve not been able to spend as much time driving it as I’d like, but a “sporty” rental car would have had its perks. Being in a rental car would have allowed me to “skip” several of the boring sections by flying. It would have also been nice to “trade-in cars” when I was having the “Limp Mode” issues. Not having to “skip” sections of the planned route due to mechanical problems would have been really nice.

While I came prepared, I captured very little video footage along the road trip. Most of the time I was driving unfamiliar roads, so I never really know when I’d want to be recording. There were many times where I thought to myself, “That would have made a great video”… but I didn’t want to backtrack just to take one. It also takes a fair amount of time to setup all the video cameras, and when driving so much… adding extra time makes things daunting.

Despite driving for a month, I felt like I didn’t have enough time to truly “explore” as I was driving. Because of the route, and staying in free hotels, my schedule was fairly strict. My goal was to drive roads, which was accomplished, but there were many interesting sights that I would have liked to have seen if I wasn’t on such a per-determined route/schedule.

I was really lucky with weather, not having to drive much in the rain, but if the weather had been different it could have thrown a big wrench in my plans. Having additional time in the schedule for delays would have been a great idea… I was really lucky that the one time I was to spend two nights in the same hotel just happened to be the day I was having a package shipped to me.

In the end, the road trip was a great success. I’m sure some things could have gone a little better, but I’m sure they could have been worse. Now the only thing I need to do is plan for next year and GONE 2012!