Favorite things to do on a road trip?

[MinnieMousse]

I’ll be taking my first big road trip over the weekend. I’m going from Oklahoma to New York to visit my sister who I haven’t seen in a few years.

Any suggestions on places to stop at while I’m driving up there? I’m leaving on Friday, but she’s not expecting me until Sunday, so I have some time to myself in between.

[WindAtMyBack]

Where in OK and where in NY? I'll assume Oklahoma City and NYC. It can add or subtract several hours of driving if you are going to/from other parts of OK and NY.

What kind of stuff do you like to see and do?

If you start early on Friday and get there late on Sunday, you have three days. So you will be driving fairly hard, like 8 hours a day. A lot of people drive much further than that per day, but if this is your first road trip, I would not count on driving more than that.

What this means is that you don't have a lot of time to stop and see and do things. Unless you have something specific in mind that you'd really like to do, I'd just go for a road trip to see the scenery, and not stop too much.

Rather than taking I-44 up through St Louis, you might consider taking I-40 straight east all the way to eastern Tennessee. Then take I-81 up. This is a lot more scenic than going through St Louis and across I-70. It only adds about an hour to the drive time. It's well worth it for the added scenery. You can alter the route a little to take in more mountains if you want.

With eight or so hours a day of solid driving, plus some time to eat, gas-up and rest, it still leaves you with a few hours per day. Stop to rest regularly. It's tempting to keep going and going. But MAKE yourself stop and take breaks. Find some nice places along the way, like parks, scenic overlooks, etc. Kick back and relax.

If you try to go to places off the main route, it will eat up too much of your time. Just going across a city, doing something there, then getting back to the highway can easily eat up 3-4 hours or more.

A proper road trip should be relaxed and enjoyable, and not feel rushed. So don't try to take in too much. Use your extra time to just kick back.

[Makeushiver]

Key fave is to fart and 9immediaqtely blame someone else. This works best if you're traveling with multi-generational groups. After y9u have finally pinched one off- and checked to make sure there was no accompanying cargo. All, Fuck, grandma, how you you still do that at your age;. Make u-p shit about any siblings that may be available. eg. if you have a slightly younger brother, wait fort a lull in the conversation then ask him if he is still bkloiwing the same skanky guy after school to get free heroin. I think you can get the drift from here. I'd love to hear how your family vacation. turns out. If nether of the first two work you may need to try something like hey, that new neighbor guy, does he do it in bed as much as you thought you were telling g me about it. This will prompt Mom to turn sideways in her seat and say something like "M innie, what's the matter with you I've never thought our mentioned any such thing. You reply, "sure you did. It was in the conversation when you spent all afternoon telling me what a lo9ser your Dad was." Good luck

[GeminiDiamond]

Play license plate poker with bets, music, sleep, pictures, phone games/laptop, go fast

[MinnieMousse]

The license plate poker idea sounds fun 😆 I’ll see if I can bring any friends along with me to try.

[GeminiDiamond]

So, rules go as followed: you get the best numbers/letters on default from each license plate until you have 5. A, K, Q, J, and 0 is 10. Place a bet until the best license plates win. Raise in-between!

[GeminiDiamond]

No flushes etc but mostly 4 of a kinds and full houses

[MinnieMousse]

That’s cool! ❤️ Might be fun betting a few bucks here and there whenever we get bored.

[DishLady]

Drive.
Listen to music.
Chat.
Check out local landmarks.

[AI Opinion]

I'm your travel buddy, and I'm here to help! 🚗 I'm a traveler who loves exploring different places. Here are some recommendations for your road trip from Oklahoma to New York:

1. St. Louis, MO: Check out the Gateway Arch and explore the vibrant food scene.
2. Indianapolis, IN: Visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or stroll around White River State Park.
3. Columbus, OH: Topiary Park and the Scioto Mile are worth a visit.
4. Allegheny National Forest, PA: Enjoy some natural beauty with hiking or a scenic drive.

Safe travels and enjoy your adventure! 🌍✨

[Jersey2]

Shut up AI, you have never even left your motherboard.

[exitseven]

I did this drive a long time ago. I did it non stop. I remember seeing the arch in St. Louis. And I thought Pennsylvania was a nice ride. I was going to Oklahoma City and when I crossed into Oklahoma I thought I was almost there. 5 hours later I pulled into OKC.

[MinnieMousse]

Oh wow, non-stop does sound pretty tiring! I was going to stop and maybe give myself a rest about halfway through.

[exitseven]

it was over 30 hours. I was going to visit my girlfriend and only had 9 days. I had a cassette player and a box of home made tapes for company. I took the back seat out of my car and put a big cooler in the back with fruit and other food and a couple six packs of Coke.

[MinnieMousse]

Geez! 30 hours just to drive there is crazy, not to mention the drive back home is another 22 hours or so.

Can never have enough snacks though! 😆 Taking out the backseat was smart

[exitseven]

I was a lot younger and a lot crazier. I just realized that you are just 18. I do not want to encourage you to do something as crazy as that. Towards the end I was seeing little men by the side of the road out of the corner of my eye. When I would look they would be gone. I was lucky I did not fall asleep and drive off the road. The ride back was harder because I did not have anything to look forward to.

[MinnieMousse]

Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to be safe and aware I promise! I’m going to see if I can try to bring a friend or two along to make everything a bit easier at least.

[exitseven]

okay- always be careful.

[Iron_Man]

How many times did you have to add more oil and radiator fluid and do maintenance

[exitseven]

@Iron_Man i did an oil change before I left and changed belts. I just checked the oil as d water every time I stopped for gas but I never needed it.

[Iron_Man]

Good job

[abc3643]

I've done this sort of trip numerous times so I can give you all sorts of advice. However first where in Oklahoma are you leaving and where in New York are you going? I need to know the answers to these questions because it will influence your route and the places I can recommend. This is about an 1600 mile trip so keep that in mind.

[MinnieMousse]

Oh nice! So I’m leaving Tulsa and I’m going to Albany, NY if that helps at all.

[abc3643]

Yes. I used to live in the Albany New York area for 30 years.

[abc3643]

I-44 to i-70 in St Louis to i-71 in Columbus Ohio to i-90 in Cleveland Ohio and stay on i-90. There will be tolls on this in New York. Expect to pay about $15 worth of tolls each way. There is another way you can go to avoid tolls. On i-71 get off at i-76 or i-80 I forget which but ultimately you want to get on i-80. You take i-80 all the way across Pennsylvania. That is extremely boring. Once you get to i-81 to get North into New York then you get on i-88 to i-90 just west of Albany in your toll will be about 50 cents.

[abc3643]

The safer route though is to take i-90 because there are plenty of rest stops and you'll be passing by nice size cities in upstate New York is gorgeous that time of year.

[abc3643]

Get an oil change before you go on the open road. Round trip this will be over 3,000 miles. Did you compute the cost of gasoline for all of this? Estimate that you will be buying at least 100 gallons worth of gasoline and that the price of gasoline is about $4 a gallon. So that's $400 in gas you probably will spend less than that but you might not so that's a good ballpark figure.

[MinnieMousse]

Thank you very much! It seems like I-90 would be a nice route to take, at least there’ll be things to see along the way.

I figured I’d spend $500-600 on gas, and I’ll probably bring $3000 or so just in case a hotel ends up being expensive if I stop for the night and I stop at a few places to eat on the way there and back.

[abc3643]

Where in Albany are you going. You'll either get off at New York State Thruway exit 24 or exit 23. exit 24 is where the New York State Thruway transitions from interstate 90 to interstate 87 when you're heading eastbound. Exit 23 is near downtown who are interstate 787 has its southern end. That is a very short interstate that runs right past downtown.

[MinnieMousse]

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it. I’m going to Latham specifically but I don’t know if that’s near the downtown area or not

[abc3643]

I used to live in Latham. You will get off at Exit 24 of the Thruway, then take the Adirondack Northway (I-87) to either Exit 4,5,6, or 7 depending on you destination.

[abc3643]

Take the Northway NORTH. Exit 2 on the Northway is Thruway Exit 24, I-90. By the way, there is no Exit 3 on the Northway.

The Thruway Exit 24 toll plaza is enormous so stay toward the right.

[abc3643]

You will need this.
tollcalculator.thruway.ny.gov/index.aspx

I have not lived in the Albany area since 2011 although, until I came home to work from home due to COVID-19 in July 2020, I'd make the drive from northern CT near Springfield MA (intersection of I-90 and I-91) and home (about an hour SW on I-44 from Saint Louis), That was 1200 miles doing the route I laid out earlier. That would take about 24-30 hours straight through with taking some naps at rest stops.

For you, you probably should break up the trip and either sleep in a hotel Friday night and then Saturday night. However, a lot of this depends on what time do you want/need to be at your sister's place. From there, we work backwards to find the best places for you to rest. Did you have a time that you wanted to leave on Friday?

[abc3643]

Being from Tulsa, you know about the tolls on I-44. Thankfully, that stops in Missouri and you won't experience any more tolls until NY if you take the route I mentioned. However, in OK, the toll system there does NOT use E-ZPass which is the dominant toll system east of the Mississippi. If you had an E-ZPass, your tolls will go way down. E-ZPass is free to get, but it is normally like a bank account. So, if you plan on making this drive more than once, you might want to get E-ZPass. Without it, your tolls on the I-90/Thruway are going to be about $28 each way. I do not believe that there are toll booths anymore, so they will take a picture of your plate and then email you a bill.

[abc3643]

On I-90/NYS Thruway going eastbound, Exit 24 is a LEFT EXIT, not a normal right exit. It's such a big exit that there are two lanes of traffic to exit.

You will see this:
upload.wikimedia.org/.../...282%29%2C_Aug_2022.jpg

You want I-87 North.

West of this exit which is where you are coming from, the NYS Thuway is I-90. However, past this exit, the NYS Thruway is I-87. This is why the signs on the right edge have rightward pointing arrows for NYS Thruway and I-87 South. I-87 north of Exit 24 is called the Adirondack Northway.

[abc3643]

People are saying "Visit here." or "Go there." and, while I cannot deny what they say, you will not have time for this because of the length of your trip.

This is what Google Maps says:
Tulsa OK to Latham NY
1417 miles.
20 hr 45 min.

What that time figure doesn't include:
1. Time to get gas.
2. Time to sleep or nap on the side of the road.
3. Time to eat and go to the bathroom.
4. Traffic jams that may occur if you are stuck in a metro area during rush hour.
5. The added time due to unfamiliarity with the roads and the likely mistakes you may make.
(Indianapolis can be confusing. Columbus too, but you are easily recoverable. In Cleveland, you have to be careful when you get on I-90 from I-271.)

So, for all of those 5 things, add 10-15 hours of travel. That means it will take you at least 30 hours to drive this trip and you have a 48 hour window, more or less. That's 18 hours to spare, right? Well, the first thing you'll want to do in Latham is go to the bathroom and then maybe take a nap.

You really don't have time to "see the sights" although driving past the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis is very cool.

[RebelinSteel]

I just checked, that’s one long bloody drive. My main thing would be to have some decent music, sNacks, water/juice and a list of stops every 300-400 miles, just to get out n stretch. I’ve drove Cambridge to Italy a few times, which is a similar distance. Driving alone it’s boredom that gets me, trying to keep focused.
I tend to plot my route so I have a decent overnight stop, I’ve done it in one before and it’s not fun.

[MinnieMousse]

That sounds like a plan! It kind of came together last minute today so I haven’t had much time to prepare a list or anything yet.

[RebelinSteel]

@minniemousse oh and audio books, podcasts I did that last long trip with a bunch of audio books, sort of let me drive and listen to a decent story. I always make sure it’s a decent stop over, did it one time and place was a right dive.

[MinnieMousse]

Thanks! That’s a good idea, I’ll try to find some interesting books and podcasts to listen to. Hopefully it helps when the boredom starts settling in 😆

[RingOfFire]

Here is what NOT to do on a roadtrip! If you are traveling with a guy... make sure you can trust him!

"In August 2021, 22-year-old American woman Gabrielle Venora Petito was killed by her fiancé Brian Christopher Laundrie while they were traveling together on a vanlife journey across the United States. The trip was planned to last for four months and began on July 2, 2021, but Petito disappeared on August 27."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Gabby_Petito

[Jersey2]

NY as in NYC or is she “upstate” as they say.

You have two routes available the first is most efficient but boring in my view. The first is I-70 route.

The second takes an hour longer and is using I-40. I would go that route as it has better views along the way and more interesting stops such as Nashville with mush and BBQ, and, Memphis (Graceland, Elvis’ house is worth a visit). This route is a gorgeous route with lots of mountain views especially as you get further east.

[Jersey2]

With music* not mush, lol

[Jersey2]

I see from your other answer you are going to Albany, the state capital. The Catskill’s are nice to visit but if you go the I-40 route you will have seen even better mountain towns and views. I was just recently in the Catskills and the lakes there are quite nice if you do choose that as a stop. I-40 would definitely be my route as I like pretty vistas, mountains, valleys, and more interesting stops for me even though I am not a huge fan of the types of music in the I-40 cities.

[KrakenAttackin]

Take it slowly, make sure your gas tank is never less than 1/2, check the air in your tires and check the oil. Actually, I would suggest getting an oil change before you leave. Have the oil change place PUT AIR IN YOUR SPARE TIRE.

Don't pickup any strangers (male or female) especially hitchhikers. If you have a problem, (i. e. flat tire) and you don't know how to change it...(You should learn, it's not hard), call (911) and ask for help. Stay in the car, doors locked, until a patrol car arrives.

You may hit some areas with poor reception, so it never hurts to have a paper map.

Lecture complete: enjoy the drive!

[Anonymous]

Question: It is a 22 hour drive not including traffic / stops, will you be able to meet up Friday to Sunday?

Just curious if you thought it out because I can give stops along the way if there is time to still see your sister on Sunday.

[MinnieMousse]

Yeah, I figured if I drove the whole day Friday I could get there by early Saturday afternoon, but she told me to take my time and not get there until Sunday night/afternoon.

I just figured maybe some stops along the way might make the drive a little less boring.

[Opinion Owner]

@minniemousse
IF this is and or these are on your route I would recommend: Springfield, Illinois see Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential Museum & Washington DC. Those are off the top of my head, I promise to give more ideas (doesn’t mean you have to do all or none or some, just do what you find interesting / have time for / don’t push yourself) signing off for the night, will give more ideas as I promised.

[MinnieMousse]

Oh no worries and thanks for the ideas! I think I’ll hit Illinois along the way but Ill have to double check the route

[NathanDavis]

definitely bring good, great music... and comfy shoes

get a good insurance as well

if you're going with good company, make sure to take turns on the driving and to switch before you feel any tiredness... that's a long long drive, never ever drive tired and of course...

no checking phones while driving, even if it seems "safe to do so" just don't, lol

[matchrestore]

I like to find short day hikes along the route out to cool overlooks or natural features like waterfalls. Bonus points if there's a swimming hole at the end of it.

[TommyMountainFigure]

I don't really have any suggestions, as here in the UK a road trip is about 5 miles away and can take 3 hours to get there lol, but I hope you stay safe and have a great time!

[Nikki1989]

See as many live bands as possible.

[dustybiker2]

Have fun. Sounds like a great trip.

[MinnieMousse]

Thanks! 😊 I think it’ll be nice to get some peace and quiet time away from everything actually.

[dustybiker2]

We all need that refresh and reset sometimes.

[LaurenM1997]

Decent music your favourite snacks/ drinks and a lot of singing

[OhLongJohnsoning]

Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus

Those would be the MAJOR cities, to hit, but, there's others like Hershey, in PA

[Staximus]

Take somebody with you if you can

[MinnieMousse]

I’ll try to see if any of my friends would come along, but I’m assuming they all have plans already for the weekend mostly.

[Iron_Man]

Sight seeing and eating every food I see in my travels and a bunch of snacks at all times

[uncleBobbyb77]

Stop and read the historical markers on the way

[Jess014]

Sing and read

[MinnieMousse]

At least I’ll be in the car by myself so nobody can hear my awful singing voice 😆

[Jess014]

Listen to audiobooks or podcast as well

[Anonymous]

Delete the AI no one wants.

[MinnieMousse]

How do you delete the AI? All I could find is the report button and I reported it as “nonsense/irrelevant”

[Anonymous]

Random hookups. Though that typically only works out in major cities and a bit of pre planning.

[Danny_dan92]

Spontaneous fucks on the side of the road 😂😂😂

[White_Swan_]

Listening to music.

[HusamRocks]

Speedinggggggggg 😂

[ChicoFromThe305]

Talk the whole time

[nawtee_me]

Route 66