OKC to Detroit- First Timer

[ibcnuldu]

Hi everyone :)

I wanted to say first of all this is a very awesome forum.

I'm almost 19. This is my first solo road trip. I'm planning on driving from Oklahoma City to the Detroit-ish, MI area to see my fiance. I originally planned on doing this trip in one day, but after reading the "How far should you drive in one day" thread I'm not so sure. I'd like to do it in one day, but obviously if I can't it's better to be safe than sorry. I'm getting very different answers from one person to another. Any tips? I'm nervous and excited, it's about 8 days until I'm leaving.

This may sound like a silly question but is Mapquest directions okay for long trips?

[etoiles]

Coming back from South Dakota we drove for about 14 hrs in one day but by the end we were REALLY on edge and frustrated and there were two of us driving. I think 15 hrs (not including stops) by yourself is really too much for one person for one day. Why not stop in St. Louis and check out the arch and Budweiser factory tour and spend the night there to break it up??

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA forum, and thanks for doing a little pre-reading before you posted!

Mapquest is fine for getting directions. They do a decent job of routing you on a fairly direct path to get you where you want to go.

What they don't do a good job of is estimating the time it will take to travel. So while mapquest says the trip will be a little under 16 hours, the reality is that under perfect conditions, you'll really be looking at an 18-19 hour trip, and yes that is too much to do as a solo driver in one sitting.

I'll say that youth does give you an advantage and you might (and I emphasize might) be able to punch this out in a pretty grueling day and a half, but 2 full days would be recommended. If I were in your shoes, I would drive as far as I could the first day, but expect to stop for the night somewhere along the way. Being that this your first trip of this magnitude, you'll have to be careful to feel when you are reaching your limits, and when you start to feel drowsy at all, its time to stop and get some rest.

[ibcnuldu]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try and just go as far as I can and see where I get. I'd rather not stay in St. Louis just for cost reasons, but we'll see.

You were a big help :) I'm looking forward to this trip!

[Midwest Michael]

Is there a reason you'd think that St. Louis would be particularly expensive?

I've found it can often be much easier to find lower cost lodging on the edges of major cities, where there is lots of competition. Downtown in a major city will cost you more, but your smaller towns can often have fewer choices and higher prices.

In fact, during my last visit to St. Louis, I stayed at a nice little Route-66 mom and pop place that cost just $30 per night, and was 20-30 minutes from the arch.