New York-Nevada 2 week roundtrip

[Nevada27]

I would completely agree and I'm glad you've learned a lesson from this. I will note one frequent misconception about fatigue is that you can just stop when you're tired - the problem is by the time you are so tired that your brain understands it must stop, you've almost certainly driven many miles where fatigue has been compromising your driving abilities. A fatigued brain just can't make good decisions - which includes knowing when to stop!



To me, this statement is perhaps the even more disappointing outcome of the approach to your trip. You were so singularly focused on getting out west as fast as humanly possible (or faster) that you never had a chance to consider much less see any of the amazing things you certainly drove right on past. And then it becomes a self-fulling prophecy, because since you drove past a million amazing things you might have enjoyed, it left you with the conclusion that you were right and there were "relatively few things to see" and that it was nothing but monotonous cornfields and farms.



You can at least take comfort in the fact that you're not alone. One, almost anyone who has done any significant amount of roadtripping- especially when you're younger, have a smaller budget, and usually an older vehicle - has had to deal with breakdowns on the road.

Two, there are plenty of people who have learned the hard way the downfall of an approach to a roadtrip where you drive like a madman to "get somewhere" only to discover that doing so has made it very difficult to enjoy the "somewhere" you were trying to get to - or they've tried to pack so much in that when something doesn't go to plan (and there's always something unexpected that will come up) that it ends up throwing off the entire rest of the trip. When I find people who hate roadtrips, it's very frequently because their only experience has been this same kind of approach that's nearly always going to end in a bad time.

If you take this as a learning experience, and change your approach, I think its entirely possible you could try again and replace that sour taste with an experience that's much more in line with what you were hoping for.

Thank you for your advice. This is all very clear to me now and I wish I realized this a few days ago. Everyone I passed at rest stops (families, travel groups, etc) all seemed to be having a great time with each other in their journeys, so it is obvious to me I did this trip completely wrong. You are right that there was probably plenty of stuff I could have stopped at in the Midwest but I drove through much of it at night and missed all those opportunities. With my car's oil light going off every 500 miles (even before breaking down) and worrying about the transmission or some other new problem presenting itself, this made me very nervous about detouring off the interstate away from any help should I break down again. This also made me want to keep driving so as to shut the car off as few times as possible to give myself fewer opportunities to break down far away from home.

I had a number of places I was originally planning to stop at (Indiana Dunes National Park, Kansas City, Chicago, Mt. Evans to name a few) but ended up just driving past them. Unfortunately, the feeling of dread being stuck at that gas station in Wyoming (and the days that followed) definitely affected me for the rest of the trip. Though the way I felt after arriving back in NY after drinking sugary energy drinks for two days, sleeping in my car, and getting slaughtered at the tables in Las Vegas wasn't much better either.

Taking drives to places (usually within a couple hundred miles of where I live in southern NY) has been a hobby of mine for my entire adult life, but I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew this time. I hope to one day have an experience that compares to those other's have written about on this forum. I just worry that this ordeal will prevent me from ever driving out of familiar territory again.

[Midwest Michael]

I'll give you this: You kind of did everything wrong, you had some bad luck with your car on top of it, and you still came here to share your story.

I think that's pretty commendable, seems like something of a sign that you haven't given up on roadtrips, and I think you know that if you take a little time, you could be ready to get back up on that (mechanical) horse, take the lessons of your previous trip, and have a much better experience next time.

[glc]

A tip for your next long trip - if you don't have a reliable vehicle, either buy a new one, a late model used one with a full warranty, or rent one!

[DonnaR57]

Another comment about those miles and miles of cornfields.....one time, about 170 years ago or so, folks went across those miles and miles in a covered wagon. They were lucky if they did 25 miles a day! If you decide to try a similar trip, down the line some time, you can get off the highways and view memorials, wagon ruts, and other things that will teach us about those trailblazers. I-80, though full of cornfields and plains, has many reminders of the Oregon Trail days and also, the Pony Express. For the latter, there are a couple of remaining Pony Express stations along I-80 in NE. Instead of thinking, "this is boring," you can visualize, and learn more about, our nation and the westward expansion.

More information about the Oregon Trail sites can be found in the Camping Road Trips forum->Camping Along Historic and Scenic Highways in the US and Canada->Post 36. (I knew how to put in a direct link to that post when I was on a PC, but I recently got a Mac and I haven't figured out how to get a direct URL yet. So my apologies!).

Some people watch for license plates from other states, or play games (particularly if you have kids) like I Spy or the ABC Spy game. My husband and I like to watch for trucks from the company he used to drive for, and train-spotting is also fun. The thing about both of those is also to contemplate what goods are crossing the country and for whom.


Donna

[Nevada27]

Another comment about those miles and miles of cornfields.....one time, about 170 years ago or so, folks went across those miles and miles in a covered wagon. They were lucky if they did 25 miles a day! If you decide to try a similar trip, down the line some time, you can get off the highways and view memorials, wagon ruts, and other things that will teach us about those trailblazers. I-80, though full of cornfields and plains, has many reminders of the Oregon Trail days and also, the Pony Express. For the latter, there are a couple of remaining Pony Express stations along I-80 in NE. Instead of thinking, "this is boring," you can visualize, and learn more about, our nation and the westward expansion.

More information about the Oregon Trail sites can be found in the Camping Road Trips forum->Camping Along Historic and Scenic Highways in the US and Canada->Post 36. (I knew how to put in a direct link to that post when I was on a PC, but I recently got a Mac and I haven't figured out how to get a direct URL yet. So my apologies!).

Some people watch for license plates from other states, or play games (particularly if you have kids) like I Spy or the ABC Spy game. My husband and I like to watch for trucks from the company he used to drive for, and train-spotting is also fun. The thing about both of those is also to contemplate what goods are crossing the country and for whom.


Donna

Thank you for the perspective and the link. I was actually thinking about that and the history of western expansion while crossing the Plains. I think I did pass several signs denoting pony express stops along i80 also. I also looked up the Lewis and Clark Trail and noted that it passed through eastern Nebraska. I also mean no offense to the Midwest/Plains describing it as endless cornfields. I think it looks like a great, peaceful place to live with a very high life quality based on my impression passing through. I just meant from a tourist perspective it seemed to be a little less inviting than some other regions of the country. But then again, I put far more of my research into states in the West over the years while planning so I could definitely be wrong.

This trip did give me a sense of just how large this country is and how we can basically find every single landscape in it. In spite of the breakdown and obvious hiccups I experienced, the well maintained interstates of i80 and i70 make this country easier to traverse than I initially thought. I regrettably didn't take many photos along the way, but I posted a few of the more memorable ones here to try and focus on the few positive memories I have. I was hoping to come back with stories to share with my friends and family and I think that is the thing I am most disappointed about. People are asking me about the trip and I don't even know what to say.

Photos:
1. Gateway Arch; St. Louis, MO
2. Kansas State Capitol; Topeka, KS
3. Eisenhower Tunnel (Eastern Portal); Colorado
4. Mirage Volcano; Las Vegas, NV
5. Nebraska State Capitol; Lincoln, NE