Ithaca, NY --> Hillsboro, OR 4 days

[yelloboy]

in salt lake city right now after the first 3 days that were:

1: ithaca -> st louis. 945 miles. average driving speed 77mph. 2 stops for gas and coffee, ~8 minutes each.

2: st louis -> north platte, nebraska. 719 miles. average driving speed 73mph. 3 stops for gas and coffee and bathroom.

3: north platte -> salt lake city. 659 miles. average driving speed 86mph. 2 quick stops, again.

4: tomorrow, slc -> hillsboro, oregon. 791 miles.

total mileage thus far : 2,323. total average driving speed : 78.3mph.

tickets : 0

speed traps sniffed out by the V1 : 1

tumbleweeds caught in front air dam today : 2

vehicle : 2007 volvo S60R

average driving speeds computed by the car's trip computer and count any time the engine is turned on. total average time would of course be slower, but not by that much since the stops each day didn't amount to more than 6-8 minutes each.

before the defensive driving proponents jump all over me, i should say that i have many track hours behind the wheel of my car both with and without an instructor so i am comfortable with how the car handles at speeds and in traffic up to ~120mph.

the drive has been a blast - i love driving, so fatigue hasn't been an issue and with the volvo's seats i arrive feeling nearly as good as when i woke up that morning. I-80 was a blast. i drove from SF - ithaca last summer, taking 14 days to 'smell the roses' and while that was great...the pure speed run this time around has been awesome too. looking forward to one last day....

[yelloboy]

Day 4 : SLC - Beaverton, OR via I-84. 795 miles. 79mph average speed. Roughly 10.4 hours of real travel time. Absolutely gorgeous for the last 100 miles or so descending into Portland.

Total trip mileage : 3,118
Total average speed : 78.49mph

A great and quick trip - I probably do prefer a more leisurely pace (would have liked to have stopped at the Cabela's World HQ in Sidney, for example), although as an avowed speed nut, I can't complain about a flat out speed run either.

I took the fairly circuitous route since I had friends and family to visit in St Louis and SLC. The most direct route, according to google maps, is 2,790 miles.

[PNW Judy]

But I'm amazed you made all those miles without a ticket at those speeds. I'm glad you arrived safely. I love to push those limits myself but people should be aware that to average in the mid-high 70s, you have been driving a lot higher speeds for many miles. We really can't recommend that people exceed posted speed limits here. Unless they're willing to "pay the piper".