08-01-2020, 05:54 AM
If you were planning a trip out west, meaning Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, from Jacksonville, and you had no time restrictions, would you drive out there or fly out there and rent a car?
(08-01-2020, 10:13 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I would drive but the only potential problem with that is the ability to find a place to stay. Currently many hotels only accept "essential personnel".
(08-01-2020, 10:36 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ](08-01-2020, 10:13 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I would drive but the only potential problem with that is the ability to find a place to stay. Currently many hotels only accept "essential personnel".
I'm not going until this Covid stuff is under control. Maybe 2021.
(08-01-2020, 05:54 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]If you were planning a trip out west, meaning Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, from Jacksonville, and you had no time restrictions, would you drive out there or fly out there and rent a car?
(08-01-2020, 09:09 AM)anonymous2112 Wrote: [ -> ]Fly and rent. Get a window seat for the view from Jax to, say, Denver. The ride won't get interesting until at least Dallas, depending on your route if you drive, although the Ozarks are pretty cool.
If you were coming out of the northeast or mid-Atlantic, I'd say drive because there's some interesting terrain. As I said in another thread, I-10 might be the most boring stretch of interstate in the US.
(08-03-2020, 05:11 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]I waver back and forth.
The advantage of a car is that you can take a lot of stuff. You can take all kinds of clothes, binoculars, insect repellent, whatever you can think of. You can pack a ton of stuff. Plus you don't have to stick to a schedule. You can leave when you feel like it and come home when you feel like it.
But on the other hand, driving to Arizona and then all the way up to Yellowstone and then all the way back to Jacksonville is a very loooooooooong drive. It would take 4 solid days of driving without stopping, 500 miles a day, just to get to Arizona.
(08-03-2020, 06:06 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ](08-03-2020, 05:11 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]I waver back and forth.
The advantage of a car is that you can take a lot of stuff. You can take all kinds of clothes, binoculars, insect repellent, whatever you can think of. You can pack a ton of stuff. Plus you don't have to stick to a schedule. You can leave when you feel like it and come home when you feel like it.
But on the other hand, driving to Arizona and then all the way up to Yellowstone and then all the way back to Jacksonville is a very loooooooooong drive. It would take 4 solid days of driving without stopping, 500 miles a day, just to get to Arizona.
I'm confused. If time is no concern then use the opportunity on the back and forth legs to see other things. Does it have to be a highway slog to get there and back?
(08-01-2020, 05:54 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]If you were planning a trip out west, meaning Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, from Jacksonville, and you had no time restrictions, would you drive out there or fly out there and rent a car?
(08-03-2020, 06:49 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ](08-03-2020, 06:06 AM)homebiscuit Wrote: [ -> ]I'm confused. If time is no concern then use the opportunity on the back and forth legs to see other things. Does it have to be a highway slog to get there and back?
Your confusion is probably a reflection of my own confusion.
But that's a good question. Does it have to be a highway slog to get there and back? Everybody says I-10 is very boring. I haven't taken a look at any other route to see what's on it. I've only looked at I-10. The only thing I can see on I-10 that looks interesting is San Antonio.
(08-01-2020, 05:54 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]If you were planning a trip out west, meaning Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, from Jacksonville, and you had no time restrictions, would you drive out there or fly out there and rent a car?
(08-01-2020, 07:09 AM)The Drifter Wrote: [ -> ]Take the Amtrak, it's relaxing and they have a bar car............
(08-04-2020, 06:10 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]I have a long time to plan this, probably at least a year.
When I was 11 years old, my family- mother, father, brother, sister, and I- packed ourselves into a station wagon and set out from Jacksonville to see the whole country. My father built a long, wide, low box out of plywood, put a foam rubber mattress in it, with a lid that propped open, and a mosquito net, and mounted it on top of the car. Two of us would sleep up there and the other three would sleep in the car. We did a combination of hotels and camp grounds.
I remember stopping in New Orleans, El Paso, Arizona, going up the coast of California to Vancouver, and all the way back across the country to Jacksonville. We saw all the major national parks.
One time all five of us were walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans at night, and I looked across the street, and there was this guy standing in front of some double doors. Well he catches my eye, and with a sly look on his face throws the doors open, and there was a stripper dancing on stage, and she had those little pasties with tassels on them, and those things were going in every direction, round and round, up and down, and I about fainted. I was 11. I'll never forget that.
I remember seeing the Rocky Mountains off in the distance. We were driving towards them. And then the next day, they were still off in the distance. And then the day after that, they were still there off in the distance. Driving, driving, driving. My father didn't want to stop every time someone had to tinkle, so we had a little chamber pot and if one of us needed to go, they would climb into the back seat, everyone turned their head, and you tinkle in the chamber pot. Then we rolled down the window and chucked the pee out the window.
I remember seeing Monument Valley. As an 11 year old kid who had seen a ton of westerns, I felt like I had entered a movie or something.
All the way across the country, up the California coast to Canada, and back across the country diagonally.
And I remember the drive back, driving across Kansas. Wheat, wheat, wheat. Endless wheat fields. Now I think it would be corn.
It took us 30 days.
(08-04-2020, 06:10 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]I have a long time to plan this, probably at least a year.
When I was 11 years old, my family- mother, father, brother, sister, and I- packed ourselves into a station wagon and set out from Jacksonville to see the whole country. My father built a long, wide, low box out of plywood, put a foam rubber mattress in it, with a lid that propped open, and a mosquito net, and mounted it on top of the car. Two of us would sleep up there and the other three would sleep in the car. We did a combination of hotels and camp grounds.
I remember stopping in New Orleans, El Paso, Arizona, going up the coast of California to Vancouver, and all the way back across the country to Jacksonville. We saw all the major national parks.
One time all five of us were walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans at night, and I looked across the street, and there was this guy standing in front of some double doors. Well he catches my eye, and with a sly look on his face throws the doors open, and there was a stripper dancing on stage, and she had those little pasties with tassels on them, and those things were going in every direction, round and round, up and down, and I about fainted. I was 11. I'll never forget that.
I remember seeing the Rocky Mountains off in the distance. We were driving towards them. And then the next day, they were still off in the distance. And then the day after that, they were still there off in the distance. Driving, driving, driving. My father didn't want to stop every time someone had to tinkle, so we had a little chamber pot and if one of us needed to go, they would climb into the back seat, everyone turned their head, and you tinkle in the chamber pot. Then we rolled down the window and chucked the pee out the window.
I remember seeing Monument Valley. As an 11 year old kid who had seen a ton of westerns, I felt like I had entered a movie or something.
All the way across the country, up the California coast to Canada, and back across the country diagonally.
And I remember the drive back, driving across Kansas. Wheat, wheat, wheat. Endless wheat fields. Now I think it would be corn.
It took us 30 days.