Roadtrip Wednesday: A Series
Driving from coast-to-coast in the USA: Speed up? Slow down? Me first?
SubStack for July 24, 2024
I do a lot of road trips. In the last 3 years, I have drive through something like 35-40 of the contiguous United States. I have driven in so many big cities - New York, NY, Los Angeles, NV, Dallas, TX, Chicago, IL, Kansas City, MO, St. Louis, MO, Wichita, KS, Washington, D.C., Portland, OR. The list goes on and on. I have also driven in 5 Canadian Provinces - not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
Drivers everywhere have their own unique ideas about driving - that’s for sure. I lived in Virginia for over 40 years, and I remember there was a squabble between Virginia and Maryland drivers. Both thought the other state had the worse drivers. I think the jury is still out on which one is actually worse. But I know they sure irritate each other a lot!
I remember driving in Dallas, TX, and there were huge humps in the road, marking left turn lanes from the regular lanes of traffic. I took one look at these tall, colorful things, and thought, “those must rip up snow plows so badly!” And then, immediately after that, I realized - it’s Texas. It doesn’t snow here. At least no snow to speak of. Not like I am used to in the Northeastern United States, anyway.
One year, I drove my dad and an acquaintance to New York City’s annual Toy Fair. The closer we got to our hotel, the more detours we found. We took one detour after another. One of them was looking at the street(s), another was looking at the map. And one of them would (nicely) shout, “turn left!” The other would (nicely) shout, “turn right!” So I would go straight. It happened for what felt like forever. I think it took us 2 1/2 hours or so to go about 15 blocks. It was really awful.
We finally arrived at our hotel, and found out what all the traffic and detours had been about: BRICKS had FALLEN OFF the building across the street from our hotel! Bricks had fallen off, so we were being constantly detoured away from where we were actually trying to get to. That was a very stressful drive. One of the worst I have ever endured.
Driving in Los Angeles, CA, we arrived at the airport after a trans-continental flight where a man sitting in front of me had GLARED at me the entire flight while I was trying to mother both of my kids & keep them confined during the flight, while his own partner took care of their baby. A most unpleasant flight. and my brother really wanted to go see Jay Leno. My toddler and baby were finally asleep and I was exhausted and wanted to nap.
I think it took us 4 hours to go from the airport to wherever Jay Leno records his show. By the way, this was in 2011 - so it was a number of years ago! Traffic that day was at the worst level it could be in. Just horrendous. After dropping them off, I tried to find a shady spot where I could nap until it was time to pick them up. I drove around and around and around and finally found a subdivision. By the time I got my eyes closed for 10 minutes, I got the phone call that they were ready to be picked up. And they were something like 20 minutes away. No rest for the weary.
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I have so many of these kinds of stories!
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I want to share the weird thing that happens only in the Wichita, Kansas area, I feel like. It happened this morning. (I am typing this on a plane as I am flying to Alaska, though I think this newsletter won’t run for at least a week from now - when I have arrived back home after my Alaska trip - watch for a photo essay of Alaska in a future newsletter, and another newsletter that will also have photos, and also stories and things I observed while I was there!)
This morning, as my partner drove us to the airport, he suddenly said, “I bet he is going to exit at the next exit.” I knew what he meant - some guy was flying by us, passing us on the left. And sure enough, he exited at the next exit.
My partner added, “he was fine driving 65 behind me for at least 10-15 miles. But then he wanted to exit, so he just had to pass me first.”
It’s the oddest thing - I don’t really notice this because of my vision issues and lack of visual memory & inability to recognize cars beyond what color they are. But my partner notices this constantly. He also drives all over the lower 2/3rds of Kansas, due to his job. He is on the road for miles and miles, every day, in his work van.
I have also noticed in Wichita, on Kellogg drive (“if you know, you know”), that people just cut over and cross in front of each other, block each other, don’t let others merge … it’s a MESS. Exactly zero drivers are thoughtful drivers any time I am driving on Kellogg (the main drag through Wichita). It’s just so weird to me.
I have definitely noticed a LOT of drivers feel like it’s “me first.” They always want to go first, be first, be ahead of that truck, get around someone.
I remember one time after church, in Virginia, my dad was driving very slowly in our own neighborhood. One of my brothers had a birthday party to get to and we were all eager to get him there. All of us in the car started pushing my dad to please go faster. It seemed like every time we asked him to go faster, he would slow down. Maybe he was playing a game with us. Maybe we were making him nervous because he didn’t want to speed.
Dad gave us a lesson that day - “just because you’re in a hurry, doesn’t mean you should go faster. You’re not going to get there any faster if you speed.” (How many times have you seen it to be true - that the person who sped around you 3 miles back ends up next to you at the traffic light up ahead? 😆
I quipped, back to my dad, “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean you SLOW DOWN, either.” I feel like that broke whatever spell we were all under - Dad drove at the speed limit after that, and we stopped bothering him. Of course, by that point, we were probably only 4 blocks from the house with the birthday party.
Last time I wrote about driving, I talked about using your cruise control. This time was mostly fun stories. Well, maybe “fun” is debatable.
Next time I will talk about driving safely around semi-trucks. I have a special passion for knowing how to drive safely around trucks, and I wish everyone who drives anywhere, knew how to drive safely around trucks.
Road trip stories! I make "friends" on the road all the time. Last time I was on the road to St. Louis, I suddenly became aware of a semi. I'm not sure what made me take notice, but I suddenly was aware that this guy knew what he was doing. He knew the area, he knew the lane tricks: You know, the 'there is a turn coming up and traffic will slow when it does' but only the locals know that. I passed him once when I had a chance, just for him to catch up with me and pass me again. At that point I decided to just stick with him, behind him that is. This driver may have been my literal savior when suddenly the lane marking on the Interstate disappeared in the middle of St. Louis. 3 lanes, no markings! And the road ain't straight, mind you! We're doing twists and turns under other Interstates and roads. I was pretty sure I was going to die! But I just stuck to that truck like glue - and we both made it.
Another memorable one was a trip to the airport, where 7 or 8 cars were in a line on the left lane, doing 80. All 7 of us, just passing the occasional truck on the right. Then suddenly a car appeared in the back of the column, darts to the right lane, and passes all of us on the right at breakneck speed. That was *not* safe - and we were already doing 80 in a 70! The driver finished the illegal pass just as we get to an overpass - and *there* was the cop! Car got itself pulled over, and I suspect that 7 or 8 drivers were smiling as we passed the vehicle.