17 hours is enough time for 2 good nights rest?
The older I get, I can’t really go more than 9 or 10 hours. And that includes breaks every 2 hours. When I was younger, 18 hours no problem with less breaks!
Moab is 15 hours from home. If I do it in 1 shot each way that's 2 extra days wheeling. Even if I didn't have anywhere to be I have no desire to spend 12+ hours in a hotel.
I do 2 trips from south of Pittsburgh to Denver every year. About 1,500 miles and about 21 hours one way. I do that in 2 days. The wifey and the dog needs to stop about every 2 hours. Between fuel stops and pee stops. It takes us about 12 hours a day to do 750 miles. My self, I've done it in 21 hours with about 4 hours between each fuel stop.
Bump the average speed up a bit to 70 and it's 30 hours, or drive 17 hours per day, or drive 15 day 1 and 19 day 2 because again, I have no desire to spend a bunch of hours staring at a hotel room wall. We did 2300 in 2 days but that was a bit much even for me. Not to mention, the OP is starting ~300 miles closer to Georgia than where I am. Google maps say 32 hours from LA to Atlanta, which I usually beat by several hours in a roadtrip. But even at 32 hours, turning it into 4 days means 64 hours of down time.
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It's possible to average 70mph (including stops), but it is impossible to do legally. Here is a GPS readout where the objective was to complete the course in 24 hours. Note the "Overall Average" and the top speed. FWIW, this was a ride in the state of Nevada. Obviously, the route was friendly to speed.
I don't care, like I said I legitimately wonder what people do when they only drive 8 hours a day on road trips. If he said hookers and blow in the hotel room then I can see killing 16 hours a day. Maybe you like sit down meals with 3 course lunches and 7 course dinners so killing 6 hours a day eating is possible? Again, no judgement just a question. Maybe you want to catch a film every evening, although I wouldn't want to spend my down time in a chair with limited leg room as I might as well still be driving at that point, you do you.
Well since you're "legitimately wondering" I'll tell you what I do:
I agree whole heartedly with the local fare, maybe a local brewery, etc when I'm done for the day. As far as the early start, we are morning people. I'm at the gym at 2:30am during the week (no crowds vs training after work). 8 hours in the hotel room, 1-2 hours for dinner/drinks, and 14-15 hours of getting where I'm going is about the average for us. Our property in Arizona is about 10 hours from home, so that part of any longer roadtrip there aren't any new sites I want to see. If we are on a trip somewhere new, just to be on a trip then we will head off and see new things. Most of those trips are wheeling/ overlanding so 12 hours per day in the Jeep is pretty normal though. Drive around checking out old mines or landmarks, but we still spend more time driving than hiking/exploring most days. Not saying my way is the only way or the right way, but it works for us.
