Interstate Road Trip Tournament, Round 1, Heat 23.

[Rain Man]

In case you're curious, there are 26 total heats in Round 1. We're 90 percent of the way through.


Just a little offseason exercise. There are 80 different Interstate highways in the USA (including Puerto Rico). Which one would be best for a road trip?

I've set the rules as follows (in spoiler for those of you who've read them already]:

Spoiler!

I'm also including highways in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico that are essentially interstate highways, though they're not called that since they don't cross state boundaries.

It'll be a single-elimination tournament, though some will regain new life in wild-card spots to get the tournament bracket correct.

You get a minimum of 7 days on any highway, regardless of length. However, if the length requires more than 150 miles of travel per day, you'll get extra days until your daily mileage drops below 150 miles.

You may travel in either direction.

You may stop at attractions along the way, but at no point can you be more than 10 miles from the interstate.

You have the budget to stay at any hotel or dine at any restaurant within ten miles of the interstate.

You may spend multiple nights in any location but you cannot drive more than 250 miles in a single day. So you have to budget your driving time.

You may use any criteria you wish to make your vote. You can consider the driving lengths and conditions, scenery, attractions along the way, any outstanding warrants you have in that state, the likelihood of a Christie Brinkley clone waving at your from a Ferrari, or anything else you might wish to consider.

You can pick the time of year.

You can pick the vehicle that you drive. Assume that you're renting any vehicle that you could purchase for $50,000 or less (new or used). It can be different vehicles on different road trips, so you can customize to fit.

I'll post the basics of each route, but I don't see any specific website that provides a good description of the attractions that one would see along the route. You're on your own for that. Of course, you can do a google map view to see what your scenery is.

Your next two competitors are:

Option 1 - I-84 from Portland, OR, to Echo, UT
7 Day Trip
770 miles, 110 miles per day on average
Passes along the Columbia River and through Boise and Ogden

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inters...%E2%80%93Utah)

Option 2 - I-76 from Westfield Center, OH, to Bellmawr, NJ
7 Day Trip
436 miles, 62 miles per day on average
Passes through Akron, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and near the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inters...%93New_Jersey)

Option 3 - I-95 from Miami, FL, to Houlton, ME
13 Day Trip
1,835 miles, 141 miles per day on average
Passes through Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Savannah, Richmond, Washington DC, Baltimore, Wilmington (DE), Philadelphia, New York, Hartford, Portsmouth (NH), and Portland (ME).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_95

Option 4 - I-99 from Bedford, PA, to Painted Post, NY
7 Day Trip
229 miles, 33 miles per day on average
Passes through Altoona and State College (watch out for Jerry Sandusky!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_99

[Rain Man]

Okay, starting from the bottom I don't find I-99 to be very compelling other than seeing Tamba Hali's old dorm or something. It's out.

Philadelphia is an interesting city and I wouldn't mind stopping at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's a good road trip for the most part along I-76.

I-84 would be pretty, I bet. I've never spent time in Portland, so I'd like to stay there. I'd do this route east to west and finish up with a few days in Portland. The drive would be pretty fast, with maybe one night in Boise or a small town.

I-95. Hmm, I-95. My first thought was that this would be an amazing trip. And it really would. I'd like to stop in New York, Savannah, DC, Miami... the list goes on and on. Doing the entire Florida coast would be cool. But my concern here is traffic. I need to make 140 miles a day, and I'm driving through NY and DC and other places where the drive itself would be unpleasant and slow. I worry a little that I'd do a lot of driving and not much sightseeing. But then again, maybe I'm overstating it. 140 miles a day is 2 hours, so even if I get bogged down in the megalopolis areas, maybe it's 4 hours of driving a day?

I'm torn between I-84 and I-95. Relax on I-84 or be an ubertourist on I-95?

I'll vote I-95, but I'll wish I had more than 13 days.

[displacedinMN]

Tough. Thinking....

[Hydrae]

I have done at least portions of 84 many times. It is a lovely drive, especially the first (or last) 100 miles or so through the Columbia Gorge. Be sure to stop and check out Multnomah Falls!

So I had to go with I-95. The vast majority would be new road for me and it would lead me northward to one of the few states that I have never entered, Maine.

[Old Dog]

Tough choice between 84 and 95 for me, but went with 95