Interstate Road Trip Tournament, Round 1, Heat 24.
 

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]:



Your next competitors are:

Option 1 - I-96 from Norton Shores, MI, to Detroit, MI
7 Day Trip
192 Miles, 27 miles per day on average
Passes through Muskegon, Grand Rapids, and Lansing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_96

Option 2 - I-71 from Louisville, KY, to Cleveland, OH
7 Day Trip
346 miles, 49 miles per day on average
Passes through Cincinnati and Columbus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_71

Option 3 - I-75 from Miami Lakes, FL, to Sault Ste. Marie, MI
13 Day Trip
1,786 Miles, 137 miles per day on average
Passes through Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Orlando, Gainesville, Macon, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, and near Mackinac Island.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_75

Option 4 - I-17 from Phoenix, AZ, to Flagstaff, AZ
7 Day Trip
146 miles, 21 miles per day on average
Passes near Sedona

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_17

Lived in Flagstaff for 5 years. Been up and down that hill in 17 numerous times. Don't really need to revisit that, thanks.

75 on the other hand covers a lot of territory that would be new to me.

Take me through Arizona, the southwest is truly beautiful

Best trip I ever took was Amtrak’s Southwest Chief to LA, you’re in the middle of nowhere for much of it, and some of the places you get to see are pristine, unforgettable

Think old John Wayne movie shot on location, you almost expected to see a tribe of Indians come galloping down some pass after you

There are some sneaky good options in this one.

I'll start out be eliminating I-71. I'm not that compelled by central Ohio and that Cincinnati chili stuff seems kind of weird.

I'm intrigued by I-96. I had a pleasant time driving part of that road a few years ago. Muskegon is right on Lake Michigan, so I'd probably spend a couple of days in Detroit, which I've never visited, and then drive straight through to find some nice hotel near the lake for the rest of the week. I'm not sure it's a finalist, though.

My two finalists would be I-17 and I-75.

I-17 is nice. I've driven it before, and the main draw would be Sedona. I spent several days in a Sedona resort a few years back, getting a chakra massage and eating the best cornbread I've ever had. I'd basically just go there for a week, driving there the first day and leaving the last day.

I-75 is interesting because you could spend a day at Disney World, go visit the Coke Museum in Atlanta, check out some Civil War stuff in Chattanooga, hit that great airplane museum in Dayton, park your car and spend a day on Mackinac Island, and then I've always wanted to visit Sault Ste. Marie since I know nothing about it. There's a lot of driving in northern Michigan, which I bet is pretty.

Tough call here. I really like I-75, but I think I'll go with that Sedona spa along I-17.

And I like geography, but I've never noticed that Michigan is directly north of Florida. I would've guessed that Michigan was much further west. The bulk of Florida is south of Ohio, even though I would have guessed that it was more in line with the northeast or New York.

But but but ... Sedona!

Actually, we were pretty disappointed with the town of Sedona. It was nothing but a big souvenir stand. But the resort/spa we stayed in was great.

I'd like to do the Southwest Chief sometime. Where'd you get on?

Took a short hop train from Springfield Il to KC and transferred there... would do it again in a heartbeat, LOVE traveling by train

The seats are huge and comfortable for sleeping, you’ve got lounge cars to go take in the view, the bar car where you can go get a beer, fresh burger and watch some tv... and the smokers car turns into a big ol party at night

Yeah, I like amtrak. I did a big amtrak hobo journey about five years ago, but didn't make it to the southwest. I'd probably change up a few things next time (sleeper cars aren't as comfortable as I would've expected), but I'd do it again.

I’ve wondered what the sleeper cars are like, sounds like not worth the money... I was surprised how big the regular seats were, and how far they leaned back

I’d do the AZ trip. I wasn’t influenced at all by the previous posts glorifying the Sedona experience. I love that area and haven’t yet explored it to my satisfaction.

They were admittedly more comfortable than sleeping in the seats just because you could take your clothes off and slide between sheets. The sleeper car was basically two seats facing each other with walls and a locking door that created a room. You could then pull the seats together to make a lie-flat bed or you could pull down a murphy bed that was up high. I did the murphy bed.

It was a bit challenging in that once you closed the door you basically only had a foot or so of room outside the seats. So it would've been very hard for a larger person to use the murphy bed because it was like climbing into a bunk on a submarine. I was on the train for probably four nights or so, so it was worth doing. The bigger challenge for me was more that the movement of the train made it hard to sleep, which is an issue whether you're in a seat or in a sleeper car.

Now, I did see the "bedroom suites" when I was in the sleeper car, and those looked really nice. They had a lot of room and even a private bathroom. Looking at this video, apparently they even have a private shower. (I got use of a public shower with the sleeper, by the way, and it was quite serviceable.)
We're talking a lot more money for a bedroom, though, more than I'd probably pay.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v2JROHySSfo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Shower and a shitter, very nice... yep, if you’re not in a big hurry trains are a great way to go

Just talking about it makes me wanna go again, except this time I’m dropping all my plans and getting off in Winslow, Az to start a new life... like I was THIS close to doing last time

Option 3 - I-75 from Miami Lakes, FL, to Sault Ste. Marie, MI
13 Day Trip
1,786 Miles, 137 miles per day on average
Passes through Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Orlando, Gainesville, Macon, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, and near Mackinac Island.

This touches a hell of a lot of beautiful places and hard to compare a 1,786 mile trip to one of 150-200 miles.

These are great threads to read. Our 40th wedding anniversary is in October and I have to figure something out.

Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy.

(I bet the actual residents of Winslow are sick of that song. But it's a really good song)