I’m not comfortable with unfamiliar highway interchanges either. My #1 Rule is Don’t Panic. If you get hemmed in by traffic and can’t safely change lanes to take the exit you want, just keep driving and take the next one. There’s always more than one way to get someplace.
My wife and I have the same problem. I can drive from PA to Orlando solo (17 hours with some breaks and stops) and she has problems just crossing PA by herself. What she has done various times when we’ve needed to do what you are doing is to break the trip into parts. In other words, she drives to Indy and visits something “touristy” that she always wanted to see. Then from Indy to St Louis and again a little tourist stop. We stay in touch via cell phones but I usually arrive a couple days ahead of her. Which is fine with both of us – as long as we arrive safely.
Consider going to the local Target, Wal-Mart, etc. and purchase 2 FRS (Family Radio Service) walkie-talkies and a bunch of batteries. They are cheap, less than $50 for a pair, and you can chatter with the hubby all the way without using cell phone minutes. They are good for about a 5 mile range.
Get a bluetooth headset for the cell if it’s capable of it. If the phone has any kind of voice dialling, you can just tap the bluetooth button on the headset and tell it whom you want to call. Or, if no voice-dialling, then phone your husband once in the morning, then every time you need to call after that, you can just fumble for the send/dial button and press it once, and it should redial the last number called.
Anyone you can invite to come along on the drive, for the price of a bus / plane ticket home afterward?
If you have an iPod, you can load it up and play it through the car’s speakers (aux jack, or cassette adapter, or if all else fails, an FM adapter). That way you can set it to play once, and just have it go for hours with minimal-to-no fumbling required. If you like to drive to audiobooks (I do, my husband doesn’t), loading up a couple of those on the ipod is also good. A cheap iPod shuffle is what, 45 bucks now, and there are other MP3 players that are as inexpensive.
Another thing you can do to prepare for some of those interchanges: Map your route on Google Maps. For each step, go to satellite and/or street view and look at what the interchange will be like. Oftentimes when you click on the individual steps in the directions, you’ll get something saying “street view not available”… but I’v found that a large proportion of the time, it is anyway.
Good advice.
Depending on your cellular provider, you may have GPS-ish functions available for an extra fee (we have Verizon and they have their Navigator tool - 2.99 for one day, 10.00 for a month). I’ve used that a handful of times. Cheaper than purchasing an actual GPS unit, anyway.
[quote=“Redwing, post:17, topic:510293”]
[li]Avoid the sun. Try to plan your breaks so that you don’t end up driving with the sun in your eyes. Personally I like to start such trips just after sunset, and to find when the sun starts forcing me to use my visor (heading west). Means I’m freshest in the dark, and not squinting (it’s too easy to close your eyes when you’re squinting and tired).[/LIST][/li][/QUOTE]
This is actually really good advice, particularly since the OP is driving west. When the sun is right down on the horizon, you literally can’t read roadsigns at all. Which is not good if you’re looking for something in particular. It’s a good time to stop for dinner or coffee.
Also you literally don’t need to keep both hands and both eyes on the road at all times. Driving the interstates is not that hairy, except in populated areas during rush hour.
Man, I’d love to drive cross country! I just wish I had the time…
Do the walkie talkie thing as has been advised. MUCH better than cell phones. We did this on our last move. Made things so much easier.
I just wish I could afford the gas.
If you don’t get the walkies, make sure you work out some visual signals like flashing your lights in case you’re in an area with no cell service. You might also be able to pre-program some short text messages like “bathroom/food/gas soon,” “stop ASAP,” “OK,” etc. into your phones.
For merging, the best advice I can give is to make sure you get close to highway speed before you merge. Also, plan where you think you’ll fit into the traffic as you are going up the ramp, not right before the merge point. Remember that it’s your job to merge, not the job of other drivers to make way for you, though it’s nice if they do. Just don’t count on them being able, willing, or attentive enough to do it. With experience, you should be able to glance down the road when you start up the ramp and estimate where you’ll fit into traffic, checking back a couple times and speeding up or slowing down to adjust.
Yeah. I loathe flying, but I’d rather put up with the airport and spend a week with my sister, than drive and get maybe a day. If I had month, I’d drive out, and actually get to see flyover country again. But the next time I’m likely to have that month will be sometime in the mid '40s.
I have driven cross country many times, and always seem to get the suckiest driving shifts. The mountains when its raining or crossing into Louisville in the fog, or the sun in my eyes in Atlanta.
Driving the whole enchilada would be tiresome but three things I cannot do without - fingerless driving gloves to combat sweaty palms, sunglasses and maybe a cap too, water and snacks.
Pre plan your stops on the map to the best of your availability. Bring an atalas, have the tricky areas mapquested and at the read y.
On-ramps are best approached patiently at 55mph, however keep an eye on traffic coming up behind to gauge their speed and pacing. Then get ready to gun it, merge happens.
First I want to second (third ? fourth ?) books on tape/CD. Get a bunch of these. Get unabridged ! These are a life-saver for long drives - definitely keep you alert and are NOT distracting from driving (far less distracting than holding a conversation on a cell).
I also want to 2nd (3rd ? 4th ?) walkie-talkies. You WILL hit “holes” in cell coverage - even if you have Verizon ! 
And they will occur at the most inopportune times.
Walkie-talkies are a much better alternative, BUT they can suck through batteries (since they need to be “on” all the time). So be sure to get the big CostCo/Sam’s Club pack of AA’s before you head out. (you can also find the cheap walkie-talkies there as well).
Plan to take breaks every couple of hours. Pee breaks, food breaks, stretch your leg breaks, nap breaks. If you divide up the driving day into these shorter segments, it is less intimidating.
Definitely get the walkies. Tape yours to the steering wheel so you can use it without taking your hands off the wheel, maybe.
You’ll be fine. The hardest part of this trip is being done by your husband- the navigating. Just follow him.
I came in to suggest walkie-talkies. Another vote here.
If you get a GPS, spend enough money to get one that audibly announces the names of the upcoming street: “Turn right on James in 200 feet”, not “Turn right in 200 feet.”
I love driving cross country. I also say get FRS radios and a GPS. I don’t like books on CD because I inevitably focus on something going on around me (as I should when I’m driving) and lose my place in the book. But that’s just me. I prefer to make playlists on my iPod of upbeat music I like.
Yes, I do have books on CD! I have two volumes of the Amber series, unfortunately abridged, but read by Zelazny himself! I also have Prisoner of Azkaban (bought it used), and some comedy CDs (Patton Oswalt, Chris Rock). Also, Mr. Rilch is going to lend me some of his Henry Rollins spoken word. I don’t dig Rollins all that much, but if that voice doesn’t keep me awake, nothing will. Beyond that, yes, I plan on doing a lot of singing.
Than you for the warning about tolls. Hadn’t even thought of that.
Good call on walkies! We’ll have them. And yes, we were planning short stops every so often. We have water and juice as well as pop. Sugar…yeah, I’ll try to avoid it, but I love a Reese’s Fast Break. And we are, in fact, starting just after sunset! Traveling west is cool, because you’re gaining an hour and following the sun. (Except when you’re waiting for sunRISE, but hey.) And we’ve agreed on 5 miles above whatever the speed limit is as the optimum speed.
I do have his number programmed into my cell, and I have a headset. We’re going to go over the map. The only stop we really have to make is in Kingman, AZ. Everything else will be a matter of “This is the preferred option, but if something comes up, we can stop here, here or here instead.”
If it wasn’t such short notice, we probably could get a third party: who doesn’t want to go to L.A.? But everybody’s gotta work.
And thank you for the advice on merging and on Google Maps.
I have relatives in Texas. Trust me, if you’re not relaxed by then you will be soon enough if you’re not going through the panhandle, then it’s “Does this state ever end?!”