Directions home
It’s indicative of the greatness of America’s interstate system that it takes only 12 course changes to drive from my house in Seattle to my dad’s house in Omaha.
According to Google Maps, the distance is 1,710 miles and would take about 28 hours to complete without stops. Of the 12 steps from start to finish, the first five merely get you to I-90, a distance of less than two miles. Then at step six:
Bear right into the I-90 E entry ramp to Spokane - go 821 miles.
Step seven is equally momentous yet understated:
Take the I-90 E exit 456 to Sheridan - go 701 miles.
Step eight is more ordinary but failure to follow it will result in your entry into Iowa, something to be avoided on this itinerary:
Take the I-29 S exit 396A - go 182 miles.
And finally, the last four steps get you to the front door of your destination. Brilliant transportation planning.
Now, gasoline would cost roughly $200 to go the distance, and I don’t know about you but I can’t drive for 28 hours without stopping for the night, maybe twice, so add on another $150 for motel rooms. Then there’s food and drink, maybe another $50 (because you’ll be eating at crap restaurants that serve cheap food.) So, it looks like it may now cost up to $400 to drive there. After about a week, you’ll have been reminded of all the things that made you want to leave Omaha in the first place, so you’ll decided to drive back to Seattle. Ouch. There goes another $400.
Not so brilliant transportation planning.
We should have seen this coming. Gone are the days of carefree cross-country motoring. It’s cheaper to fly distances greater than a few hundred miles (for now). Passenger railroad service is laughable. What comes next? Has the great “not negotiable” American experiment in mobility-at-any-cost failed? My answer would be “yep, sure has”.
Update: In July 1994, we took a month-long road trip around America covering approximately 4,000 miles. The average retail price of a gallon of gas in July 1994 was $1.10, so we likely spent about $176 on gas during that trip. The average price of a gallon of gas this week is $2.95 which means the same trip taken today would cost us $472 just for gas. I’m not complaining about the price increase. I understand what’s going on. It’s a combination of supply and demand and oil company profit-taking (get it while the gettin’s good). I’m just saying that those amazing, long road trips behind the wheel of our own personal vehicle are going to make for some great stories to tell our grandchildren.