Driving from Pennsylvania to Florida

marielg · ‎04-30-2023

I am looking for any suggestions/advice on a route to travel from NE Pennsylvania to Port St Lucie Florida. My daughter moved there last year and I would so like to visit my granddaughters for Thanksgiving. I have never visited them and miss them so much. I would rather drive than fly so I have the option to bring along what I want to. I would be driving alone. I know RT 95 is a straight drive down there but I do not want to drive through Washington. I thought AARP Roadside assistance still had the trip planning assistance where they help plan and supply paper maps, but seems they no longer offer it. Only online apps which I prefer not to use. Suggestions? Advice? Words of wisdom?

marielg · ‎04-30-2023

Thank you all for your suggestions. Oddly I have a pretty good sense directions.

I study the maps and write down my plan. Type it large enough on the computer that I can read if I glance over while driving. I suppose the GPS could be back up.

DavidS720244 · ‎04-30-2023

I think Eric had the way to drive, but I-77 is difficult through WVA and they have a toll on the road. Unfortunately, I-95 is what most people use (it's crowded and dangerous) and but it IS a straight route.

I have driven the I-77 to I-26 to I-95 several times. Last fall I gave up driving to FL and took to the air. You could ship with UPS the items you won't carry on the plane. I did.

EricC227821 · ‎04-30-2023

Do you wish to avoid D.C. badly enough to start out by going west to Harrisburg?

Generally speaking you could run I-81 to I-77 to I-26 circling back to I-95 south of Columbia S.C..

If you're not averse to asking AAA for assistance they have a program called TripTik.

BTW...Also prefer hardcopy maps...saw a news report not to long ago that they're making a comeback.

marielg · ‎04-30-2023

I will consider this route as I am close to 81. I have AARP Allstate Roadside Assistance which does not have Trip Tik like AAA. I may consider switching to them as well.

KellytheBelly · ‎04-30-2023

GPS?

(I, personally, prefer paper maps, too. I drove cross-country, though, with the dreaded GPS (and walkie-talkies), which I will never use again, unless I travel beyond 500+ miles. Go to your local book store, and buy a map. Write it down. And, hopefully someone can do what Claire Colburn did in, 'Elizabethtown.' lol Oh my gosh! If anyone did that for me, I'd be over the moon and back, and repeat! Mapping my journey with music, audio, and history. That'd be Awesome.)

Spring2023 · ‎04-30-2023

(4 comments) @EricC227821 , @KellytheBelly - I prefer GPS, now that I have it as of 2018 on Android my daughter bought me.

BEFORE, it was a NIGHTMARE "reading/following" a PAPER map = stress!!!/lol. 😱😱

But GPS can "mess" you up as ROUTES change and Google is CLUELESS about the change. 🙄

Glad my daughter will be driving my u-haul back to Florida from Virginia. At age soon-to-be 65, I could NOT do it.

Please stay in touch if you can @marielg , WE would luv to hear how it all works out for you. Good Luck and be Safe....

Nicole 🙃

marielg · ‎04-30-2023

Thank you Nicole. I too am 65 and never drove that distance so I am kinda' nervous. Where are you in Virginia? My husband and I would like to move there, in a rural area

Spring2023 · ‎04-30-2023

(1 comment) Hi @marielg , I am in Cave Spring but alot of people call it Roanoke.

It is cheaper than Florida but I need to be "closer" to my daughter as I age.

Hmmm, not really rural as like other places it is being built up unfortunately.

Nicole 🙃

marielg · ‎05-01-2023

I hear you. Seems like everywhere is getting built up . I don't think I could live near my daughter in Florida I turn into the wicked witch in high humidity