ROAD TRIPPP!!!!

[attila]

So what are your road trips like?. Topic is up because I just got home from work( time is 11:30 pst) and i have a tourney at 9:30 tomorrow 300 miles away. Gotta get up a 3:00 am and get going, fence, get b-slapped, Pizza &beer, then get back in the mobile and go home. Six hunert miles AND A TOURNEY in under 24 Hours. WOOHEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[attila]

I'm baaaack! And I am too pooped to post.

[Shadow Fencer]

Gads!!! I think you win the prize! The furthest I've driven for a day is 5 hours, or 2.5 hours each way!

[Mergs]

Um, you guys wouldn't make it in Texas. That's just about a daily commute for some folks.

[lochinvar]

I stay within a 3-4 hour (150-200 miles, approx.) radius, usually. That's a reasonable distance, I think, for a day trip.

Any farther than that, and I lose interest. There are too many other things I could/should be doing.

Occaisionally I will plan an overnight trip, but that's quite rare. Difficult to justify the expense.

[neevel]

Back when was living in Iowa City, I once did a one-day trip to and from Omaha for the Omaha Challenge-- 4 hours each way. Got up at 3 a.m., actually made it to the venue _before_ anyone else, then drove back in the evening, getting home about 11 p.m. (this was when I was a full time grad student and didn't want to spring for a motel room). Nowadays, for anything more than 2.5 hours one-way (unless it starts later in the morning than 9 a.m. or so) I'll go up the night before and spend the $45 at a Super 8 or the like. Very rarely I'll burn a day or half-day of vacation on a Friday to make a longer trip.

-Dave

[swordsen]

I have made that trip. for normal tournaments I try to limit myself to about a 3 hour drive to get there. but I have been known to go as far as 9-12. (sectionals in either northern virginia or in say Miami.) and I have driven to New Orleans too. all this from the south east corner of Georgia.

[Inquartata]

Six to seven hours each way is not unusual for me, when I can't find a cheap enough flight that leaves and returns at acceptable times. Of course, that's usually with a stay-over at the destination. Oddly enough, some of my better performances have been turned in at tournaments to which I drove and before which I had not slept for 24 hours or more...

[Chris]

[quote]Originally posted by attila:
<strong>So what are your road trips like?.... Six hunert miles AND A TOURNEY in under 24 Hours. WOOHEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!</strong><hr></blockquote>

In my last year as a junior fencer, I was actually working a full time job; and then some (I worked 3 nights a week in a restaurant, as well), to save up money for college...

This was way back before the Great Lakes Section was formed out of the Midwest Section; After working Thursday night, I met people (primarily high school fencers) at about 8:00 AM at my old high school, and we piled into a couple station wagons and a van; so I got stuck driving the 700 miles to Dearborn, MI; all day Friday (additionally, the speed limit was 55!), and got in pretty late!

Saturday, I fenced 3 rounds of Open Foil, and 3 rounds of Junior Epee (the format was all pools), and then Sunday, fenced another 4 rounds of Junior Foil, with the happy result that I qualified for both Jr. National events (the Open events were not qualifiers at the time).

Wisely, we waited until Monday to drive home, but after driving 1400 miles, and fencing 50 bouts in 2 days, it still took me until Thursday to recover!

You can't buy that kind of fun!