Re: CHAT: Away for a week

Ph. D. wrote:

> Carsten Becker wrote:
> >
> > I *must* drive half the way because my mom has sprained
> > her ankle some days ago. 2 hours of motorway, and it'll be
> > the first time after driving school I'm driving on teh Autobahn.
> > *shudder*
My sympathies to Carsten; it's scary enough for an experienced driver on our
equivalent (the Interstate system), which has a more-or-less observed speed
limit.  But 2 hours is, like, nothing...
>
> I once drove from Detroit, Michigan to Salt Lake City, Utah,
> stopping only for fuel and food. It was 1600 miles (2575 km),
> and it took me twenty-seven hours. I don't recommend it.
>
That's bad. Even in younger days I couldn't do that-- tended to nod off. But
up until 2000, when I had a winter refuge in Florida, I routinely made that
trip (1400mi.) with just one overnight. The second day was always hard,
because I seldom got further than 500 mi. the first day.

Sometime around 1926-7, my Schwartz grandparents, with their 3 daughters,
just out of college, drove to California; I don't know why... Mother
actually had a job for a while in Giannini's Bank of Italy (later Bank of
America); life would have been very interesting had she stayed out there,
I'm sure.
Anyhow they returned to South Dakota (why!?), and the local paper reported
that "Dr. Schwartz and his family are back from California, after a long
drive, stopping only to take on gas and water."  Given the state of the
roads, and the cars, in those days, it must have been Hell.