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Cross-Country Supertrip 2007
Moe Fwacky
Right Here, Right NowDrives a BuickModerator mod
Right Here, Right NowDrives a BuickModerator mod
Well, planning is in full swing this year. We've got a schedule, people, and a plan. For those of you who are new to us, we're going to drive to PAX, across I-90 and I-94 (and a little of I-80 to the east) in a long, continuous line in two days. So saddle up and join us! Interested? Have questions? Leave a post and I'll get back to you as soon as my schedule allows (which is anything from immediate to twelve hours). Check out my profile or shoot over to www.ccsupertrip.org for contact info if you have a question you don't want to ask the entire forum. Also, site update has happened today (3-31)!
Preliminary Schedule is complete. Take a look below, but it is by no means final just yet. Also, the Cross-Country Supertrip Website is up and running, you can check it out at www.ccsupertrip.org. It has all this information in a much more organized format (you know with pages and stuff).
What It Is
The Cross-Country Supertrip is our pilgramage to the Penny Arcade Expo from points east. Our primary route runs the northernmost portions of the U.S. However, we are open to having people from points south join up to the main caravan. For those of you who are unfamiliar, last year was our first year and nobody died. Plus, we all had a lot of fun. One high point about traveling in a caravan is safety in numbers. When it's four in the morning at a travel station in the middle of nowhere, it's good to know ten or more people in the immediate area. It's also a lot of fun to watch all the cars changing lanes late at night, it's like a giant road snake or something. So, I hope you'll join us. Onward, forward and so forth!
How It Works
The Cross-Country Supertrip, or CCST, is divided by stops known as Waypoints. A waypoint is our official stop to get gas, rest and meet up with other Supertrippers alond the way. Each waypoint is allotted so much time to allow us to stretch and rest. Supertrippers fall into two groups, Drivers and Passengers. Passengers, you are responsible for finding a ride and making your way to the waypoints. Payment comes in the form of your share of gas. Specifics can be arranged with the driver of your vehicle.
If you want to be added to our list of participants, drop me a line to be added to the list. Use the following format for sending information.
Group Leader: This is the group's go-to guy, usually the most active person on the forums/internet. This person's main responsibility lies in relaying status updates between their group and the CCST. This person is also responsible for getting their group together to depart from their location.
Location: City, State/Province where you live
Waypoint: Our pre-selected stopping points on the route, pick the one closes to your location.
Vehicle: Year, Make, Model, MPG, Miles per Tank
Other Riders: This includes your other drivers and non-driving passengers in your group.
Contact: Your e-mail address, in addition you can add your AIM/YIM/GTalk/MSN
What You'll Need
A Working Vehicle - This is a long trip, and we don't want to scrape your steaming wreckage off the side of the road, so do basic maintenance before you go, meaning: change engine oil, check air filter, top off engine coolant and washer fluid. Check road and spare tire pressures and tread ware and bring extra oil, coolant, fluids (brake, power steering, anything that ends in "fluid") to top off on the road with.
A Cell Phone - You or one of your riders will need to be carrying a phone.
A Two-Way Radio - At least five-mile range. These help us keep in communication on the road when cell usage is unavailable or impractical. These are particularly useful during night driving.
The CCST Phone Directory - This is a full contact list of people on the Supertrip. It will be e-mailed to you shortly before departure.
A Gallon Jug of Water - Good for you or your car. Other drinkables are good, but can't go in your car
Non-perishible snackables - Food for the road, beef jerky is a good mainstay along with trail mixes and anything else you might like. Stay away from ideas like a cooler filled with sandwich fixin's. It may sound like a cool idea, but takes up way too much space and is very impractical
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: It's hella expensive to eat and gas a car for the miles it's going to take to get there. Is it really that much cheaper than flying?
A: There's a formula to calculate the gas costs. Distance divided by miles per gallon, and the result of that divided by the national average cost of gas (or at least the average from where you are to Seattle). As for eating, with the money you save not flying, you can afford to eat and still save money.
Q: How much for a seat if I have no car but want to come along?
A: That depends on the vehicle and how gas is being divided up, contact the person you're riding with for details.
Q: How can I help make this baby happen?
A: Number One thing anybody can do to help make this happen is word of mouth, point them here, to the official Penny Arcade Expo website and to the forum thread.
Q: Did the thread/website just up and die or what?
A: Our updates happen throughout the year in bursts, and grow more frequent as we get closer to PAX.
Q: What hotel should I stay at?
A: First choice is the Crowne Plaza, second is the Sheraton, after that, you're on your own. The official Party at Sealab Party will be in the Crowne Plaza, however.
Q: When is the Cross-Country Supertrip going to arrive in Seattle?
A: We're aiming for a Thursday, August 23 afternoon arrival this year.
Due to new forum character restrictions, the rest of the CCST info has been moved further down on this page. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Moe Fwacky on
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This discussion has been closed.
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THE CCST AND YOUR CAR
Now I went out and talked with some mechanics that my family has been trusting for years on end about what to do for the car portion of the CCST, and these are the pointers that they gave me. Now I'm not writing this to scare anybody, but the last thing I want to do is be stuck in the middle of Montana at 3am with you car having a broken timing belt because you didn't know that it was frayed before you left. Anyway on with the show...
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
GET A PHYSICAL FOR YOUR CAR
Remember all those warnings you hear about getting a physical for yourself before you start any strenious activities like running a marathon? Well the same thing should be done with your car before this trip. You're going to be putting anywhere from 600 to 6000 miles on your car in a period of a week, compared to a month or two of normal driving.
So just like you would get a physical, you car should get an overall look by a mechanic before you head out. Now if you explain to the person that you're planning a cross-country road trip, they should know what to look at. But if they don't, make sure they check out at least the belts, hoses, brakes, lights, windshield washer fluid, wiper blades, engine oil and coolant - for any sort of wear and tear or leaks that might break when you don't want it to break, and if needs to be replaced... well replace it. And like Moe said, make sure all your fluids are topped off.
And side note: Just like you wouldn't really want to goto that shady doctor who practices in his attic with a degree that looks like he whited out the name underneath his, goto a mechanic that you trust. Talk to your family and friends and see who they goto for service. Or check out AAA's site for their approved mechanics.
DON'T FORGET THE SMALL THINGS EITHER
Your car is going to be your home for at least 2 days, so if there is something that annoys you while you're driving... get it fixed. My parents old Buick used to have the dash squeak like there were two mice doing it on a very rusty bed spring. Believe me, after even just 3 hours of that, I was about take a tire iron to somebody. I can't even imagine what it would be like hearing that 10x longer.
Also check the regular maintenance of the car. If there is any sort of thing you need to do withing the next 6000 miles, like change transmission fluid, replace the hamster wheel, remove the rocket engine from the trunk, etc. Do it before you leave. It's better to be early then late.
Oh, can change your oil before you go and most likely when you get back too.
And know what fluids your car needs and bring extra of those. I recently had a coolant leak in my caddy while I was way out of town. Lucky I had extra coolant in my trunk (some of the pre-mixed kind) and was able to easily patch up the hole, and refill the system. And get back home no problem to where I could fix it more permanently. but without that coolant, I would have had a long walk in front of me.
REMEMBER WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
Tires. No matter how special your car is... the only thing connecting it to the road is the part of the 4 tires that are touching the road. So make sure to get them checked out. Now the lifespan of tires is normally around 40,000 miles, so unless your tires are almost as bald as Paul Shaffer, it's not going to be a problem. If you don't have any tire places around ya, find your self a Quarter. if you stick it between the treads of the tire upside down (with the top of his head pointing down) and if any amount of his head is covered by the tire, you should be good.
Here's a Pic:
Also find out what the correct PSI your tires should be at and then see where they are at. And when you do, make sure they are "cold". "Cold" means that they haven't been driven for at least 3 hours, or if they have been driven, that it's less then 1 mile. Then pump them up to the correct PSI and drive them around for a bit. Then the next day check them again when they are cold see if they are keeping the pressure. If they aren't then you need to get what ever tire is leaking fixed.
Also check out the spare tire too. It would really suck if you got a flat... and when you went to replace it with the spare, you find out that's flat too. And when you're checking out the spare, find out how to change the tires on your car. It's better to have the first time be in your driveway on a nice sunny day, then in the middle of the night in North Dakota with wolves breathing down your neck.
...IS A GAS GAS GAS
Find out what gas your car takes. Some of the gas stations we stopped at last year were selling gas mixed with ethanol (called e10) for cheaper then just gas. See if you car can handle it. Unless you're driving a classic, it's a good bet that it can, but it's better to be safe then sorry.
Also make sure you're not robbing yourself. That is, make sure you're not doing anything to rob your car of it's maximum MPG. That means correct tire pressure, clean air filter, clean spark plugs, but those all should have been checked by now, so it shouldn't matter. I"m not sure what else to tell you, but just google fuel saving tips and you should find a ton.
Also find out how far your car can go on a single tank of gas. I do believe that the longest leg of the trip is 311 miles, so see if your can can get that far before needing a fill-up. The less times we have to stop of gas, the better. The reason I say that is that every time we have to stop unexpectedly for gas or for some other reason, it adds at least 20-30 mins onto our trip, it might not seem like much, but do that a couple of times, and we'll have to start cutting out the rest times that we have at the end of leg in order to stay on track.
THE POWER IS YOURS!
If you're planning on bringing any neat toys with you, Laptop, cell phones, gaming systems, LCD TV's. Make sure you've got enough power. Unless you've got a AC plug in your car, that means you're going to need a power inverter. They come in lots of different ways, but the first thing you need to know about is the Wattage. And since we're all computer people... we all know where to find the wattages for our computer items.
But if you want to plug something in that doesn't list the power usage in watts, like a phone charger, and instead lists it in Amps, here is the estimation formula:
AMPS x 120 volts = Watts
And another thing you need to be careful of is the startup wattage. Just like it's harder to start pushing your car when it's sitting still then when it's already rolling, electronics require more wattage to start up then to just keep running.
Normal Wattage x 2 = Startup Wattage
Now some items need less startup - some need more. But add up the starting wattage for all the items and the normal load for all the items your going to plug into the power inverter. Then add about 10% and you've got your totals on the consumption side.
Now you need to figure out how much power you car can give. Now cig lighters have 12 volts. That's standard. The one variable is how much Amps are they allowing you to put through the system. The way to find out is to check to see what amp fuse is hooked up to the cig lighter. The car we are driving has a 15 amp fuse. So doing the math:
15 amps x 12 volts = 180 Watts
180 watts of constant draw is the most that we can get out of the cig lighter without blowing the fuse. So if your electronics are going to be needing more then 180 watts, you're going to have to get a power inverter that plugs directly to the battery. That will give you alot more watts to work with, since the battery is charged by the alternator which in normally rated for 70+ amps of power.
But once you've got the balance of power supplied and power consumed worked out, now it's time to look for an actual inverter. If you're under your wattage for the cig lighter look for one that have a cig lighter plug in. Also look for some that have a overload and underload warnings. That means it will warn you if you've got too much plugged into the inverter or that the inverter is about to kill your battery. An auto-shut off in both cases would be even better. But if your careful enough, you don't need them - but it's better to be safe then sorry.
Once the inverter is figured out, go make your purchases and such. Then sometime before the actual trip, go out and plug everything that you're going to be bringing with on the CCST in and do a dry-run test. It would be better to find out that something doesn't work with enough time before the trip to fix it for the trip.
Once you're satisfied, then your pre-trip stuff is finished.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Now if you've made sure that you're car is golden for the trip, you're not going to have to worry to much, or do too much on the trip itself. Just sit back, relax and enjoy yourself.
But there are some things that you should be aware of while driving.
#1. Check your Tire Pressure: Make sure you haven't accidentally run over anything while driving, and that your PSI is still where it needs to be. This doesn't need to be done every stop, but if you've got some time, go ahead and check them out. I'm going to be bringing a tire gauge for the trip in case you've forgotten yours.
#2. Do a walk around. While you're checking the tire pressure, do a walk around, see if anything seems off. Check under the car to see if anything is leaking, or even pop the hood and check the levels the old fashioned way. It's better to catch the problem when your at a gas station, rather then 75 miles away from one.
#3. 45 mph is the cross over point. If we're traveling less then 45 mph, turn off the A/C and roll down the windows. You'll save fuel that way. But once we get on the highway, roll them back up cuz the A/C is better for you at faster speeds.
#4. Only dodge if it's bigger then a dog. I know that small animals look cute. And I know that nobody wants to hurt them on purpose. But if you try to do some high speed maneuvers that would put your whole car at risk just so that some crazy squirl can put his life on the line the next night, it's not worth it. But some of the bigger animals can really do some serious damage to your car if you do hit them. just google some pics of car & deer combinations and you will see what I mean. Those you should avoid... just like that bear that was sitting in between the two lanes last year in Montana... Bear = monster deer. Hitting it with your car will most likely just make it angry and make you it's next meal.
#5. Conserve power. You've got quite a sweet set-up with that 360 and LCD TV and Laptop all running off the power inverter, but make sure you un-plug it when the car is off. Like I said before, whenever we stop it's going to be at least 20-30 mins before we get back on the road again, and that is plently of time for all the cool looking stuff to suck your car battery dry. Having it on while the car is running is no problem, since there is a thing called an alternator on the car engine that is basically a generator. It will keep the battery charged and will ramp up it's power production to keep enough juice flowing. But the Alternator runs off the engine, so no running engine = no running alternator which equals a dead battery very quickly.
Well that's all that I've got. feel free to post any questions and comments at any time and I will let you know if any changes come up.
But yeah, that's pretty much the only reason I can think of. Great job planning! A few suggestions, though:
1 gallon of water is good for the WCST, but the CCST is like three times as long, and you should bring 2-3 gallons.
I'll start planning the WCTT (West Coast Train Trip) when I get home tonight.
Get the PAX 2008 Countdown widget and while away your sad, pathetic life watching it tick down the hours to PAX '08!
http://homepage.mac.com/ctishman
FYI, Spokane'll be a better place to stop than Coeur'D Alene. If you're planning on the two hour stop there again, there's better food, services, and things to do if you take the extra thirty miles.
"When pirates and ninjas fight, everyone wins." -Tycho
The new, improved One Shots Website
Proud Wardriver from the Cross Country Super Trip '06!
Proud Iron Smogger for 2008
I'd say that unless you live right on the coast, that's not an excuse. We've got people from as close as Idaho and Washington... to myself in Michigan... to those crazy suns-a-beaches all the way out on the east coast.
I don't know what I can really say about the CCST, other then what I was always taught... "A repeat customer is the best compliment you can get"... and I'm doing it again.
I do have to say that it's a cheap and great way of stretching out your PAX experience to the fullest... And for those of us on a budget, it's the best way to go.
How so you may ask? it's a trade-off of time vs. money. Sure... you could fly in to PAX on the day before, spend your weekend in paradise, and then fly out again on as soon as it's over. What's that going to cost you? At least $400 dollars... keep that number in mind, cuz I'll use that at the base number.
Ok, so the CCST stretches from NJ to Seattle right? I did the math, and that's 2880 miles from start to finish. Now I know that most people aren't going to be coming from NJ, so it would be even less for most people.
Now driving cross-country by yourself is just DUMB. so let's say there is at least 2 people in your car, heck 3 people doing 8 hour shifts is equal to one day so let's say 3 people... and just for kicks and giggles, you decide to drive your parents Ford Excursion for the trip... which gets a whopping 14 MPG... woo!
so 2880 miles x 2 (cuz it's a round trip) = 5760 total miles of driving. And with a car that gets 14 mpg... that equals 411 gallons of gas. Now taking the info from the last trip, we averaged about $2.95 a gallon. so 411 x 2.95= $1212... now it may seem like alot, but split it between 3 people... right around $400.
What doest that mean? That even with the worse case scenario. you're equal to a round-trip plane ticket. But that was worse case. Here were the actual numbers from last year for us: (I'm going to skip the math this time)
Miles One Way: 2448
Total Miles : 4898
Car's Avg. MPG: 29.3
Total Fuel Used: 169 gal.
National Average: $2.97
Total Price: $500
Total People in Car: 3
Price per person: $167
That's right... $167 per person, compared to $400 for the plane ticket? I know for sure you're not going spend $200+ on food... so as you can see... Car beats Plane. Hands down.
Thank you and good night.
Get the PAX 2008 Countdown widget and while away your sad, pathetic life watching it tick down the hours to PAX '08!
http://homepage.mac.com/ctishman
I am not participating in any of the supertrips (as im 45min from pax) but I just have to point out a flaw in your reasoning.
Flying is faster but if you have a job you would be losing a lot more money to take the 8 days off necessary to drive from coast to coast :P
Geez... point out the fact that I am a poor college student without a weekday job why don't ya. I work weekends, so either way it goes, flying or driving, I'm still losing money taking the weekend off. But this way, since I don't have school starting yet, I can take my time during the week and drive out to PAX with some of my old friends, and lots of new friends. and like I said before, save some cash.
And the eight days off to drive from coast to coast? Please... last year we left on the evening of the 22nd (Tuesday) and got to PAX on the 24th (Thursday) right during the middle of the 5 o'clock rush hour. Not even 3 whole days to get out there. And coming back was even faster. We left Monday night ( after taking in some of the sights of Seattle) and got back Wednesday morning at 8am. So unless you wanted to add PAX into the 8 days you speak of, then you were way off.
A: "What do you want from me?!?!?"
Leg 1 - Hoboken, NJ to Du Bois, PA
Departure Point: Willow Sunoco, 1301 Willow Ave. Hoboken, NJ 07030
Departure Time: Tuesday, August 21, 03:00 EDT
Travel Distance/Time: 287 miles/5h00m
Arrival Point: Pilot Travel Center, 1742 Rich Hwy, Du Bois, PA 15801
Arrival Time: Tuesday, August 21, 08:00 EDT
Downtime:1 hour
Leg 2 - Du Bois, PA to Avon, OH
Departure Point: Pilot Travel Center, 1742 Rich Hwy, Du Bois, PA 15801
Departure Time: Tuesday, August 21, 09:00 EDT
Travel Distance/Time: 195 miles/3h30m
Arrival Point: Pilot Travel Center, 39115 Colorado Ave. Avon, OH 44011
Arrival Time: Tuesday, August 21, 12:30 EDT
Downtime: 2 hours
Leg 3 - Avon, OH to South Bend, IN
Departure Point: Pilot Travel Center, 39115 Colorado Ave. Avon, OH 44011
Departure Time: Tuesday, August 21, 14:30 EDT
Travel Distance/Time: 237 miles/4h00m
Arrival Point: Pilot Travel Center, 6424 W Brick Rd. South Bend, IN 46628
Arrival Time: Tuesday, August 21, 18:30 EDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 4 - South Bend, IN to De Forest, WI
Departure Point: Pilot Travel Center, 6424 W Brick Rd. South Bend, IN 46628
Departure Time: Tuesday, August 21, 19:30 EDT
Travel Distance/Time: 238 miles/4h30m
Arrival Point: Highway 51 Travel Center, 6155 US Highway 51, De Forest, WI 53532
Arrival Time: Tuesday, August 21, 23:00 CDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 5 - De Forest, WI to Minneapolis, MN
Departure Point: Highway 51 Travel Center, 6155 US Highway 51, De Forest, WI 53532
Departure Time: Wednesday, August 22, 00:00 CDT
Travel Distance/Time: 260 miles/4h30m
Arrival Point: Kaju Travel Center, 625 4th Ave S # 120, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Arrival Time: Wednesday, August 22, 04:30 CDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 6 - Minneapolis, MN to Fargo, ND
Departure Point: Kaju Travel Center, 625 4th Ave S # 120, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Departure Time: Wednesday, August 22, 05:30 CDT
Travel Distance/Time: 238 miles/4h00m
Arrival Point: Petro Travel Center, 4510 19th Ave SW, Fargo, ND 58103
Arrival Time: Wednesday, August 22, 09:30 CDT
Downtime: 2 hour, we will be getting lunch from Jimmy Johns relaxing for lunch. If we should be ahead of schedule at this point, we will utilize some of that time to extend our break.
Leg 7 - Fargo, ND to Bismarck, ND
Departure Point: Petro Travel Center, 4510 19th Ave SW, Fargo, ND 58103
Departure Time: Wednesday, August 22, 11:30 CDT
Travel Distance/Time: 187 miles/3h30m
Arrival Point: Grand Forks Travel Center, 3936 E Divide Ave. Bismarck, ND 58501
Arrival Time: Wednesday, August 22, 15:00 CDT
Downtime: 1 hours
Leg 8 - Bismarck, ND to Glendive, MT
Departure Point: Grand Forks Travel Center, 3936 E Divide Ave. Bismarck, ND 58501
Departure Time: Wednesday, August 22, 16:00 CDT
Travel Distance/Time: 199 miles/ 3h30m
Arrival Point: Trailstar Truck Stop, 11 Highway 16, Glendive, MT 59330
Arrival Time: Wednesday, August 22, 18:30 MDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 9 - Glendive, MT to Billings, MT
Departure Point: Trailstar Truck Stop, 11 Highway 16, Glendive, MT 59330
Departure Time: Wednesday, August 22, 19:30 MDT
Travel Distance/Time: 214 miles/3h30m
Arrival Point: Flying J Travel Plaza, 2775 Old Hardin Rd. Billings, MT 59101
Arrival Time: Wednesday, August 22, 23:00 MDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 10 - Billings, MT to Butte, MT
Departure Point: Flying J Travel Plaza, 2775 Old Hardin Rd. Billings, MT 59101
Departure Time: Thursday, August 23, 0:00 MDT
Travel Distance/Time: 231 miles/3h30m
Arrival Point: Kum & Go, 1759 S Montana St. Butte, MT 59701
Arrival Time: Thursday, August 23, 03:30 MDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 11 - Butte, MT to Coeur D'Alene, ID
Departure Point: Kum & Go, 1759 S Montana St. Butte, MT 59701
Departure Time: Thursday, August 23, 04:30 MDT
Travel Distance/Time: 283 miles/4h30m
Arrival Point: Exxon Jifi Stop, 2105 N 4th St. Coeur D'Alene, ID 83814
Arrival Time:Thursday, August 23, 08:00 PDT
Downtime: 1 hour
Leg 12 - Coeur D'Alene, ID to PAX (Seattle, WA)
Departure Point: Exxon Jifi Stop, 2105 N 4th St. Coeur D'Alene, ID 83814
Departure Time: Thursday, August 23, 09:00 PDT
Travel Distance/Time: 311 miles/5h00
Arrival Point: Washington State C&T Center, 800 Convention Pl. Seattle, WA 98101
Arrival Time: Thursday, August 23, 14:00 PDT
The blank areas will be filled in as scheduling is completed. If you have any questions, or wish to join up, either post here or shoot me an e-mail at moe.fwacky at gmail dot com.
The Planes, Trains and Automobiles Comparison
This post will concern itself with two things. The first is the cost of renting a vehicle divided into the per-person cost of the trip using three different vehicle types. The second is to compare those per-person figures to that of Continental Airlines, Amtrak and Greyhound tickets.
The benefit of renting a vehicle lies in the fact that you would not be putting the wear and tear onto your own car, and have the opportunity of renting a larger vehicle to take more passengers in comfort.
The Rentals
For reference, I have used figures available on Budget.com using Cleveland Hopkins International Airport as the pickup location. This location offers rates with unlimited miles (which is not the case with all Budget locations). This is an important consideration when deciding to rent. Do not restrict yourself to Budget rentals when considering your own rental.
Vehicle 1: 12-passenger van - Ford E350 or similar
2-week rental cost: $1734.01
Vehicle 2: Minivan - Ford Freestar or similar
2-week rental cost: $699.64
Vehicle 3: intermediate SUV - Ford Escape or similar
2-week rental cost $491.81
The Breakdown
For comparison on all three vehicles, we will be using the distance from the Avon, OH waypoint to PAX and back. This comprises a total of 4,796 miles. In addition, each vehicle will not be filled to suggested capacity. Gas prices will be estimated at $3/gallon.
Vehicle 1:
Passengers: 9 (of 12)
Gas needed: 185 gal/$555
Rental cost: $1734.01
Cost per person: $255
Vehicle 2:
Passengers: 5 (of 7)
Gas needed: 209 gal/$627
Rental cost: $699.64
Cost per person: $270
Vehicle 3:
Passengers: 4 (of 5)
Gas needed: 218 gal/$654
Rental cost: $491.81
Cost per person: $290
The Comparison
Now we compare these figures to those of a planes, trains and buses. We'll also include previously gathered figures from last year, using our own vehicles. All figures below are cost-per-person. None of the tickets include special offers. The tickets are round-trip from Cleveland. Also, I've included travel time, for those of you who are concerned with travel time and have been organized from shortest to longest modes of transport.
Continental Plane Ticket: $400, 5 hours there. 4 hours return
Rental Vehicle 1: $255, est 48-50 hours each way
Rental Vehicle 2: $270. est 48-50 hours each way
Rental Vehicle 3: $290, est 48-50 hours each way
T2K (06): $167, 50 hours there. 40 hours return *Note this car joined us in Mishawaka, IN in 2006 as the cause for the discrepancy in times
Amtrak Ticket: $308, 52 hours there. 51 hours return
Deep Diver (06): $175, 54 hours there. 44 hours return
Greyhound Ticket: $246 57 hours there. 63 hours return
The Conclusion
Clearly, the type of rental car chosen has a dramatic impact on price. However, divided among more people, the larger vehicles prove more fruitful. To fly is by far the fastest and most expensive. The Amtrak and Greyhound are competitive Rental car w/gas prices. However, it is more timely, more affordable and more fun on the Suptertrip. This noted, I hope it will help to convince more of you to join us this year. Just make sure you choose what works best for your crew, and don't feel limited to the vehicles shown herein. Do your own research and make sure, above all else, that you are getting a rate that includes unlimited miles!
Also note that all gas prices were estimated at $3/gal which was the approximate average price of gas during last year's Supertrip.
We are amassing an impressive number of vehicles early on this year, both returning champions and new challengers alike. Because posting all of their information here constitutes an endless wall of text, it has been arranged in a more palatable format on the CCST website. Information is always tentative, but feel free to post here or shoot me an email at moe.fwacky at gmail in the following format. As always, questions are more than welcome.
(Insert Cool Group Name Here) Each car needs a name that stands for everybody in that car
Group Leader(s): These are the group's go-to guys. Usually the most active on the forums/internet. Main responsibility lies in relaying status updates between their group and the CCST and for getting their group together to depart from their location.
Vehicle: Year, Make, Model, MPG, Miles per Tank and if it's a rental
Max. Desired Passengers: Maximum number of seats that you want to fill
Starting Location: City, State/Province where the vehicle is departing from
First Waypoint: The first of our pre-selected stopping points where the vehicle will stop.
Riders: The people who will be in the vehicle. This section is for confirmed riders. See below for unconfirmed.
Name:
Location:
First Waypoint:
Driving?: Yes/No
E-Mail:
IM:
Cell: For the CCST Phone List. This information will be collected in the summer.
Unconfirmed Riders: Number of unconfirmed riders
Space Available: Seats still available in your vehicle
I'm interested in either driving or being a passenger. I have an excellent driving record (nothing more major than a speeding ticket about 3 years ago).
Basically, I'm willing to take anyone who's willing to ride with me and has the money to help out, OR, I'm looking for a group to ride with. I can help out with driving if you need it.
Anyone else from Pennsylvania?
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Airfare on JetBlue is $99 each way if bought pronto. All flights connect through NYC.
Get the PAX 2008 Countdown widget and while away your sad, pathetic life watching it tick down the hours to PAX '08!
http://homepage.mac.com/ctishman
Looks like my best bet would be to either a) drive to the beginning early, or b) Drive through southern Ontario and meet up with the caravan in Ohio.
Of course, this all depends on my ability to get that much time off of work...
At this point, and probably for the most part, we are looking for drivers, either with capable vehicles or willing to rent. From last year's experience, most people tend to fill their cars with their own group of people (as opposed to picking people up on the way). This eases the division of gas, as everybody is traveling the same distance. My best advice is to hit up your friends. Make them want to go and convince them this is the best way (because, trust me, it totally is). Park and riding is problematical, as the waypoints are placed at travel centers near the highway, parking at these locations is limited to four hours at the most. We'll be gone for about a week (depending on your location). It is possible and inexpensive to grab a Greyhound to meet up (perhaps for the New England Meet) if it is too out of the way to pick everybody up. Or you could convince somebody to give you a quick ride out to the waypoint. If the good captain could make his way down to PA, there might be a ride for you down there.
The best and shortest option, in my opinion is to join up with us in Ohio. As for getting the time off work, I recommend requesting the time off now. If you change jobs between now and then, let them know when they hire you about the time you will be out of town. Also, if your situation should change between now and then, I don't think they will mind if you changed your mind and went to work that week, although I'll be personally disappointed.
A further note to all you college students. Check when your semester starts and be prepared to miss a class if necessary. Per exemplar, The first weekday classes at Cleveland State begin the Monday after PAX. I schedule classes for Tuesday and Thursday only. In 2006, our return brought me back to Cleveland early on Wednesday. A little nap and I went to work on Wednesday evening and classes starting Thursday. Some universities start classes a week later, so check the dates for your school and I hope to be seeing you all on the journey.
AIM: Ghiddo
MSN: moe_fwacky@hotmail.com (this is not my e-mail address, don't send e-mails here, as I will never get them)
YIM: moe_fwacky
Also we have an IRC channel set up. It's for all of PAX, not just the supertrip, but I'm idling in there most of the time, so pop on in and ask some questions or just idle with me.
Server: irc.slashnet.org
Channel: #paforums_pax
Those of you who have already expressed interest have been added to my various contact lists, for those that require approval on the other end, I suggest you all do so, and I'll be talking with you soon.
I live in Ipswich, SD (100 miles S of Jamestown, ND then 30 miles west), and can meet up most easily at the Bismarck waypoint.
I can be a passenger or driver, though my vehicle is in no shape to make the trip. If needed I can rent a vehicle as well.
My most-used contact methods are MSN and GTalk, at josh_cox05(at)hotmail(dot)com and joshcox05(at)gmail(dot)com respectively. I also check both addresses for e-mail regularly.
I'll of course be checking back into this thread as well constantly.
I guess now is where I ask if there's any other info you need at this point?
Thanks for organizing all of this too - so long as the execution is as great as the organization I can't see how this would fail at all!
Good luck dudes :twisted:
As for school... well, I'm in the Game Dev program at Algonquin College. I'm sure all of my professors would understand... then they would bow to me for having gone to PAX!
NOTE: In the car I am driving now (2003 Saturn Ion), gas for 4 people will come out to about $120 each from Ottawa to Seattle (4580km at about 450km/tank). However, I may be getting rid of it in June for something a little fancier. I'll be looking for about the same fuel economy, so any ride with me will be fairly inexpensive.
Also, I believe this should be a rule, but I don't have the authority do make it so. Under absolutely NO circumstances should you attempt to drive the whole way solo. Unless you're starting from within the state of Washington, have at least one other person in your car.
I'm not sure if it was noted above, but people who know how to drive stick should also please make a note of it when contacting Moe_Fwacky, we almost got stuck with that last year. If you don't know how to drive stick, now's a good time to start learning! You've got the summer and it's a great skill to learn.
Yeah man! Knight Rider represent!
I firmly agree with all of this. Comfort is important and we run a rigorous timetable, so sleep is also important.
With that, I'm glad that we have a group coming from the Algonquin College's Game Development program in Ottawa, ON. This officially makes the Cross-Country Supertrip international. Which also means, if there's somebody who can translate metric for me, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Welcome Knight Rider. Also, for you new people who don't know, we give our vehicles call signs for the trip, so if you have one you want to use, let me know and I'll enter it into your information.
Also, Gamespot. has reported an conservative estimate of 30,000 people for PAX 2007. Which, I think really means somewhere in the ballpark of 40,000, if we're to take previous years as an example.
On this note I would like to announce the subtext for the CCST. It will be the Cross-Country Supertrip 2007: Massive Multiplayer Driving. I will be adjusting the title to reflect this. This year's champions will be known as "Massive Multiplayer Drivers," I hope there are no objections, I like to subtext my supertrips, indulge me. Also, website coming soon... I swear.
Edit: Okay, that's apparently too long for the title, but a new banner is coming soon.
Another Edit: Banner image for page 2 (new one still coming soon).
I'm really looking forward to meeting new people to hang out at PAX with!
AIM = Deiru
I'll be staying there overnight before heading out to start the "real" journey.
MSN: adamchisvin@hotmail.com
AIM: Chizzer105
Make sure everybody who can drive in that car also knows how to drive stick.
I second that one.
Side question: How many people are planning on bringing a laptop or some sort of computer with them for the trip?
The reason I ask is the fact that Moe brings up. Basically from the Mississippi to the Rockies and beyond, cell phones were a no go. So communicating between cars came down to the people whom I gave 2-way radios to.
So what I was thinking was trying to set-up some sort of wireless network with all the cars or something like that. but it depends on if anybody is going to have computers able to log on or not...
Wierd how there isn't an Eastern Canada SuperTrip, eh? Guess the CCST is the next-best thing.
As of right now, I'm pretty stuck. Sitting in Sarnia with very few options. My first option would be to take a plane, but that would be quite costly. A cost that I might not like to pay when the time comes.
The second would be to take a Greyhound from Sarnia to South Bend, the cost of which is unknown (the website wouldn't tell me due to some legal stuff), and meet up with the CCST there. This is, of course, probably cheaper than the plane, and the return trip (Question about that, asked later) it a little sketchy on time.
Lastly, get lucky and find some caravan going through SE Ontario, that just happens to go through Sarnia, or very close to it. This would probably be the cheapest option for me, though it would be close to the bus. I'd say I'd be getting pretty close by looking in this topic.
You see, I have yet to get my drivers license (don't ask why. :roll:), so I will be unable to provide a break for others. I will, however, be willing to pay a little more than my share to make up for it. Heck, I'll bring a case of Bawls for the trip too (I have a supplier by my home, luckily) if you want.
I'll also see about maybe being a communications hub for our group of vehicles. I'll load up a laptop with directions for the planned trip, and bring some radios. We can also see about setting up a network of laptops when we hit each checkpoint. I'll definitely have my laptop with me if I can get a ride.
Now, I have a question about the return trip. What, exactly, happens with that? Do we do the same thing in reverse? I would just like some clarification on it please.
Now, if you're interested in giving me a ride (and saving a few more bucks on top of the split), see about contacting me (Matt) one way or another as listed below:
E-mail: staticlike@gmail.com
MSN: static_like@hotmail.com
Make sure you identify yourself as someone interested in giving a ride, or I might block you/ignore your message.
**DISCLAIMER: This was mentioned earlier in the topic, but in case you like to skip over stuff, I'll mention it here. I can NOT drive due to not having a license. I will give appropriate compensation in the form of chipping in additional gas money, as well as a case of Bawls should you so desire. Terms can be discussed when the ride is set up.
I'm also interested in room sharing, if you need someone to fill a gap. 4-man room is not a problem with me. No, I'm not gay. No, I'm not a homophobe either. I just happen to be used to the conditions.
*Thinks back to old High-school robotics team days. 4 Guys, 2 beds, 1 large bag of all-dressed ruffles chips. "You could define it as hell, if hell smelled like all-dressed ruffles chip farts."*
The supertrip last year didn't quite last on the way back. I think some people left together, but we stayed in Seattle for a bit longer. Although, we did PASS a certain car on the way back :-P The trip as a convoy is pretty much one way, but after spending 3-4 days in the car with people, you tend to develop a bond with them (or want to kill them, either or) and generally it works well enough that they'll give you a ride back, regardless of if the convoy as a whole maintains itself.
If they don't know, you have until August to teach them. The sooner the better, and have them practice all summer. It's a LONG trip.
Also, there's no schedule for the trip back. It's, as ctishman put it regarding the WCST last year, a mad dash for home. We all make our way home, some stick together, some break apart, depending on how soon they need to be home.
Now like I said, I have no clue if our group has a full load or not, but if there are any open seats in one of the other cars in the CCST, we could easily bear your load until we meet up with them... i think. lordthanda, what do you think?
But that's a long shot.
"When pirates and ninjas fight, everyone wins." -Tycho
The new, improved One Shots Website
Proud Wardriver from the Cross Country Super Trip '06!
Proud Iron Smogger for 2008
http://www.ccsupertrip.org
That's the one.
I could see about getting myself over the border, no problem. There is the slight matter of the possibility that I can't go (due to whatever), but I'm planning this now so I have little chance for me to get into some conflicts. Getting passport info, working up money, informing everyone that needs to know about my plans, etc. Hopefully my plans will be finalized before the early-bird deadline.
But yea, across the border should be no problem. We can set up a meet point sometime later, maybe by PM/email. Feel free to contact me anytime regarding it.
That's what I was talking about, setting up a network with a LAN chat room. The "communications hub" bit was for the trip from Canada to the checkpoint. You know, it's probably useless if they get lost before they pick me up. :P
I've been trying to work that one out. Flags would rock, pirate flags in my own opinion. My question for you guys is would you all want to fly the same flags or similar, but individually designed flags?