# PCD->NJ in One Day?



## Versipellis (Jun 15, 2015)

Have a PCD coming up - planning to stop with my friend at her parent's place in New Jersey. If we leave by noon on a Monday, how feasible is it to make it to New Jersey in one afternoon? Google Maps is showing approximately 10 hours drive, which is going to be rough (but not impossible) - I was mostly wondering about traffic and such.


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## mazdamx594 (Sep 3, 2013)

We made it from Palm Beach to Spartanburg in roughly 10 hours, which with lunch and bathroom breaks matched the gps estimate. However you have to contend with DC beltway traffic. If you miss the beltway during rush hour it shouldn't be too bad, but otherwise I would pick a different route and definitely don't try to drive straight through the city.


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## need4speed (May 26, 2006)

Versipellis said:


> Have a PCD coming up - planning to stop with my friend at her parent's place in New Jersey. If we leave by noon on a Monday, how feasible is it to make it to New Jersey in one afternoon? Google Maps is showing approximately 10 hours drive, which is going to be rough (but not impossible) - I was mostly wondering about traffic and such.


Unless you are planning on missing some of the PCD events you get done between 2 and 3.


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## JimD1 (Jun 5, 2009)

I-85 and especially I-95 are busy roads. You would first come to Charlotte which is a city of several million so there can be lots of traffic. After that it shouldn't be too bad until you get close to Washington where there is a LOT of traffic. North of that I don't think I've traveled on I-95. But I'm sure it is high traffic. There are also wrecks which really mess things up. Google also shows a route which stays up in the mountains for most of the way. It's long but should be a lot more fun.

I think you need to overnight along the way. If you decide to push through, it's easy to cancel a hotel room.


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## SloTUrtle (Aug 30, 2016)

Im not a fan of long car rides...so lucky mine will be only like 2 hrs


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## Versipellis (Jun 15, 2015)

mazdamx594 said:


> We made it from Palm Beach to Spartanburg in roughly 10 hours, which with lunch and bathroom breaks matched the gps estimate. However you have to contend with DC beltway traffic. If you miss the beltway during rush hour it shouldn't be too bad, but otherwise I would pick a different route and definitely don't try to drive straight through the city.


Cheers, thanks. Yeah, I think I need to start planning this out a little more and start putting down waypoints to hit to avoid the traffic congestion routes.



need4speed said:


> Unless you are planning on missing some of the PCD events you get done between 2 and 3.


Since the factory is closed, and I don't feel the need to off-road an X1 (or was it X3?), I'm okay just leaving right after we do the driving program in the morning.



JimD1 said:


> I-85 and especially I-95 are busy roads. You would first come to Charlotte which is a city of several million so there can be lots of traffic. After that it shouldn't be too bad until you get close to Washington where there is a LOT of traffic. North of that I don't think I've traveled on I-95. But I'm sure it is high traffic. There are also wrecks which really mess things up. Google also shows a route which stays up in the mountains for most of the way. It's long but should be a lot more fun.
> 
> I think you need to overnight along the way. If you decide to push through, it's easy to cancel a hotel room.


I should hit Charlotte within an hour and a half, so hopefully missing work traffic shenanigans. However, I'll be hitting the Washiongton area around 7pm-ish - any advice on routing around that?

The alternative route I see on Google maps has me taking I-77 out of Charlotte and then I-81 north through George Washington and Jefferson National Forest to Harrisburg, then I-76 eastbound to NJ. Total trip puts me closer to 11 hours, though, but in reality probably much better than driving through Washington.

Unfortunately because I'm picking up on a Monday, I don't have many days of leave I can take from work. Am I going to regret missing Blue Ridge Parkway? Is Shenandoah's Skyline Drive worth it? It's a drop in speed to 35 mph along the whole length, 3 to 4 hours total, but I can catch the tail end of it by heading east right before the town of Mt. Jackson and keep my trip to 12 hours total.

(tried copying a Google Maps route in but it keeps breaking - anyone know of a good route planner?)


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

There was a guy and his son at my PCD that were driving straight back to northern NJ after they left. I didn't envy them though.


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## Versipellis (Jun 15, 2015)

Snareman said:


> There was a guy and his son at my PCD that were driving straight back to northern NJ after they left. I didn't envy them though.


What time did they leave?


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## Snareman (Nov 24, 2006)

Versipellis said:


> What time did they leave?


I think it was around 2ish? We ate lunch, neither of us required an actual delivery as we'd both done ED so we could have left quickly right after lunch, but both hung around for awhile chatting and taking pics. People getting an official delivery were there longer.


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## dankeschoen (Dec 30, 2016)

deleted, no longer necessary


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## Shon528 (Oct 3, 2003)

Versipellis said:


> Have a PCD coming up - planning to stop with my friend at her parent's place in New Jersey. If we leave by noon on a Monday, how feasible is it to make it to New Jersey in one afternoon? Google Maps is showing approximately 10 hours drive, which is going to be rough (but not impossible) - I was mostly wondering about traffic and such.


Did you make it to NJ in 1 shot?


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## Versipellis (Jun 15, 2015)

Shon528 said:


> Did you make it to NJ in 1 shot?


Yup! We arrived at like 4am though LOL. Traffic was a bitch getting out of town as it took us longer than expected to track tape my car.


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