Ontario to Galveston

We will be making this drive for our first cruise. We have 4 kids with the youngest being 4 at the time we go. She is our main concern as far as bathroom breaks, she may not have the bladder control to hold it a little while. My question is we were planning 2 long days of driving and getting to Galveston or Houston area the night before our cruise. Now we have been talking about maybe leaving the day before around lunch and getting 6-7 hours driving in that day making the next 2 days much shorter and allowing for more stops. The problem with that is basically just the cost of adding another night in a hotel and the food you have to buy along with another day on the road.

What do you guys think?

Your insane! LOL I am from Ont but live in Michigan...we would Never even consider driving our 3 or anyone's kids from Mich to TX! After that cruise we will be tired and just want our bed...not 3-4 days of driving. Ugh! Good luck! (The drive time down and back up will be the main trip with a cruise as a break lol)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I suggest that you leave at the earlier time. There will be enough stress as it is....so minimize it as best you can.

Also, this may well be the first of many trips you will make and, with the knowledge gained this time, will enable you to make adjustments to subsequent trips.

Side point: Comment on your long, two day marathon plan....so many US highways have been having closures due to big wrecks....often resulting in very long delays. Your earlier departure would help manage unforseen difficulties.

Your insane! LOL I am from Ont but live in Michigan...we would Never even consider driving our 3 or anyone's kids from Mich to TX! After that cruise we will be tired and just want our bed...not 3-4 days of driving. Ugh! Good luck! (The drive time down and back up will be the main trip with a cruise as a break lol)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We have drove to Florida in the past. Galveston is just 2-3 hours more each way. And as we get closer and we can see flights maybe we can get a deal to fly, but with 6 people that isn't likely. In the past I have found the drive to be fun and part of the vacation.

I suggest that you leave at the earlier time. There will be enough stress as it is....so minimize it as best you can.

 

Also, this may well be the first of many trips you will make and, with the knowledge gained this time, will enable you to make adjustments to subsequent trips.

 

Side point: Comment on your long, two day marathon plan....so many US highways have been having closures due to big wrecks....often resulting in very long delays. Your earlier departure would help manage unforseen difficulties.

You are likely right. The extra time could be useful if something comes up. And yes it will cut down the stress I am sure

Fly southwest from Michigan...park at our place for free lol! Travel safe...and enjoy yourselves!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fly southwest from Michigan...park at our place for free lol! Travel safe...and enjoy yourselves!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I looked up southwest flying from detroit to houston. I can't get far enough to see the dates I need but I priced something out as far as I could and got $1600 for the 6 of us. Not as bad as i have seen flying from other places. That is much closer to a price that would make sense though. There is a stopover on the way there and the way back though. I don't think the drive will cost that much but it is a lot less time and stress to fly....

I don't think you really understand how long of a drive it is down there. I have to load just east of Cleveland Friday morning and deliver in Houston on Monday at noon...the paid miles are 1300. And that is just from Ohio. you are coming from Canada...you better plan on at least 3 days of driving. I am used to 10-11 hrs of driving a day and it still kicks my tail sometimes. Plus you are traveling with 4 kids...how many restroom breaks and food breaks will there be to slow you down. :eek: I understand your desire to save money on travel, you just need to be realistic on travel time.

I don't think you really understand how long of a drive it is down there. I have to load just east of Cleveland Friday morning and deliver in Houston on Monday at noon...the paid miles are 1300. And that is just from Ohio. you are coming from Canada...you better plan on at least 3 days of driving. I am used to 10-11 hrs of driving a day and it still kicks my tail sometimes. Plus you are traveling with 4 kids...how many restroom breaks and food breaks will there be to slow you down. :eek: I understand your desire to save money on travel, you just need to be realistic on travel time.

I have got these times from google maps.

Day 1--- Our house to indianapolis roughly 9 hours

Day 2--- Indidanapolis to Texarkana. roughly 11 hours

Days 3---- Texarkana to South of houston roughly 6 hours

I have got these times from google maps.

 

Day 1--- Our house to indianapolis roughly 9 hours

Day 2--- Indidanapolis to Texarkana. roughly 11 hours

Days 3---- Texarkana to South of houston roughly 6 hours

as someone who drives for a living (and does look at and use google maps.) take those times with a grain of salt. I just did Texarkana to Houston yesterday and 6hrs is pushing it. Depending on which route you take there are many little towns with stop lights and 35mph speed limits. (and you better do the speed limits. those little towns love nothing better than nailing people for speeding and adding money to county coffers:eek:).

as someone who drives for a living (and does look at and use google maps.) take those times with a grain of salt. I just did Texarkana to Houston yesterday and 6hrs is pushing it. Depending on which route you take there are many little towns with stop lights and 35mph speed limits. (and you better do the speed limits. those little towns love nothing better than nailing people for speeding and adding money to county coffers:eek:).

I appreciate you input here. After your input we have decided to take the 3 full days to make the drive. When we drove to Florida I drove 15 hours one day and short day the next day so I not worried about a long day of driving. Of course with the kids there could be a lot of unplanned stops.

You mentioned the google maps times from Texarkana to Houston could be pushing it a bit. How did the other times I posted look to you?

We drove from So Calif to Kerrville, TX and took two full days over and back. I considered driving for our cruise next year but we don't think we want to take that long a drive again and back especially after a cruise so plan to spend the $$ and fly round trip.

We drove from So Calif to Kerrville, TX and took two full days over and back. I considered driving for our cruise next year but we don't think we want to take that long a drive again and back especially after a cruise so plan to spend the $$ and fly round trip.

I completely respect what your saying, and ideally we would love to fly. But current flight prices for the 6 of us are showing about $3000 american, which with the exchange rate is closer to $4000 Canadian. We can drive for half of that. We will see as we get closer, maybe we can find something, but right now it isn't looking good...

Make sure you stop at Bucee's on 45 South at Madisonville, TX and there is another one close to Galveston. Cleanest bathrooms, it is just a must stop in Texas.

Make sure you stop at Bucee's on 45 South at Madisonville, TX and there is another one close to Galveston. Cleanest bathrooms, it is just a must stop in Texas.

Thanks for the tip. I will write that down

Everyone sing along, "holiday road oh oh oad".

I have taken long drives before to get on a cruise so I understand. off course I am just a short 5-6 hour drive from fort worth. I have a suggestion you might want to at least look at.

I put it into Google and see your route and I see it takes you to Memphis to pick up I40 and when you get to Texarkana. Well when I put in Memphis to Galveston it gives a alt rout of I59 down to I10/I12 then west to Houston. US 59 is a nice highway mostly 4 lane and divided but it does go though some small towns and you have to slow down. If sight seeing is part of your goals then off of the US interstate system is good but if you just want to get there stay on the Interstate system. Not sure where your break would be but Baton Rouge, LA might be a good place.

You will not go near the Bucees in Madisonville but the one between Houston and Galveston is on the west side of the highway. Stop on the way back. great place to stock up on snacks

Day 1--- Our house to indianapolis roughly 9 hours

Day 2--- Indidanapolis to Texarkana. roughly 11 hours

Days 3---- Texarkana to South of houston roughly 6 hours

I have taken long drives before to get on a cruise so I understand. off course I am just a short 5-6 hour drive from fort worth. I have a suggestion you might want to at least look at.

I put it into Google and see your route and I see it takes you to Memphis to pick up I40 and when you get to Texarkana. Well when I put in Memphis to Galveston it gives a alt rout of I59 down to I10/I12 then west to Houston. US 59 is a nice highway mostly 4 lane and divided but it does go though some small towns and you have to slow down. If sight seeing is part of your goals then off of the US interstate system is good but if you just want to get there stay on the Interstate system. Not sure where your break would be but Baton Rouge, LA might be a good place.

 

 

You will not go near the Bucees in Madisonville but the one between Houston and Galveston is on the west side of the highway. Stop on the way back. great place to stock up on snacks

 

 

Day 1--- Our house to indianapolis roughly 9 hours

Day 2--- Indidanapolis to Texarkana. roughly 11 hours

Days 3---- Texarkana to South of houston roughly 6 hours

Thanks for your tips. I have been told to take I49 from Texarkana and go down the Shreveport and then work your way back over on I20, and us-79 to get back to us-59. This way you miss a few of the small towns

not sure you would buy that much going to Shreveport. I would have to put that into goggle and see. Sometimes putting in shorter segments into Google will give you more options to consider. Also remember that Google takes in account construction delay and accidents at THAT point in time when telling you how long it will take.

Good luck on your trip. Galveston is not the best fly in port but is a really good drive in port.

Hi guys, the cruise is getting closer. Still planning on driving, but thinking of maybe changing the route. Instead of heading south west and going through Indiana, Illonios, etc, I am thinking of going down i 75 from Canada down through to Cincinnati, and then i 71 to Louisville down to Nashville. Then head west over through Mamphis and onto i 40 where we would be coming the way I outlined earlier in this thread. The main reason for this is weather. We are worried about what the first day will bring, remember we are leaving in late February. Heading straight south will get us to warmer weather faster. Instead of stopping the first night in Indiana we would stop in Louisville Kentucky. Louisville is much warmer at that time of year then Indianapolis, or Terre Haute where we were originally going to stop.

Google maps says this route is actually shorter in distance, but 13 minutes longer in time.

What do you guys think?

We will be making this drive for our first cruise. We have 4 kids with the youngest being 4 at the time we go. She is our main concern as far as bathroom breaks, she may not have the bladder control to hold it a little while. My question is we were planning 2 long days of driving and getting to Galveston or Houston area the night before our cruise. Now we have been talking about maybe leaving the day before around lunch and getting 6-7 hours driving in that day making the next 2 days much shorter and allowing for more stops. The problem with that is basically just the cost of adding another night in a hotel and the food you have to buy along with another day on the road.

 

What do you guys think?

I think that is completely awesome! I thought we were the only people crazy enough to drive to all but one of our cruises! We have driven from Winnipeg to Southern Florida (takes about 36 hours each way) three times now and have loved every minute of it. For us it wasn't about the money we were saving, but the memories we were creating for our children (3 kids). Our kids have been able to see a whole bunch of America because of this and I wouldn't trade that for the world. We would take a whole week to travel to Florida with stops in many different cities along the way (usually tried to stay in different cities on each trip), because of this my children have been able to experience different cultures in different places. I applaud you and suggest taking your time getting there and enjoy the beauty of America! We plan on driving to Galveston on our next cruise which is booked for October 2018!

I think that is completely awesome! I thought we were the only people crazy enough to drive to all but one of our cruises! We have driven from Winnipeg to Southern Florida (takes about 36 hours each way) three times now and have loved every minute of it. For us it wasn't about the money we were saving, but the memories we were creating for our children (3 kids). Our kids have been able to see a whole bunch of America because of this and I wouldn't trade that for the world. We would take a whole week to travel to Florida with stops in many different cities along the way (usually tried to stay in different cities on each trip), because of this my children have been able to experience different cultures in different places. I applaud you and suggest taking your time getting there and enjoy the beauty of America! We plan on driving to Galveston on our next cruise which is booked for October 2018!

That is awesome. We are really looking forward to it

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Hi guys, the cruise is getting closer. Still planning on driving, but thinking of maybe changing the route. Instead of heading south west and going through Indiana, Illonios, etc, I am thinking of going down i 75 from Canada down through to Cincinnati, and then i 71 to Louisville down to Nashville. Then head west over through Mamphis and onto i 40 where we would be coming the way I outlined earlier in this thread. The main reason for this is weather. We are worried about what the first day will bring, remember we are leaving in late February. Heading straight south will get us to warmer weather faster. Instead of stopping the first night in Indiana we would stop in Louisville Kentucky. Louisville is much warmer at that time of year then Indianapolis, or Terre Haute where we were originally going to stop.

 

 

 

Google maps says this route is actually shorter in distance, but 13 minutes longer in time.

 

 

 

What do you guys think?

Not sure if you're a CAA member or not, but if you are try getting a TripTik from them. It covers things like rest areas, road closures, construction and delays and can show you the most direct route. You can download to your tablet or phone too.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We only have to drive from Kansas, but we leave Friday night after DH is off work, drive to OKlahoma City and then drive on to Galveston the next day. It cuts a 10+ hr drive for us, into a more manageable trek. (BTW...we drove from Wichita, KS to Toronto about 3 years ago!)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums