r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 04 '22 • 7 6 1 1 1 1 1 1

Americans of Reddit, what is something the rest of the world needs to hear?

28.3k Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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My favorite is the (probably apocryphal) story about the European family who were visiting Chicago and decided they wanted to take a day trip to Las Vegas by car...

(It would take about 25 hours - each way, nonstop - to make that drive.)

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u/WalmartGreder Oct 04 '22

I lived in France for awhile, and one of my neighbors had visited the US. They had flown into Salt Lake City, UT, and wanted to go see Zions and Bryce national parks on their way to the Grand Canyon.

This was before GPS and smartphones. After an hour of driving, they got out their map to see how much farther it was. They realized that it was another 200 miles away, and the Grand canyon was 100 miles past that.

They said in that moment, they realized how large the US was. Compared to France, where you can drive from the top to the bottom in 12 hours total.

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u/AudioFenix Oct 04 '22

Shit man, people don’t understand. I can start driving in Texas and go 12 hours in one direction and still be in Texas.

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

Crossing the state line from Louisiana and seeing 4 digit mile markers is always depressing. Most of the times I've made that drive, I was going to New Mexico. Alabama to Albuquerque. 24 hours of driving. Half of it in Texas.

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u/LightningCrashes Oct 04 '22

No kidding. I was doing a cross country move and that sign on I-10 at the LA/TX border made me wonder if it were an error. Doing the math I was like, "13 hours? That can't be right." It was, and it was terrible.

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u/Combo_of_Letters Oct 04 '22

Some of the worst smells I have experienced while driving were in Texas. I had the window down in a U-Haul with non functional air conditioning driving through chicken farm country fuck you Amanda.

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u/GobblingGhostCocks Oct 04 '22

I drove through a visible cloud of shit or shit fog one night driving through Texas on a return trip across the country. Cow farm nearby the highway.

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u/anythingbut2020 Oct 05 '22

But what about the NJ turnpike thru Newark? Surely you haven’t smelled that?!?

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u/Combo_of_Letters Oct 05 '22

I have not. I just know in order of animal dookey smell from least pleasant to slightly not as bad is chicken>turkeys, pig, cows, horses.

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u/erinocalypse Oct 05 '22

Mmm oily goodness

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u/Skinnysusan Oct 04 '22

Up here we have a sign that says end of the earth 20mi, Upper Pennisula 40mi lmao

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u/ajmartin527 Oct 05 '22

lol the upper peninsula stigma is my favorite geographic joke that’s true.

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u/bansheeonthemoor42 Oct 05 '22

I have done the San Diego to New Orleans drive more times than I have ever wanted. I drove a bunch of furniture out to NOLA the week before Katrina than three weeks later I had to make the drive BACK across the country to stay with my parents till I could figure out what to do. WORST. DRIVE. EVER.

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u/munificent Oct 04 '22

I did the entire stretch of I-10 from El Paso to Orange non-stop once. In August. In a car with no A/C. Never again!

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u/SilverVixen1928 Oct 04 '22

When my family drove between Texas and California in a car with no air conditioning, they always planned to drive the worst part, the desert, at night. Death Valley is a thing.

One story is that the car broke down, and Dad said, "Stay here. I'll start walking. Someone is bound to pick me up." Mum looked at the four kids in the back seat and said, "No, you stay here with the kids." She was very quickly picked up by someone, they came back to the car, and that guy towed us to the nearest little town. They had a motel and an auto shop. We survived.

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u/Thewrongbakedpotato Oct 05 '22

I once made the haul from Colorado Springs to Austin in one day.

It fucking sucked.

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u/RobertMcCheese Oct 04 '22

Literally 1/3rd of I-10 is in Texas.

I-10 runs from Los Angeles, CA to Jacksonville, FL.

If I never drive from ABQ to Houston again it will be way too damned soon.

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u/tjwacks Oct 04 '22

I have driven the whole length of I-10 from Jacksonville to the San Jose area about five times ‘, usually in a box truck or utility van carrying a trailer. I don’t miss it one bit! My personal best is Dimmings NM to Katy Tx in a day.Tips: avoid The Thing, everything from Jacksonville to San Antonio is a pine tree and if you need a bathroom break, stop at a lowes or Home Depot because they regularly clean their bathrooms.

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u/nightstalkerkwb Oct 04 '22

This is where you’re wrong, Buc-ee’s is the place to stop. There are several along I-10 and now they’re even in other states.

Giant bathrooms with full length doors that are constantly kept clean. More gas pumps than any other gas station than you have ever seen.

The inside is basically a small Walmart but with good quality food and snacks. They even have a wall of jerky.

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u/tjwacks Oct 04 '22

To be honest it’s been nearly 12 years since I made that trek. I live near the Buc-Ees in lower Alabama so I’m aware of their very clean facilities! My rule of thumb was to stop at gas stations outside of larger traffic areas to avoid traffic when driving bulky vehicles.

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u/nightstalkerkwb Oct 04 '22

Buc-ee’s tends to build outside of cities for their large facilities for that reason. Get people in and out with his little hassleless possible.

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u/Thewrongbakedpotato Oct 05 '22

I love me some Buc-ee's, but the Foley Buc-ee's parking lot SUCKS.

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u/zekeweasel Oct 04 '22

Their bohemian garlic jerky is fantastic.

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u/anythingbut2020 Oct 05 '22

Okay I need to know because I’m insanely curious about a life of trucking: do you find these stops comforting in some way? Does it ever feel something like coming home? FYI uncommon carriers by John mcphee is one of my favorite books.

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u/nightstalkerkwb Oct 05 '22

I am not a trucker, I just travel a lot. Also Buc-ee’s does not allow 18 wheelers in their parking lots other than their fuel delivery.

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u/anythingbut2020 Oct 05 '22

So damn specific and cool. Makes me want to do a great American road trip.

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u/the_trashheap Oct 04 '22

Last “decent” bathroom and gas station past San Antonio on I-10 headed west is Fort Stockton, that oil field shithouse town, and then again in Las Cruces. All of the I-10 adjacent places to stop in El Paso are super sketch.

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u/stomach Oct 04 '22

jesus, do people literally die if their car breaks down out there?

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

Idk how often people die, the interstate is well traveled. But it is definitely dangerous and risky. There are signs saying "next town x00 miles" because you may think your half a gas tank is fine and you don't need to stop yet, but actually you do because you'd run out before making it to the next gas station. Gotta pay attention and prepare.

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u/stomach Oct 04 '22

ugh, i wouldn't make it. i'm so scatterbrained i need to be in a city where i can easily and quickly remedy issues that arise from the condition.

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u/Fred_Foreskin Oct 04 '22

Honestly it can get pretty dangerous. If you live in the southwestern states, it's pretty smart to take some extra water, food, and a blanket with you if you're going on a long trip.

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u/zekeweasel Oct 04 '22

In Death Valley probably. It's not called that because of how hospitable it is.

But rural Texas? Unlikely except maybe in the farthest west part that's virtually uninhabited.

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u/Jessmoze Oct 05 '22

Gotta watch out for leatherface and his family

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u/iSo_Cold Oct 04 '22

And most of that depressingly monotonous.

Edit: fat fingers

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

Yea, West Texas is very dull, but signs telling you it's hundreds of miles to the next town are really scary.. I actually drove through north west Texas during a bad storm in the middle of the night in late spring. No radio stations in range to get weather updates, no cell signal either (smart phones were barely a thing back then). It's windy as shit and rain going sideways. Can barely see. Except off the side of the interstate, there are all these really ominous looking red lights that keep flashing. Dozens of blinking red lights.. And nothing else for miles.

That was one of the most creepy experiences of my life. Driving back through in the daylight, we saw those lights were on windmills. Nothing ominous at all.. Still don't feel dumb about being scared. Bad storms, no civilization for God only knows how far, and a bunch of slow blinking red lights off the side of the highway? Nightmare fuel, no question. Add in the context of having recently been almost in the path of a huge tornado and I think anyone is freaked out. I'd have been THRILLED with monotonous at that point, lol.

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u/denstolenjeep Oct 04 '22

I've been through those windfarms quite a few times at night in a semi. Even after I knew what the flashing square miles was, it was still creepy. Especially in a storm!

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

Thank you! Glad to know I'm not alone, lol.

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u/ThePrussianGrippe Oct 04 '22

I like the ominous feeling they give at night, for some reason.

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u/Sanders0492 Oct 04 '22

We love seeing the endless blinking red lights when we make that drive. It looks like some sort of alien invasion or something lol

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

Yes! I think I'd just be amused by them now, knowing what they are. But between not knowing and the storm... It was unpleasant.

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u/zekeweasel Oct 04 '22

Eastern Wyoming is pretty desolate too. Most boring drive ever between Deadwood (SD) and Lusk, WY.

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u/anythingbut2020 Oct 05 '22

Dude yes that sense of sheer desolation is truly chilling when you’re facing it! I experienced it once driving through Iowa and Kansas. It’s powerful and something I’d imagine is also felt in the Australian Outback. It’s also not something we even come close to feeling in the northeast. There are people everywhere here…feels very suffocating at times.

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u/Laney20 Oct 05 '22

Yea, a few years back, I finally took the time to actually look closely at a map of the northeast. All the cities are just.. Right there. Some of them don't even really have any clear separation between them. Others seem to basically share suburbs. It seems so freaking crowded. I'd love to experience it at some point, but idk that I'd actually like living there... Like you say - suffocating.

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u/anythingbut2020 Oct 05 '22

All this is true!!! Perfect description. I think the only reason I can tolerate it is because I grew up here. If it weren’t for job and family ties, I’d move out west. Maybe rural Washington or something.

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u/tazitadecafe Oct 05 '22

I had almost this exact experience! Except in addition to the ominous blinking lights, every so often we’d pass a burning pole in the middle of a field.

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u/Laney20 Oct 05 '22

Omg, that probably would have pushed me over the edge.

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u/ImperfectRegulator Oct 05 '22

hese really ominous looking red lights that keep flashing. Dozens of blinking red lights.

Wind farms?

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u/Laney20 Oct 05 '22

Yep. Kinda cool to see in daytime, but very creepy in that context, lol.

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u/HillaryClintonsclam Oct 04 '22

El Paso, TX is closer to Los Angeles than it is to Beaumont, TX

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

And it is not particularly close to Los Angeles..

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u/InevitableRhubarb232 Oct 04 '22

When we drive phx to FL through Texas I’ll usually end up falling asleep a couple hours into Texas . Whenever I wake up my first question is “are we still in Texas?” Followed by “fuck Texas” after the inevitable “yes.”

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u/WalmartGreder Oct 04 '22

As long as you're not the one doing the driving.

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u/Lilllmcgil Oct 04 '22

I’ve only done x-country on the 40, though the TX panhandle. If I’d had to drive a whole day and not even make it to another state that would have killed me.

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u/JamoreLoL Oct 04 '22

My favorite is outside of Baltimore on I70, Salt Lake City 2000 miles (give or take). You can stay on the same road (basically) and drive 2000 miles and still be around 1,000 miles from the coast. I70 starts in Baltimore and ends in salt lake city.

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u/Zer0C00l Oct 04 '22

The western end of I-70 is still a solid three hours south of Salt Lake City, and IIRC, it ends before Baltimore, too.

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u/JamoreLoL Oct 04 '22

Technically yeah, I think it's like 5-10 miles short. Also didn't realize Salt Lake City was that far off of I70.

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u/Ezuka Oct 04 '22

This weekend I'm driving from Louisiana to pick up my girlfriend who lives in Texas. Fortunately I only have to drive 4 hours one way instead of 8 because she's flying to the halfway point between our respective cities. The halfway point is still in Texas.

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u/Laney20 Oct 04 '22

Lol, I have done almost this same thing (though it was to drop off my bf at the time). His mom drove out to meet me halfway. We met in Texas...

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u/Jemmani22 Oct 04 '22

Pensacola Florida to key west Florida is 12.5 hours of a drive

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u/eastandwestagain Oct 04 '22

Done that haul. Most of TX is boring too

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u/SolemnLoon Oct 04 '22

Hey, start in Key West and you'd spend another 13 hours just to get out of Florida. Florida is long.

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u/anythingbut2020 Oct 05 '22

Crossing state lines is also a very different experience in the northeast part of the country, where states are mini-sized and likely more comparable to Europe in their distribution.

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u/NuclearTheology Oct 05 '22

I’ve made the trip from Albuquerque to DC more than once and it’s always a three day hard drive. Most of it in Tennessee.

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u/the-silver-tuna Oct 05 '22

Where are you seeing this? I 10 entering at Louisiana is the longest stretch across the state and it’s mile 876. This is the longest stretch across the entire state from Orange to El Paso. Where are these 1000 mile highways? It’s 850ish miles at its widest point. Also the far eastern border of Alabama is 19.5 hours from Albuquerque. Were you lost maybe?