Grandson and grandfather travel to 20 states in one day

Published October 24, 2019

The following story was submitted by Paul Truesdale of Peabody (a former school bus driver in North Reading) and his grandson Trevor Wilson, a 2019 graduate of North Reading High School and current freshman at Villanova University.

NORTH READING — In how many states can you be in one day? Well, my grandson, Trevor, and I drove to 20 states in one day.

On July 14 we traversed from the corner of Maine, through New England, down to the Mason-Dixon Line and west to the edge of Iowa. Yes, counting Washington, D.C., that’s 20 states in one day in 1,500 miles.

We received considerable ridicule when discussing such a trip, but couldn’t be dissuaded from our foolishness. Once committed to achieving the silly goal of 20 states, serious planning was required. New England, with its high density of states, seemed obvious as our starting point. Then we would head south through the rest of the Northeast and thereafter push west.

With the itinerary settled we locked in on a Sunday as the minimum traffic day. In the navigation system all the way points were set. For a half day before our official start we rested and curtailed food and drinks to minimize bio breaks in the critical 24 hours. An all-night gas station, near the proposed launch point in Maine, provided last minute gas, food, drinks and a bathroom.

Beginning just north of the Maine border at midnight we crossed into New Hampshire on Route 95. We had spent only 10 seconds in Maine. Another 15 minutes on Route 95 and, bingo, we’re in Massachusetts. After entering Massachusetts, in a little over one hour we were into the northeastern corner of Connecticut and several minutes later into the northwestern corner of Rhode Island. We turned around and 10 seconds later we were out of Rhode Island and retracing our route back into Connecticut and Massachusetts. Less than two hours later we were crossing into the southeastern corner of Vermont.

We celebrated bagging all six New England states in 3 hours and 22 minutes. Wasting only 20 seconds, we turned around and were back again in Massachusetts heading south through Connecticut.

We entered New York and crossed the Washington Bridge into New Jersey. A short pit stop at the southern end of the Jersey Turnpike provided a critical break for gas, a bathroom and a change of drivers. Back on the road we entered Delaware and Maryland and turned onto the Washington, D.C. beltway. An annoying traffic jam was a small setback. Soon, a quick off-and-on, and we were into Washington, D.C. and back onto the beltway. A short distance later on the beltway and we crossed the Potomac River into Virginia. An immediate turnaround had us recrossing the river back into Maryland eventually heading west on Interstate 70. Over an hour later another quick off-and-on brought us into and out of West Virginia. Back again on Interstate 70, we entered Pennsylvania at 11:18 a.m. Now that’s 14 states in 11 hours and 18 minutes, less than half a day. The easy states were behind us.

We continued west for the long haul to Ohio and Indiana. Off-and-on Interstate 90 we nicked Sturgis, Michigan and began bearing down on Chicago. At this point we realized E-ZPass was malfunctioning, but decided to ignore the defect and continue using the E-ZPass lanes and worry about the consequences later.

Chicago traffic was brutal for Sunday at suppertime. We spent hours in a bumper-to-bumper crawl with both rain and solar glare. I was exhausted, completely burnt out. After a stop for gas and a bathroom, Trevor drove into the extreme northwest corner of Illinois.

From there a short side trip had us in and out of Wisconsin and back heading across the Mississippi River. At 11:24 p.m. we crossed the river into Dubuque, Iowa. Success! We had driven to 20 states in one day. We were done in more ways than one.

Unfortunately, we got lost finding our hotel. But once there and to our room, we didn’t care about the hotel or the room, just that there were beds. We were asleep before our heads hit our pillows.

After a full night’s sleep, we celebrated our achievement with a relaxing breakfast before heading home. We knew well the quickest route home was not through or near Chicago. We took the scenic route on the way back as we were not under the time pressure of the previous day. We traveled right through Cleveland and then up along Lake Erie and past Buffalo. We returned home late the next night after a fun and successful trip.

For the detailed itinerary with times and places, see the attached spreadsheet.

 

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Clock time* Odometer Distance State City Street

12:00 AM 0.00 0.00 ME Kittery RT 95

12:00 AM 0.20 0.20 NH Portsmouth RT 95

12:15 AM 16.20 16.00 MA Salisbury RT 95

1:28 AM 105.50 89.30 CT Thompson RT 395

1:40 AM 109.70 4.20 RI Burrillville Buck Hill Rd

1:42 AM 110.50 0.80 CT Thompson Buck Hill Rd

1:50 AM 114.20 3.70 MA Webster Thompson Rd

3:22 AM 215.80 101.60 VT Guilford Cal Coolidge Mem Hwy

3:23 AM 216.00 0.20 MA Bernardston Brattleboro Rd

4:12 AM 270.80 54.80 CT Enfield RT 91

5:42 AM 375.00 104.20 NY Rye RT 95

6:06 AM 398.00 23.00 NJ Teaneck RT 95

7:56 AM 518.60 120.60 DE Wilmington RT 95

8:10 AM 534.50 15.90 MD Elkton RT 95

9:34 622.00 87.50 DC Wash-DC N Portal

9:38 AM 622.40 0.40 MD Silver Springs RT 97

9:54 634.40 12.00 VA River Oaks RT 495

9:56 AM 636.50 2.10 MD Bethesda RT 495

11:14 AM 723.60 87.10 WV Bath RT 522

11:15 AM 723.80 0.20 MD Hancock RT 522

11:18 AM 726.30 2.50 PA Warfordsburg RT 70

1:52 PM 909.50 183.20 OH Petersburg RT 70 / 76

5:16 PM 1145.90 236.40 IN Freemont RT 90

5:56 PM 1182.40 36.50 MI Sturgis RT 66

6:01 PM 1182.70 0.30 IN Howe RT 66

6:41 PM 1307.10 124.40 IL Chicago RT 90

11:17 PM 1493.80 186.70 WI Dickeyville RT 35

11:18 PM 1493.90 0.10 IL E Dubuque RT 35

11:24 PM 1496.90 3.00 IA Dubuque RT 20

*All times are Eastern times, not local times

20 States in 1 Day (including Washington, DC)

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Paul Truesdale and Trevor Wilson