East Coast Road Trip (April 21-May 8)&(June28-July18) through 32 US States with my 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid...

[PetitFrereArmada]

I have always had a goal of driving through all lower 48 US states with my car and taking a picture at every Welcome to ......(Name of State). Over the past 4 years in the month of July, I have taken a road trip and happy to have driven through all States on the West Coast of the US. I have always wished to have time to be off to do the East Coast. So here I am now about to start it.

I now have some time to be off from work and decided to do a solo road trip to visit a cousin who lives in Norfolk, VA with her husband who is in the military and stationed there.

This time, I am not using my gas guzzling Infinti QX80. I recently bought a brand new 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid on October 3, 2020. This is my first time ever owning a Hybrid. So, I am putting it to work by using it for this road trip.

I decided to do a trip report to ask for tips and suggestions on places to visit. This is purely a leisure trip. So, I would love suggestions on some very scenic back roads to take or just any amazing thing that I could stop by and see. I have nothing but time on this trip.

And this is my 2020 Honda Accord. And this is a link to my build thread of my 2020 Honda Accord...

PetitFrereAccord 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid...

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I always try to make a tentative itinerary for my road trips. It is always to give me an idea of what I can be doing on that day, but I can always make change to my itinerary any time.

Day 1 (Wed, April 21): Houston to Alabama.
Leave at 10pm on the 20th. Get to Atlanta about 3pm on the 21st.
855 miles 13 hours
Sleep in Atlanta

Day 2 (Thurs, April 22): May visit Coca Cola in Atlanta.
Then drive Atlanta to Toccoa Falls to Brasstown Bald to Tail of Dragon and end in Pigeon Forge, NC.
300 miles 6 hours drive
Sleep in Pigeon Forge for 4 nights

Day 3 (Fri, April 23): May go back to Tail of Dragon. Explore Smoky Mountains National Park and do some easy hikes.
Sleep in Pigeon Forge

Day 3 (Sat, April 24): Explore more of Smoky Mountains National Park. Drive through park to Cherokee and back.
Sleep in Pigeon Forge.

Day 4 (Sun, April 25): Some more exploring of National Park or take a drive to any interesting neighboring town.
Sleep in Pigeon Forge.

Day 5 (Mon, April 26): Pigeon Forge to Hillsville, VA.
Things to see along the way; Drive some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Richland Balsam Overlook (cowee Mt overlook), Chimney Rock to Linville Falls, Mile High Swinging Bridge, Grandfather Mountain, Linn Cove Viaduct, Mabry Mill.
340 miles, 8 hours drive
Sleep in Hillsville, VA

Day 6 (Tues, April 27): Hillville, VA to Winchester, VA
Hillsville to Natural Bridge to Swift Run, VA. Enter Park here. Drive north on Skyline Dr through the park to Thornton Gap to get out of park.
300 miles, 8 hours drive
Sleep at Winchester, VA

Day 7 (Wed, April 28): Winchester, vA to Jessup, MD
Drive to crash site of Flight 93. Then drive to Penns Grove, NJ, DE. Stop at Valley Forge National Historic Park, which is close to destination.
520 miles, 9 hours drive
Sleep Jessup, MD

Day 8 (Thurs, April 29):Explore Washington DC
Drive to Washington DC and explore for a whole day
Sleep Jessup, MD

Day 9 (Fri, April 30): Washington DC to Norfolk, VA
Drive by DC on way to Norfolk.
Stop in Williamsburg
230 miles, 4 hours drive
Sleep at my cousin's house for 4 nights.

Day 10 (Sat, May 1): Explore Norfolk and surrounding with family.

Day 11 (Sun, May 2): Exlore Virginia Beach

Day 12 (Mon, May 3): Virginia's historic triangle (Jamestown, Yorktown, Williamsburg)

Day 13 (Tues, May 4): Leave at 4am. Norfolk, VA to Louisville, KY
660 miles, 11 hours drive
Sleep Louisville, KY

Day 14 (Wed, May 5): Louisville to Springfield, MO. Explore route 66 and stop at attractions.
480 miles, 7 hours drive
Sleep Springfield, MO

Day 15 (Thurs, May 6): Springfield to Oklahoma City, OK
300 miles, 5 hours drive
Sleep Oklahoma City, OK

Day 16 (Fri, May 7): Edmond, OK to Houston, TX
450 miles 7 hours

HOME!

Estimated total miles covered will be atleast 5,000 miles. Let us see how well the Honda Accord Hybrid saves gas on a 5,000 miles road trip.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Got it ready for its East Coast Rally Road Trip!

 

[CountryboyNC]

If your a craft beer guy, I’d try and check out Asheville NC. Also, the Biltmore estate is a must see in that area as well. Linville Falls is a good stop out towards the Boone area of NC as well. If you can swing it I might try to venture out from Pigeon Forge a little as it can be a very “touristy” area.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

If your a craft beer guy, I’d try and check out Asheville NC. Also, the Biltmore estate is a must see in that area as well. Linville Falls is a good stop out towards the Boone area of NC as well. If you can swing it I might try to venture out from Pigeon Forge a little as it can be a very “touristy” area.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I don't drink beer at all and do not like alcohol, but will attend wine tasting and try only very sweet wines since I do not like alcohol.

Linville Falls is on my itinerary and I plan to stop there. Thanks for confirming it is a good place to stop at.

And you are right, Pigeon Forge is very touristy and since the country is almost open, I hear it will be packed. In fact, I booked my hotel a while ago but got a notice to change my hotel because the hotel is under construction (renovation). Well, I could not find the kind of price I got like almost 2 months ago. So booking the new and different hotel cost me more money. I know the are would be parked.

I plan to drive far and wide to explore places in the area since I was here last year during Spring Break but missed a lot of nice places because there was still some snow and not all touristic places were open. I have 4 days in Pigeon Forge and hope it will be enough to really get a lot from the park and even a lot from places far away from the park. Good thing I am using my 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid for the trip. With the low speed limit in the park, I should be averaging over 50mpg, so I am good to drive far and wide.

Last year, I took a road trip during Spring Break and went to Biltmore. It was a great experience. $73 a ticket per person was not cheap, but it sure was a great experience and well worth it. Here is a link to my 2020 Road Trip to the Smoky Mountains and a picture of Biltmore from the thread.

Spring Break to Smoky Mountains 2020...

 

[calicamper]

skip the basket get a sleek box. Thats a 5mpg hit right there vs 1-2 with a sleek box.

Our Fusion plug-in hybrid has a life time 70,000 mile average of 62mpg?.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

skip the basket get a sleek box. Thats a 5mpg hit right there vs 1-2 with a sleek box.

Our Fusion plug-in hybrid has a life time 70,000 mile average of 62mpg?.

Thanks for that tip. I will look into a sleet box for sure. But for this trip, I will not be using my roof rack nor my roof rack basket. My roof will not have anything on it.

But I will be taking my magnetic led bar and my cb radio antenna as I have a cb radio and like to listen to truckers talking to each other during the hours of 1am to 4am. I will put my led bar on my roof only at night and only if needed.

Well, I must say you do get some excellent numbers with your Fusion plug-in. In 70,000 miles you are averaging over 62mpg! That is excellent!

Mine is just a regular hybrid and my first ever hybrid. I really love the car. I do hypermile while in town and I am always guaranteed above 53mpg. But when I get on the freeway and stay between 70-80 and never going above 80mph, I always average 40mpg to 44mpg.

I am really looking forward to what my total cost of gas would be after this trip which would be over 5,000 miles. I will keep very detailed track of that.

 

[calicamper]

Thanks for that tip. I will look into a sleet box for sure. But for this trip, I will not be using my roof rack nor my roof rack basket. My roof will not have anything on it.

But I will be taking my magnetic led bar and my cb radio antenna as I have a cb radio and like to listen to truckers talking to each other during the hours of 1am to 4am. I will put my led bar on my roof only at night and only if needed.

Well, I must say you do get some excellent numbers with your Fusion plug-in. In 70,000 miles you are averaging over 62mpg! That is excellent!

Mine is just a regular hybrid and my first ever hybrid. I really love the car. I do hypermile while in town and I am always guaranteed above 53mpg. But when I get on the freeway and stay between 70-80 and never going above 80mph, I always average 40mpg to 44mpg.

I am really looking forward to what my total cost of gas would be after this trip which would be over 5,000 miles. I will keep very detailed track of that.

If I skip charging it 40-44ish is typical. It will do EV only about 12-18 miles and up to 80mph EV mode before dino burner kicks in.

I borrowed a basket yrs ago for a trip very similar to yours used it on my Subaru it was a shock how big of a mpg hit it was, plus crazy noisy. I gave it back bought a 30 inch wide long /narrow box so I could run 2 bikes with the box on 52inch bars or even my canoe on 60 inch bars next to the box.
Skip the short fat boxes they don’t give you any flexibility and hit the mileage worse than the long narrow box. ?
plus if you need a basket you can rig one next to the box?

 

[CountryboyNC]

Sounds good! When I travel up that way with the family, I sometimes find it cheaper just to rent a cabin then a hotel room, might be worth looking at some of the deals too

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I don't drink beer at all and do not like alcohol, but will attend wine tasting and try only very sweet wines since I do not like alcohol.

Linville Falls is on my itinerary and I plan to stop there. Thanks for confirming it is a good place to stop at.

And you are right, Pigeon Forge is very touristy and since the country is almost open, I hear it will be packed. In fact, I booked my hotel a while ago but got a notice to change my hotel because the hotel is under construction (renovation). Well, I could not find the kind of price I got like almost 2 months ago. So booking the new and different hotel cost me more money. I know the are would be parked.

I plan to drive far and wide to explore places in the area since I was here last year during Spring Break but missed a lot of nice places because there was still some snow and not all touristic places were open. I have 4 days in Pigeon Forge and hope it will be enough to really get a lot from the park and even a lot from places far away from the park. Good thing I am using my 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid for the trip. With the low speed limit in the park, I should be averaging over 50mpg, so I am good to drive far and wide.

Last year, I took a road trip during Spring Break and went to Biltmore. It was a great experience. $73 a ticket per person was not cheap, but it sure was a great experience and well worth it. Here is a link to my 2020 Road Trip to the Smoky Mountains and a picture of Biltmore from the thread.

Spring Break to Smoky Mountains 2020...

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

This trip will take me through 23 States and since I make it mandatory to stop at all Welcome signs, I like to post them.

Passing through State Number 1 Louisiana @ 1:15am

Passing through State Number 2 Mississippi @ 4:10am

State #3 Alabama @5:40am

#4 Florida @ 6:45am. I still have 6 more hours to destination. Very tired and need some rest since I worked 12 hours yesterday, got home and did a lot of work to pack and get everything in the car and hit the road for a straight 13 hours drive.

#5 Georgia @3:50pm

#6 South Carolina

#7 North Carolina

#8 Tennessee

#9 Virginia

#10 West Virginia

#11 Maryland

#12 Pennsylvania

#13 New Jersey

#14 Delaware

#15 Ohio

#16 Kentucky

#17 Indiana

#18 Illinois

#19 Missouri

#20 Oklahoma

#21 Kansas

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

#21 Kansas

#22 Texas

#23 Arkansas

#24 New York

#25 Connecticut

#26 Rhode Island

#27 Massachusetts

#28 New Hampshire

#29 Maine

#30 Michigan

#31 Wisconsin

Finally started my roadtrip today. Starting mileage on odometer is 9,323 miles. The car is still with factory filled oil. I am trying to get to 12,000 miles or more before doing first oil change on this car. Oil life monitor is still at 30% after 7 months of ownership and putting 9,323 miles so far.

Loaded my car up and started my trip at 10:00pm with plans to just take my time and enjoy the drive at night.

I have a magnetic light bar on this car. 3 hours into my driver so far and it is proving to be very useful. It turns the dark night into day. Very bright. Any stretch I find myself alone on, I light it up for miles. And the whole road end to end is bright far and wide. You can see the laser beam piercing through the darkness of the night.

 

[OverlandNA]

What, wait, where's the hi lift jack, gas cans on the roof, $30k trailer with rtt, 37in tires...?






JK
Enjoy your trip!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

What, wait, where's the hi lift jack, gas cans on the roof, $30k trailer with rtt, 37in tires...?
JK
Enjoy your trip!

I am sitting here at the Welcome to Florida rest stop in Florida after driving 7 hours straight through the night and just read your comment and had to laugh really hard. That was really funny.

Thanks about me enjoying the trip. It's been good so far.

Well, they said overlanding should not only be with all those gadgets on a 4x4. They say you can use anything for overlanding, as long as you are just getting out there. So, people can use a bicycle or just hike for an overland trip. So, I decided to let my 4x4 rest while I put my brand new Hybrid to work driving around the country. Excellent gas mileage, plus this trip is honestly sightseeing and enjoying long drives on scenic roads. Plus, the East Coast does not offer much in offroad like there is in the West. The mecca of offroad; Moab in Utah and Ouray/Telluride in Colorado.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Currently driving North on I-65 in Alabama about 10 minutes from Montgomery when my car just turned 10,000 miles on odometer.

i have not done an oil change on this car since I bought it brand new 7 months ago. So it still has the factory filled oil and filter. Since the oil life is still showing 20%, I plan to push this to atlesst 12,000 miles before I do the first oil change on this car.

I plan to send in a sample to Blackstone for a Used Oil Analysis. It will be interesting to see what they will say.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Today, I left Georgia for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Before leaving Georgia, I decided to visit a hidden attraction in Georgia which is Brasstown Bald, GA. The highest point in Georgia. A really neat place to visit.