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Just out of curiosity, what is the greatest distance you have ever DRIVEN to a quiz bowl tournament? Flying doesn't count!

I am driving my team from West Point High School to the SSNCT in Minneapolis in a couple of weeks. According to Google Maps, it is 1,007 miles away. Does anyone have that beat?

quizbowllee wrote:Just out of curiosity, what is the greatest distance you have ever DRIVEN to a quiz bowl tournament? Flying doesn't count!

I am driving my team from West Point High School to the SSNCT in Minneapolis in a couple of weeks. According to Google Maps, it is 1,007 miles away. Does anyone have that beat?

Wayzata, and perhaps other Minneapolis-area teams, drove to the HSNCT in Atlanta (at least in 2013, maybe in other years). Google maps says 1,123 miles.

(I don't know that that's the most, though.)

Yeah, last year we took coach bus from MN to ATL (Saint Paul central was going to tag along, but later dropped out of HSNCT). One reason our coach, Meaghan Decker, decided to take a bus instead of flying, which we usually do, was because we were bringing a total of 31 people, so it saved money compared to paying for individual plane tickets. We were also hauling other MN team's buzzer sets to Atlanta (12 total). A one way trip was 24 hours (left Thursday at 3pm and got to ATL Friday same time), with only three short stops for meals. While the road trip was actually sort of fun ,it seemed like a waste of time in retrospect. Also, there isn't much else to do on a bus than study, so there's that, although you don't really get carsick doing that on a bus.

A group of Canadians from Toronto and Ottawa drove to Alabama for DRAGOON last fall, a trip that's more than 1,500 miles.

Last year, LASA took a bus to HSNCT from Austin. We had 21 people, so we thought a small bus would save money and we could practice and all that. It was only about 950 miles one way, BUT...

Our bus driver got lost. More than once. Before we made it ten miles. And apparently didn't understand quite how to keep the bus within one lane on the highway.
Two team members ended up with VERY BAD motion sickness in hour four (Houston). Use your imagination.
In hour five (east Texas), the air conditioner started to go out. Temp in the high 80s.
By hour eight (Baton Rouge, LA), the air conditioner was completely out. Temp in the low 90s. At least by this point we had a new driver.
In hour 12 (near Mobile, AL), we hit traffic. Lots of traffic. Temp in the mid 90s.
Even more traffic in Montgomery (about hour 15). Still no AC
We arrived at the hotel after nearly 20 hours on the bus, for a trip that should have taken about 15.

Once we got to Atlanta, the bus company assured me they would fix the AC. They didn't. At least we drove overnight on the way home. And the trip back took closer to 16 hours.

Anyway, 'The Quiz Bowl Bus Trip from Hell' didn't end up all bad necessarily, but LASA QB has adopted a policy of NEVER chartering a bus again.

Cassian wrote:Last year, LASA took a bus to HSNCT from Austin. We had 21 people, so we thought a small bus would save money and we could practice and all that. It was only about 950 miles one way, BUT...

Our bus driver got lost. More than once. Before we made it ten miles. And apparently didn't understand quite how to keep the bus within one lane on the highway.
Two team members ended up with VERY BAD motion sickness in hour four (Houston). Use your imagination.
In hour five (east Texas), the air conditioner started to go out. Temp in the high 80s.
By hour eight (Baton Rouge, LA), the air conditioner was completely out. Temp in the low 90s. At least by this point we had a new driver.
In hour 12 (near Mobile, AL), we hit traffic. Lots of traffic. Temp in the mid 90s.
Even more traffic in Montgomery (about hour 15). Still no AC
We arrived at the hotel after nearly 20 hours on the bus, for a trip that should have taken about 15.

Once we got to Atlanta, the bus company assured me they would fix the AC. They didn't. At least we drove overnight on the way home. And the trip back took closer to 16 hours.

Anyway, 'The Quiz Bowl Bus Trip from Hell' didn't end up all bad necessarily, but LASA QB has adopted a policy of NEVER chartering a bus again.

Take note, high school quiz bowl coaches: if you want to win HSNCT, replicate this trip.

A few years ago for either NSC or VCUO (we drove both, but I don't remember which trip this was) the Minnesota caravan went through West Virginia to pick up Fred Morlan, resulting in a roughly 1200-mile trip. Doesn't beat Canada -> Alabama though!

EDIT: I have been reminded that this trip in particular was VCUO.

Ukonvasara wrote:A few years ago for either NSC or VCUO (we drove both, but I don't remember which trip this was) the Minnesota caravan went through West Virginia to pick up Fred Morlan, resulting in a roughly 1200-mile trip. Doesn't beat Canada -> Alabama though!

EDIT: I have been reminded that this trip in particular was VCUO.

The Funvee was for VCUO. Getting you guys on a back road was pretty hilarious.

Dr. Loki Skylizard, Thoracic Surgeon wrote:

Ukonvasara wrote:A few years ago for either NSC or VCUO (we drove both, but I don't remember which trip this was) the Minnesota caravan went through West Virginia to pick up Fred Morlan, resulting in a roughly 1200-mile trip. Doesn't beat Canada -> Alabama though!

EDIT: I have been reminded that this trip in particular was VCUO.

The Funvee was for VCUO. Getting you guys on a back road was pretty hilarious.

Pictured: screenshot from a documentary about Fred's house

While in West Virginia we also learned a valuable lesson about what is and is not an actual road, and more specifically what is and is not a big pile of gravel.

Ukonvasara wrote:

Dr. Loki Skylizard, Thoracic Surgeon wrote:

Ukonvasara wrote:A few years ago for either NSC or VCUO (we drove both, but I don't remember which trip this was) the Minnesota caravan went through West Virginia to pick up Fred Morlan, resulting in a roughly 1200-mile trip. Doesn't beat Canada -> Alabama though!

EDIT: I have been reminded that this trip in particular was VCUO.

The Funvee was for VCUO. Getting you guys on a back road was pretty hilarious.

Pictured: screenshot from a documentary about Fred's house

While in West Virginia we also learned a valuable lesson about what is and is not an actual road, and more specifically what is and is not a big pile of gravel.

I told you guys I lived back a way on a side road off a highway. You all stopped about a mile and a half off said highway, which I've decided is the maximum radius of any road in Minneapolis.

Charter buses don't count either! I'm talking about DRIVING to a tournament, not RIDING to a tournament!

Seriously, though, I have utmost respect for anyone willing to do this. I'm just praying that we don't hit traffic and can make the trip in about 16 hours with stops. We're going to take a quick stop at the Gateway Arch. Anything else worth stopping for between Alabama and Minnesota?

We drove to HSNCT in Atlanta last year from northern Illinois(~800 miles) and we'll be driving to Kentucky(~450 miles) in three weeks

Our HSNCT trip was possibly the most fun experience I've ever had in quiz bowl but we did stop overnight both on the way there and the way back which might have stopped any sort of cabin fever,

GymnogypsCalifornianusWKU wrote:A group of Canadians from Toronto and Ottawa drove to Alabama for DRAGOON last fall, a trip that's more than 1,500 miles.

It's more than 1500km, actually. It's nowhere near 1500 miles.

My teammates probably have everyone beat because they are insane. They drove from Edmonton to Chicago for ICT. That's a 27 hour drive and I think they left on the WEDNESDAY. By comparison, the Toronto-Alabama trip is only 16 hours.

... and then they drove back.

We've been told that one father will be driving his son from Anchorage to Atlanta (almost 4,300 miles) for the National History Bee's National Finals (middle school division) this June.

Partido Galeguista wrote:

GymnogypsCalifornianusWKU wrote:A group of Canadians from Toronto and Ottawa drove to Alabama for DRAGOON last fall, a trip that's more than 1,500 miles.

It's more than 1500km, actually. It's nowhere near 1500 miles.

My teammates probably have everyone beat because they are insane. They drove from Edmonton to Chicago for ICT. That's a 27 hour drive and I think they left on the WEDNESDAY. By comparison, the Toronto-Alabama trip is only 16 hours.

... and then they drove back.

I didn't even to bother to check if Google Maps was giving me figures in kilometers or miles. Darn my America-centric measurements of distance. Ottawa to Tuscaloosa is somewhere between 1200 and 1300 miles, which is impressive in its own right, but doesn't match Edmonton to Chicago.

I can't top Alaska to Atlanta, but I once drove ~1,000 miles from Tallahassee to Ann Arbor for 2006 ACF Nats, ~900 miles from Tallahassee to College Park for 2006 ICT, and ~800 miles from Tallahassee to St. Louis for 2008 ICT.

Last year we drove a school van from Pennsylvania to Atlanta for HSNCT. That is less than 800 miles, but the trip was long enough!

Others made longer trips, but last year we put 4,479 miles on school vans.

I drove 60,000 miles the first year of NHBB, getting it off the ground, or something like an average of 170 a day. And that was in a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, so it's a wonder I'm still alive. Highlights included driving overnight to Alabama from NJ, running the tournament on an all nighter and passing out in a Motel 6 face down on the bed while I was still wearing my jacket immediately thereafter. Then there was the time I did an all night drive from New Orleans via Baton Rouge to Ola in Georgia, ran another tourney on an all nighter, and then drove to New Jersey the next day. This year's highlight was directing our 20 team event (3 divisions, bee and bowl) in Singapore on two hours of sleep, then missing my flight to Kuala Lampur. So I hired a cab for $350.00 to drive me the 6 hours to KL from Singapore. He got totally lost, so I got no sleep, and then I had to go direct an 18 team event in Malaysia the next day. At least I avoided Malaysia Airlines...

Not really germane to this thread, but we once had a player with a fear of flying. He traveled from St Paul to Los Angeles by TRAIN, which requires going via Chicago.

Not driving, I know, but had the train option not been available he would have gone by Greyhound bus.

We have a kid who is deathly afraid of flying, too. That's one small reason that we're driving.

I'm not sure what we'll do if a future SSNCT or HSNCT is held somewhere REALLY far away like Seattle or Los Angeles.

We do not anticipate holding a high school national championship on the west coast, precisely because it would impose the cost of air travel on so many more teams.

Hey guys, most of you are like totes diminishing Jordan's accomplishment here. Most of these trips that have been taken were to national tournaments, where there's a ton of incentive. Canadians came to Alabama for little more than playing a southern quizbowl tournament on a non-football weekend in a town with nothing relevant besides a football team and a great Thai restaurant (roll Thai). This is the power of the Sundberg/Palmer rivalry, one of the best rivalries in quizbowl today. They drove that far so Jordan could play against ME in a tournament consisting of Canadians, half-teams, Adam Silverman, and ME. That is an achievement only the be outdone by the Alaska trip mentioned earlier in the thread. Even then my rivalry with Palmer is tied at 3 so don't be surprised if he convinces Canadians to travel to Louisiana to break the tie!

Boise to Vancouver for VETO (638 miles). Not a national tournament. Done twice.

Boise to Atlanta by way of Columbus (to visit grandparents) and Syracuse (to visit a sister) and other places that were not quite as out of the way (3421+ miles), HSNCT. Return trip was closer to 2500 miles.

Two of these three trips were a solo trip. The second time going to VETO, I drove went with a friend.

When I played at James Island, we drove twice to Nashville (about 550 miles or so). One drive was to Ezell-Harding, the other to a tournament at Vanderbilt. We flew to Boston, New Orleans and to Chicago when we played there. Except for 3-4 tournaments in-state every year, we drove about 250-350 miles for most tournaments. Athens is about 250 or so, and the Atlanta area tournaments were usually 300-320. We overnighted for most though.

Driving from Edmonton to Chicago or Alaska to Atlanta is unbelievable.

If anyone cares, we made it to Minneapolis in 16 hours, 44 minutes, and 21 seconds.

Ready for SSNCT!

The IMSA team drove from Aurora to Columbia, MO in October 2012 (357 miles).

As for me personally, I staffed ICT less than 24 hours after returning from a 3000-mile long college visit/roadtrip/vacation. One could say I travelled in a very circuitous route to the tournament.

EDIT: For me, the trip started immediately after leaving the IHSA state championships. So I took an equally circuitous route home from a quizbowl tournament.