Am I crazy?

august06mom

I'm trying to book a flight to visit my dad in TN. He just moved there -- I've never been there, don't know the area at all. He told me that the Nashville airport is an hour away from him. When I MapWuested it, it says it's 3 hours -- 190 miles. My dad doens't see the difference in this, and says it only take him an hour and half (yeah, he upped it another 30 minutes when I asked him).

Am I the only one who sees this as a big difference when traveling alone with a 3-year-old? We'll be on a 3-hour flight, and the last thing I'm going to want to do after that is be stuck in the car for another 3 hours. Or am I crazy? My dad thinks it doesn't matter and that I'm being ridiculous.

 So now my options are either fly directly to Nashville and sit in the car for three hours, or fly to Chattanooga, but that's not a direct flight, and then drive an hour to his house.

mlm1128

Check the airport in West Virginia...it may be a lot closer. I know it was for dh when he went to Bristol, TN.

eclaires

I would check some surrounding airports.  Where does he live in TN?

august06mom

He said he lives near Athens, TN.

shopgirl_07

Does your Dad have a helicopter? Because that's the only way he'd be able to do 190 miles in 90 minutes.

I think a 3+ hour drive after a flight is a huge PITA. I would be reluctant too.

joy143dh

It matters and you're not crazy.   190 in 90 mins? Certainly not with a 3yr old in the car. 

I would consider the total travel time for both.  I like small airports - easier in&out, but I like non-stop flights too.   If the Chatt connection isn't too long, it may be the best option.  DC can run around between flights and hopefully nap in the hour car ride.

eclaires

Have you checked the Knoxville airport?  It might be closer than Chattanooga, but would probably require a non-direct flight too.  Knoxville airport looks like it's an hour too - I just checked google maps.

I think if I were traveling with Jackson, I'd rather have a non-direct flight because going through the airport and changing planes would probably be less trying than flying for 3 hours and then driving for 3 hours, just because all of the traveling plus a longish car ride would make him drive me nuts.