There is not going to be an easy way to say this, so I'm just going to put it out there .. when I initially speculated about the Road Trip, I did not do the math on the trip .. and I should have .. it's my fault .. and it seems to break down as follows :
29.3 Hours at an Average of 70 MPH not considering stops / road work / food breaks / etc .. the route considers St Louis to Dallas, then South to Houston, then on to Bradenton, 1910 miles one way total .. add in a margin for road work, which looks to be quite extensive on some legs of the trip, add in stops, etc .. I think a best case scenario is 35 hours on the road .. possibly pushing 40 hours in a worst case scenario .. I double and triple checked everything, but it's possible I may be off slightly ..
Reverse that for the trip back ..
Although I know there had been some discussion on a marathon drive, I just don't see that .. keep in mind, my degenerative lower back issues as well as my heart issues .. when I had my check up last week, I ran the trip down with my DR as a Marathon or multi-day drive and he essentially said, "Are you nuts .. ??" .. my yearly Road Trips are generally a 4 hour drive, stay a few days, do another 4 hours, etc .. it has been many years since I've contemplated a drive trip of this type ..
If it can be done in 35 hours, which I am doubtful of, 3 Days at near 12 hours a day driving is still a stretch, IMO .. if 40 hours is what it takes, then 10 hours a day driving .. 4 days .. either scenario cuts the time actually in Bradenton down substantially .. 4 days of driving cuts it to near nothing, because the trip back must be considered ..
Better that this info gets into the mix now, rather than later .. and, again, my apologies for not putting the pencil to this earlier on ..