PSA: Distances in America

[beatrice_otter]

To all writers, both professional and fannish: America is a big place, and yet some of the important places (though not all) are relatively close together.  Sometimes you have to fly to get places in a day.  But not always.  Sometimes, it is quicker to drive.  When your characters are traveling somewhere in America, somewhere you have never been, please do some elementary research to figure out whether it would make more sense for your characters to fly or drive.  There's this newfangled thing called Google Maps that can help.  It is your friend.  Use it.

I have seen so many goofs about stuff like that, it's not even funny.  From pros and amateurs.

Like the ep of SG-1 where we meet Sam's new boyfriend Pete, a cop from Denver in Colorado Springs on a case, who says he flew there.  It's only like an hour or two away by car.

Like the NCIS/SG-1 crossover where Gibbs et al took a helicopter to the SGC headquarters.  From the Navy Yard.  Now, the Navy Yard is in DC.  The SGC is in Colorado Springs, which is over half a continent away.  That's some helicopter.  A commercial jet would have been a lot quicker.

Like the NCIS fic I just read where Gibbs' dad flew down to DC instead of driving.  Stillwater's about 3.5/4 hours north of DC, and it's an hour away from the nearest airport (Scranton/Wilkes Barre); by the time you drove to the airport, got checked in, got through security, waited for the plane, flew down, got off the plane and through the airport, and then through DC traffic, it would probably be about that fast to just drive, and it would be a lot less hassle.

This is not rocket science, folks.  It takes five minutes to figure out.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

Oh, I think if people can't figure this out in real life, they're a long way from getting it right in fics! I live near a major tourist attraction (in my icon) and there's always people - especially English people - planning to drive to Uluru or Sydney that afternoon! We have to gently explain that these places are very far away.

Still, I support your quest for accuracy and research!

[beatrice_otter]

This I don't get, possibly because my mom obsessively plans out our vacation itineraries, complete with travel routes and times, to get the maximum stuff crammed into each day.

We live in the 21st century, folks! Google it!

[medie]

To be fair, though, NCIS? Doesn't try to get this stuff right. I could write a book on their godawful treatment of Canada alone. In fact, it's why I gave up watching the series. I spent so much time being pissed off at the inaccuracies I just couldn't take it anymore.

[beatrice_otter]

It's one of those shows where I only read fanfic, which is on average better quality than the show. Not that I've seen much of the show, but my Aunt loves it so I've seen it while at her house. I was ... not impressed, let's just say.

[mmegaera]

That happens pretty consistently here on the West Coast. I just read a romance yesterday (traditionally published, which just proves what I've always known, that NY publishers never go west of the Hudson) where the hero and heroine not only drove from Eureka, CA, to north of Seattle, WA, in one leisurely day (I have driven from south of LA to just south of Seattle in two days, but a) I did not drive 101 because it was an emergency that caused it, and b) they were two hellishly long days). Not to mention that the author never even mentioned the redwoods. Excuse me? Drive 101 from SF to Oregon, and completely ignore the redwoods???

[beatrice_otter]

Eeh. Mapquest wouldn't have told them about the Redwoods, but it would have at least told them that there isn't a way to get from California to Seattle in a single day. And googling would have told them about the Redwoods.

It's such a simple thing to check out! We have the internet, these days!

I'm from Oregon, myself. My personal favorite is when TV shows have an episode set in Bend (which is in the desert), and there's all this lush greenery around.

[thothmes]

Well, a year after I married, my maid of honor, who hailed from North Bend, Oregon got married herself. A major airline (United, I believe, but it was back in 1981) sold my in-laws, who were actually buying the tickets out to the wedding for us, as we were impoverished students with no credit card, a ticket to Bend, thinking it was the same thing. Uhh... no. Just no. The amount of geographical ignorance out there is amazing.

My favorite real life example are all the Americans who apparently snoozed through learning the states and their capitols in 5th grade, and think New Mexico is not part of our country. My icon pretty much captures my own reaction to that!

My favorite fan fic example are all the many authors (and it really seems they are legion) that have Jack O'Neill drive from Colorado Springs to his cabin in Minnesota for the weekend. If he drives like the proverbial demon-chased bat, breaking all the speed limits by astounding margins, and doesn't stop for anything, including sleep, gas, or a single rest stop, he just might be able to wave at the cabin as he roars past, but he'll still probably face charges for being A.W.O.L. Monday morning.

[staranise]

My favorite fan fic example are all the many authors (and it really seems they are legion) that have Jack O'Neill drive from Colorado Springs to his cabin in Minnesota for the weekend.

Hilariously? He also sets out on that trip, for a weekend, in his truck, IN CANON.

[beatrice_otter]

I know!

[lilacsigil]

My personal favorite is when TV shows have an episode set in Bend (which is in the desert), and there's all this lush greenery around.

Well, I just learned something! I had no idea there was desert in Oregon!

[beatrice_otter]

It's actually the largest part of the state, the whole southern and eastern part. We're not talking the Sahara, here, but the same brush-and-scrub-pine arid ranchland that most of the Western US is. For what it looks like, think the old MASH TV show, which was filmed in a similar area in California. (Except most of the desert in Oregon is flatter than that.) There is one major city in Eastern Oregon: Bend. (Which has boomed in the last decade or two, which is a problem because they're in a desert and they don't have the water to support that kind of population long-term.) There are a number of small towns, at least up North, but when we drove through the southern and eastern corner of the state when I was a teen, the people were so few and far between that they put the ranches on the state maps.

Most people live in the Willamette Valley, which is in the northwestern corner of the state (Between the Coast Range mountains and the Cascade Mountains), or along the coastline. So those are what people think of when they think Oregon.

[mmegaera]

Well, on that trip I told you about, I did drive from Redding to Tacoma in one day, but that was on I-5 and I drove for about 12 hours straight [wry g]. And I don't think Redding was the California anyone would have in mind.

Where in Oregon? I used to live in Eugene, and I now live in Puyallup, Washington.

RE: Bend. I don't think anyone outside the Pacific Northwest realizes that the west side of the Cascades is only half of the place.

[beatrice_otter]

Monmouth/Independence. Living in PA as I now do, I regularly astound people by pointing out that over half of Oregon and Washington are desert. No, really.

[mmegaera]

Yes, and even on this side of the mountains, it doesn't rain 365 days a year. Honest!

[shallanelprin]

My personal favorite SG-1 canon moment of fail was when it was stated that there's no zoo in Colorado Springs (I think Sam & Pete went to the zoo in Denver or something). Huh? There's a zoo on the freaking mountain - it's literally called Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Seriously people. But yeah, people screw up distances in both fic and canon of things quite a bit.

[beatrice_otter]

Yeah. That's ... special.

We have Google. That's the sort of fact that is easily googled. There's no excuse.