Some commuters spend hours driving, and pile up the miles

To Alan Grimes, leaving his Sarasota home at 5 a.m. for the one hour and 45 minute drive to Sebring and returning after 7 p.m. is just part of his work day. -

It's certainly a long day and a lengthy drive of more than 200 miles roundtrip for Grimes, who jokes that he doesn't see the sun during the winter on his weekday commute.

Grimes is known as an "extreme" commuter. According to Wikipedia, the U.S. Census Bureau defines an extreme commute as a daily journey to work that takes more than 90 minutes each way. According to the bureau, about 3 percent of American adult workers are so-called "extreme" commuters.

Although Grimes' commute is longer than most, there are many people in the Heartland who drive a considerable distance to work. Numbers from the Florida Census Data Center provided to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation show that.

• Hundreds of people make the drive to and from Highlands to Polk County each day. There are 1,018 who live in Highlands but work in Polk and 918 who live in Polk but work in Highlands.

•The number who live in Highlands and work in Hardee County is 462. There are 416 who live in Hardee and drive east to Highlands to work.

•There are 1,226 people who live in Highlands County but work in other counties outside of Polk, Hardee, DeSoto and Okeechobee.

Grimes, who is the planning and operations analyst for Heartland Workforce, moved to Sarasota in 1992. His wife worked for Sarasota County for 22 years.

It was only a five-minute drive from their home for her when she worked for Sarasota County. But she has changed jobs and now commutes to Tampa for her job at MacDill Air Force Base.

Grimes drives a 1999 Toyota 4Runner that he has owned for about three years. It has 165,000 miles on it.

The SUV takes eight gallons of gas a day. He noted that the oil is changed in the Toyota once a month, and he buys a new set of tires each year.

And the cost of maintaining the vehicle? Grimes said it is $10,000 a year.

Grimes doesn't mind spending the time and the money because he said his job gives him the opportunity give back to people.

"I love the job and the people I work with," he said.

This is Grimes' second stint with Heartland Workforce. He previously worked there in 2004 and 2005 and then returned to the organization that provides information and assists with training for job seekers and businesses in 2007.

During his drive he said he thinks about work, reviews his day and plans for the future.

Grimes has been a Good Samaritan by helping people trapped in cars. On the down side, he said he has witnessed what turned out to be domestic violence incidents on two occasions.

One thing he has noticed is that he gets better mileage driving to Sarasota. He said he gets 21 miles per gallon heading to the coast and 19 mpg driving to Sebring.

"Highlands County is uphill from Sarasota," Grimes said.

The reaction when he tells people about his commute is that "most look at you in disbelief."

Lifesaving commute

Doug Pifer drives even further than Grimes, but he doesn't make the trip as often.

Pifer lives in Madeira Beach in Pinellas County and drives to Sebring to work - a distance of 108.4 miles one way.

Pifer is an EMS supervisor for Highlands County and works shifts. He is on 24 hours and off 48 hours.

Pifer grew up in Lake Placid and is a 1984 graduate of Lake Placid High School. He has worked for EMS since 1995 but has been making the long commute for the past three years.

The reason he lives where he does is because his wife, Christine, works in Tampa. She is the chief flight nurse for Bayflite, which is an air medical flight program, and is based at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Another reason is Pifer's fondness for the water. He owns a 23-foot Sea Fox boat and figured as long as he is a boater he should be close to the water.

He drives a 2009 Mini Cooper, which he says gets 42 miles per gallon on the highway, and logs over 2,100 miles a month.

Pifer leaves his home at 4:30 a.m. and arrives in Sebring about 6:30. He notes that he gives himself some extra time before the shift begins at 7.

"I get a cup of coffee and I just drive," Pifer said. "I just make sure I don't hit a deer."

Pifer makes a second commute each week - albeit a shorter one - driving from Madeira Beach to New Port Richey to work on Bayflite. He said it is an 80-mile roundtrip.

Commuting to Kissimmee

Della Kilpatrick lives in Sebring and makes the commute four days a week to Kissimmee, where she is the office manager for orthodontist Dr. James Kendrick. Kilpatrick has been making the 178-mile roundtrip for 10 years.

Kilpatrick explained that Kendrick had other offices including in Delray, which has closed. She would travel to the other offices to train people. She said the Kissimmee location grew so fast that it required more of her time to be there. Kendrick also has an office in Sebring on Lakeview Drive.

Kilpatrick drives a Ford Explorer and gets 18 to 19 miles per gallon. She fills up the tank twice a week.

Although she is reimbursed for travel, she said she was losing money when the price of gas approached $4 a gallon a couple of years ago.

"I was almost freaking out," she said.

She avoids driving on Interstate 4. She takes U.S. 27 to Davenport and then gets on 1792, which takes her to John Young Parkway where the office is located.

But there is still lots of traffic, which she describes as "awful," especially when school is in session.

Kilpatrick does get to work in the Sebring office three days a month. She enjoys those days not only because the drive home is only about 10 minutes, but she is able to go home for lunch.

Enjoys the ride

Andrea Canaday is used to commuting, so when she started the 45-minute trek from her home near Lake Placid to a teaching job at Moore Haven High School it was not a big deal.

"This is probably one of the easiest commutes I've ever had," Canaday said. "There is not much traffic and it's peaceful."

Canaday moved from Indiana to Highlands County on Thanksgiving weekend of last year. She started teaching English in Moore Haven on Nov. 30.

She had previously commuted from her home in a suburb to downtown Indianapolis.

There is an abundance of wildlife to see along U.S. 27. She said during the first week of driving to Glades County she saw a bear, fox, deer, turkey, pig and armadillo.

"I had no idea; it's amazing," she said.

"It's an easy drive," she added. "I set my cruise control and away I go."

Canaday will be making the 94-mile roundtrip more often. She gave up her teaching job in June to become the supervisor of federal grants for Glades County schools.

Dual-commuter household

Jim and Bonnie Shields have commuted together for 11 years from their home south of Lake Placid. They both worked for U.S. Sugar Corp. in Clewiston in Hendry County when they started commuting.

They had lived in Clewiston for 20 years. When their youngest child left for college they decided to move to Lake Placid because they liked the area and wanted to be able to ride Jet Skis.

Jim is now a math teacher and assistant football coach at Moore Haven High School. Bonnie still works for U.S. Sugar.

During football season they drive separate cars to their jobs.

The distance from their home to Clewiston is 110 miles roundtrip. The distance to Moore Haven is 78 miles roundtrip.

They put more than 320,000 miles on a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix. The Grand Prix was sold in 2007 and replaced by a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. The Toyota has 75,000 miles on it and averages 36 miles per gallon, according to Jim. Their other car is a 2003 Buick LeSabre.

Jim said the commute has worked well for the couple that has been married 37 years. He said when either he or Bonnie had a bad day, the drive home would give the person a chance "to unload."

He added it would be over and done with by the time they got home, and they could think about preparing dinner.