I'm in Texas - we've driven thirty minutes for a great steak dinner (in another town) before, back in college. Now we live in Houston. My sister also lives in Houston. It takes just over an hour to drive from my house to her house. I have been known to pack an overnight bag, but that's because after going to dinner and a movie - it will be after ten or so before we're done and midnight before I could get home. So I went to bed at her house, got up when she did, we had a quick breakfast together, and I headed home while she headed to work (or if it was Saturday morning, we might keep visiting until after lunch). Note to those mentioning snow - it very, very rarely snows in Houston - but when it does - it shuts everything down as there is no equipment to handle snow (something that happens less than once in ten years, on the average).
When DD was young, we drove four hours to get to Six Flags, then four hours home after spending the day at Six Flags. It was over an twelve hour day (no place to take naps at Six Flags). It was worth it then - but we were in our thirties - we're not going to try it again twenty-odd years later.
Taking stuff over to a housewarming party so that the hostess only has to serve punch and nobody is to wear shoes in the house? Um...not happening. Not good planning, not good hosting, and not something that I'd be able to drag the introverted VorGuy to, anyway!