I left Nashville, 4am on a Saturday morning, towards Dallas, for the International Vintage Guitar Show. Drove 11 hours, got there at around 3pm, unloaded the gear I brought there, met some old friends, checked out the gear that was there, loaded the car and drove back to Nashville. Arrived back home on Sunday 6am. Spent 26 hours out, 22 of them on the road.
Last August I also flew from Nashville to Los Angeles, early the morning, just to grab a small amp, put it in a backpack, and got back in the airplane in the evening to fly back home.
If the gear is that special, I'm willing to go that far. If not, I would not drive more than 30 minutes.