Cross Country Road Trip Help

Old Feb 24th, 2012, 07:49 AM
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Cross Country Road Trip Help

Hey all!

A couple of girlfriends and I are trying to plan a trip to drive cross country from our home in Massachusetts out to California in April. We will have about 7 days total to complete the journey and plan on flying back. We figured we would end up in either Los Angeles or San Francisco at the end.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Or ideas? Not sure what states would be the best to drive through during April with only 7 days, so I thought I'd come here and ask you all! None of us have been to any of the interior states, we've mostly just stayed to the East Coast. Thought maybe we'd spend a night in Chicago if we decided to go through the upper part of the country and maybe a night in Vegas.

Thanks for all your help!
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 07:54 AM
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Also, I should probably add that there will be at least 2 of us driving and we're all in our mid-twenties.

Thanks!
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 08:36 AM
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Are you flexible as to your time for leaving? If not your route will have to depend partly on weather. That said, once you are out of the northeast your options are 80, 70, 40 or 10. All other things being equal I would probably go to google maps or mapquest and pick places to stop along the way. I would probably pick up 70 outside of Pittsburgh and head west. Perhaps stop in St Lewis for a quick look at the arch then drive through the rockies west of Denver and stop in Moab for a look at Arches and Canyonlands then continue west to 15 south to Vegas.

The drive itself will take about 4 days even with 2 drivers. so you won't have much time to explore the fantastic areas you will go through.

Best of luck!
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 08:40 AM
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Is one of you staying in California with the car?
If it is a rental car and you are planning on a big drop off charge it might be cheaper to take the train.
California is a very large state. San Francisco or Los Angeles and/or San Diego?
Interstate 80 if you are headed for San Francisco.
I-57 south from Chicago to Memphis and I-40 west to Barstow and I-15 to get to Los Angeles.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 09:12 AM
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I think we're gonna plan for Los Angeles as our final destination. We planned OK a big drop off charge on the rental. Not ideal but we don't have enough time to drive there and back with our own vehicle.

Thanks for the tips!
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 09:32 AM
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Any chance you could get a cheap R/T from Chicago to Las Vegas?
Drive own vehicle to Chicago-fly to LV, rent a cheap car in LV. Drive to Los Angeles and return the car to LV for your flight back to Chicago.
Depending on how long you spend in California, you could have a few hours in Chicago.
Did you ever watch Cannonball Run with Burt Reynolds?
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 09:49 AM
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When in April? Are you planning it around Easter weekend/Spring Break?

Personally I would skip the idea of going all the way to California and just stick with the South/Southeast. Drive to New Orleans - the south will be beautiful in April, warm but not hot/humid. You could do this as a round-trip, same mileage as driving all the way to California but without the added expense of a drop-off charge and a return flight home.

Even if you decide to go cross-country, I would still try to find a southerly route. Could still be snow on the ground around Chicago, or more likely things will be starting to green up but unlikely to be anywhere as nice as farther south. I'd go take a route through Memphis instead of Chicago, would get you south into warmer/greener areas right away.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 10:24 AM
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Why are you doing this? There isn't that much that is interesting for a LARGE part of your driving UNLESS you are truly seeking out places to stop and visit. And even then, it can be challenging in our great grain belt states. I wonder if you have done a mapquest of distance and time, even with 2 people driving.
Have you priced air fare TO somewhere to have a real visit? It will take at least 4 days to drive, as someone else said.
What kind of one way air fare did you get. And then the car rent, drop off, etc. Gas prices are really high now.
Check Southwest/Jet Blue/Air tran (until it is no more). I am not understanding the charm of this at all. AND I have driven all that territory more than once.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 10:36 AM
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The charm is in the drive. We prefer to drive and see what's out there. I have priced everything out, money isn't the issue here. We just want to explore and see parts of our country that we haven't yet, as opposed to flying somewhere and being stuck in one area.

You don't need to understand the logic, I was just asking for advice. I realize how long it takes, etc. No need to be negative.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 10:40 AM
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Definitely not around Easter. I don't even know when Spring Break is. I'm thinking we might try to extend the trip and just take our own car, head south, and see where it takes us.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 12:29 PM
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Yes, the charm is in the drive. I've done over 40 of those long distance drives for no reason other than the drive over the last 20 years and I still love it (but of course it's definitely not for everybody). My east-west drives have all been more northern routes (I-70 was the furthest south). Since I mostly traveled in the summer, I never really had to worry about weather, but you will need to especially through the West, so unless you're going to watch the weather and keep your plans very flexible, you may want to head further south.

I can provide a couple of suggestions from my experiences though.

1.) If it's your first time, definitely go coast to coast. On the day you leave head out to the beach and put your feet in the Atlantic and when you get to California do the same in the Pacific. It's corny and I don't know why it should matter, but trust me 40 years from now you'll be glad you did.

2.) I would actually rent the car and only go one way and fly back. Back in the days when I had to use my own car because that was all I could afford I would always find the drive back a bit of a let down, even when taking a different route home. I love New York & New England (lived here my whole life), but I find the country gets more spectacular with each day you head west. Also, although the journey is your purpose, once you hit the Pacific, your mind will feel like you finished. Now that I can afford it, I always drive one way and fly back.

3.) Get off the Interstate. The impression of the country you will get from a 2-lane road will be totally different from what you get from the Interstate. You may not want to stray too far from the Interstates in case you decide the 2-lane thing isn't for you, but especially when you're outside large cities, look for a state or US (black & white shield) parallel route 5 to 30 miles from the Interstate, and take it instead.

4.) The most memorable things will be the things you don't plan for. Mine are things like a drive-in movie in South Dakota, talking about farming with a construction worker while waiting 20 minutes for the "pilot car" through a construction site, a restaurant where the waitress got our sodas from a vending machine, standing on the prairie listening to the silence while the ever-present wind blew through my hair, looking at the billions of stars from the side of the road on a very dark Kansas night, etc. A little planning doesn't hurt, but don't be afraid to visit something other than the fast food chain and motel right off the highway.

If you do decide to be daring and follow a more northerly route and want to see what the roads look like, there are pictures of them on webshots.com (search for my name). Even numbered highways go east-west.

Enjoy yourself.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 12:30 PM
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Haven't made the trip from MA to CA, but have gone between GA, WVA and MI on road trips to CA. Last one was round trip LA area to Georgia.
If you're going to end up in LA here's 1 possible route...
Try for a long day 1 to Pittsburgh (about 570 miles from Boston)
Day 2 drop south on I-79 to pickup US 50 in WVA then try to stay on 50 as much as you can across the country. You'll see a lot of the US on 50 than if you take I-70 or 80 across.
When you reach Placerville, CA if you are in a hurry stay on 50 until you connect to I-5 in Sacramento and then speed down the San Joaquin Valley and over the Grapevine into LA.
If you have a few hours to spare, take CA 49, the Golden Chain Highway south from Placerville to Sonora and then head west on 108 and get to I-5.
US 50 across NV from Ely to Fallon is known as "The Loneliest Highway" few people, but lots to see.
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Old Feb 24th, 2012, 01:09 PM
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Yes, 50 is a nice ride. Unfortunately that's one of the ones that I did west to east so I don't think it really got a fair shake with me, but hope to do it again east to west in a couple of years. It actually starts on the coast of Maryland (and I believe had a sign giving the mileage to Sacramento). My trip east of I-79 was no fun on a dark rainy night, but hopefully in good weather it would be more enjoyable.

If you want to consider the 1-route thing, US 6 is another good choice. Starts in Provincetown and used to go to LA (Long Beach) as the longest highway in the country but now ends on the east side of the Sierras in California. Goes through Providence, north of NYC (crosses the Hudson with the Appalachian Trail) through Chicago, Omaha, Denver, and ends not too far from Yosemite. Unfortunately one of the key photo ops, the continental divide at Loveland Pass in Colorado, will probably be closed with snow.
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Old Feb 26th, 2012, 11:36 AM
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I'm sorry that did seem negative. I should have prefaced it by saying it is neat that you do want to do this to find out what's in the middle of the country.
I might just suggest that all the way to California could be changed to going down to Austin Texas or something like that and having some time to enjoy the drive and the places you pass through.
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Old Feb 26th, 2012, 03:37 PM
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A week does not seem like enough time to do the trip you are proposing. To really see both coasts it would go something like this: US 9 south through New Jersey and take the Cape May ferry to Lewes DE. Continue on US 9, US 13 and US 17 all the way to Wilmington North Carolina. Drive Interstate 40 west all the way to Barstow California. Interstate 15 takes you over the Cajon Pass in to LALAland.
From LA take 1 or 101 all the way to San Francisco. From the Oakland Bay bridge take Interstate 80 all the way to the George Washington bridge.
It's 2480 miles on I-40 from Wilmington NC to Barstow (37.5 hr). It's 2900 miles on I-80 from SF to NYC (43 hr minimum).
In theory you could spend about 48 hours in California and still be able to drive both ways.
Sorry if I seemed negative.
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Old Feb 26th, 2012, 03:54 PM
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OP said she's mainly stayed on the East Coast in her travel, hence the desire for a road trip. Doubt she wants to drive down the East Coast all the way to Wilmington.

I'm going to stick with my advice to head in a southerly direction towards New Orleans - going through West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennesse, etc. You don't have to go all the way to New Orleans but I would skip Chicago for weather/scenery reasons. Plus Chicago is easy enough to fly into for a weekend trip some other time.

Beyond that I don't know what to tell you, depends on how much time you have and all that, but I think you'll have a great trip no matter what.
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Old Feb 26th, 2012, 04:12 PM
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If you want to stop and see things a week to CA just isn;t enough time it will only give you a couple of hours in a few places. (When my parents retired they did seveal trips cross country - and allowed 4 weeks for there and back- different routes differnt times. And that was still doing limited sightseeing.)

Also - if you stick to April you can still have a lot of snow in the mountains - and need to check the roads through to be sure they are open esp if you get off the most major highways at all.
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Old Feb 27th, 2012, 01:03 AM
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If you decide to take this on, then stick with the the most southern route, I-40 to lessen the chances of hitting winter weather. You don't want to get stuck in a Colorado or California snow storm for a day or two! There are many a time when the mountain passes have been closed for a day or so in the spring!

Utahtea
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Old Feb 27th, 2012, 06:12 AM
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Thank you all for the great advice! We might end up saving a Coast-to-Coast trip for after the summer when we can take a longer journey! My job does not allow for any time off from May-August, so that's why we were sort of limited.

I'm thinking we might just drive down to Texas or Tennessee, some place that we can take a little more time and enjoy the places we haven't seen!

I appreciate all the help
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Old Feb 27th, 2012, 08:39 AM
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Truck drivers on speed can do that drive in 3+ days. For a 7 -day trip, it is very unreasonable and not going to be a fun trip.

I suggest flying to a city of interest, then renting a car and doing a round trip, returning the car to the same city. Las Vegas has the advantage of having cheap flights and car rentals, and access to some of American's most beautiful scenery: Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Bryce Canyon, Zion National park.
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