Cross Country Road Trip VA - San Francisco
 

We are moving from VA to CA and since we are retired, can take as long as we want to cross the country. We will leave from Nashville, TN the end of June and know we want to take the northern route to stay out of the extreme heat. Any suggestions for our adventure to the west coast would be appreciated.

What haven't you seen?

Which part of California? Can you go by way of Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower and Yellowstone?

My husband and I did this trip back in July 2015 in 10 days and loved every minute of it. We managed to hit the Badlands, Custer SP, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Yosemite. The highlights for us were Yosemite and the Grand Tetons. I do wish we would have had more time to explore Custer SP and to head up and see Theodore Roosevelt NP. I would definitely recommend more time than what we took, but we only had about a week to get back to VA before my husband had to be back at work.

Thanks for the responses. @Virginia1990, we will definitely get to all the places you visited. We were not sure about Custer and Roosevelt, but will re-evaluate. Would love to hear any other recommendations you would have as far as what to see along the way, special places to eat and sleep.

@tomfuller - We are moving to El Dorado Hills, just outside of Sacramento.

Any other suggestions for what to see on our migration?

If you are taking a northern route that comes into Oregon, come to Bend and then down US 97 to the north entrance of Crater Lake NP. The snow should be off the roads by July but there will still be some to see in the park.
I do have a distant cousin who lives in Cool California.
The higher elevations should be cooler than downtown Sacramento.

Welcome to the area. There are a LOT of Fodorites in the Sacramento/Eldorado/Placer County area. At least 2 live in El Dorado Hills (I drove through there this afternoon on my way back from wine tasting in Plymouth)

>>The higher elevations should be cooler than downtown Sacramento.<<

Not sure what tom is talking about. I guess he means EDH is a higher elevation -- it is, <i>barely</i> -- like around 750'. But it is not cooler than Sacramento.