Hey guys, totally new to this site. My boyfriend and I are also planning a cross country road trip for the end of the summer. I stumbled accross this site as I was googling info on our trip. We live in Jersey and plan to drive out to California in 2 - 2 1/2 weeks one way only, we will fly back. We are a bit lost and aren't sure really where to start. We have different mind sets. He would love to go off the beaten path... and I being a foreigner.. lol.. want to do some of the touristy stuff. Mostly we are trying to get an idea of how long the driving is going to take and how many places we will really be able to explore. I'm leaning more towards the southern route where we will hit the grand canyon.. utah ending in LA or Sandiego and such.. but I'm definitely open to the northern route maybe yellowstone.. mt rushmore... My bf wants to see the people and the small towns, the open road.. etc... any help or guidance would be awesome.. sorry this message is so lengthy.

Decide what pleases you when you traves, do you like to hike, visit ancient Native American sites, hit cities, go to museums, attend ball games, etc. Are you going to camp or hotel/motel it? Do you want to see an area like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon in depth or do you want to check it out and plan a longer stay later? For starters go to www.nps.gov and check out the fantastic National Parks, Monuments, BLM areas etc that are along the way. Several posters here have trip reports that will give you an idea as to what others have done. You can do a search on the box at the top to find some, or search any topic or park and you will get lots of opinions on how to structure your trip. Grand Canyon would be a place I would not want to miss, but I love Yellowstone too.

Hope you have a great trip.

Hi, what are you doing with your car once you reach the west coast? If you plan on hiring one in Jersey, the one way drop off fees can be horribly expensive. There is the Driveaway option where you drive someone else's car and just pay for petrol. Autodriveaway is the website name I think, it's for people who want their car transported but don't want to drive it themselves. They give you a limited time to do the trip though.

Kay

For starters, 81% of "the people" your boyfriend wants to see live in cities and their suburbs. That said, go this way and you'll have ample opportunity for both of you to see some of what you want.

Head west from New Jersey toward Columbus, OH, then down to Cincinnati. Go through Dayton (Air Force Museum) to Indianapolis and then to Chicago. From there head west on I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska. You'll be following the Oregon trail through Nebraska. You'll cross the 100th meridian, "Where the West Begins". At North Platte, get off I-80 and head for Scottsbluff and Casper, WY. From there, head for Grand Teton N.P. and Yellowstone N.P. Exit Yellowstone N.P. at West Yellowstone, then go South on I-15 to Salt Lake City. From there, you can decide whether to head for San Francisco or Los Angeles. If the latter, you can get to the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas. If the former, you can either go down the coast to L.A. or go inland to Yosemite and/or Sequoia.

At any of these attractions, if you strike up a conversation with people, you will find that they are from all over, including foreign countries. And small towns are in abundance all along these routes. You may even find one without a Wal-mart!

Regarding the previous post...
I see no reason to drive across Nebraska if you don't have to - there's nothing interesting there really and it's only a short detour to go north through South Dakota and see Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Crazy Horse, Custer National Park and then head up through Deadwood to Devil's Tower then across to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons etc.
H

Hi - I also live in NJ. Last summer my family made this trip in reverse. Actually my husband and son drove from NJ to San Francisco where my daughter and I met them - we flew there. After driving down the California coast, which was the reason for our trip, we drove back to NJ. We took the southern route stopping to see the Grand Canyon, Dallas, Memphis and Nashville. There were other smaller stops along the way. After Nashville we needed to get back home so we didn't make any other sightseeing stops. Even though I thought it would be too much driving, it was a great trip. Have fun planning your vacation!

Hez! I plead guilty. You caught me in my enthusiasm for Nebraska. (I lived in Lincoln for 3 years in the 60s). I think you're right about getting up north to South Dakota and visiting the attractions you mentioned. But it's not the case that in crossing Nebraska, "there's nothing interesting there really". So I would suggest to our travelers the following for their consideration.

1. State Capitol in Lincoln. One of a kind.
2. Homestead National Monument south of Lincoln. First Homestead under the Homestead Act.
3. Harold Warp's Pioneer Village south of I-80 near Minden.
4. The Great Platte River Road Archway. It actually spans I-80. The multimedia attractions, including real people, are inside the structure.

After that, they can head north on US 83 from North Platte to get to I-90 in South Dakota. They will miss Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff, both famous Oregon trail landmarks.

Another alternative would be to take I-70 boring and flat until you hit the rockies, but spectacular scenery through Colorado. Then shortly after you hit Utah, turn south on UT191 and visit Canyonlands and Arches NPs spend as much time as you can here. Continue south on 191 to 163 through Monument Valley a drive through will give you the picture here. Then pick up Arizona 160 to 89 to 64 into Grand Canyon, stop at all the overlooks, do a little hiking in the park to get road kinks out and do spend at least one night here. then head out on 64 to the south and pick up I-40 west If you need to see the seedy side of life go up 93 over Hoover Dam, take the dam tour if you want and on to Vegas. If there is time left, head up and over to Yosemite and then down to LA. Can you tell I like the National Parks? Oh and if you are going to go to more than one or two parks, get an America Beautiful pass at the first park. It is good for all park service places for a year- gets you and everyone in your car in free.