Driving Cross Country need help!!!!
 

So I am set to drive across the country in just 2 weeks! I am moving from Las Vegas down to Miami and will be driving the whole thing by myself.

Basically I have 10 nights to somewhat leisurely make my drive, and would like to see as much as possible. I have preliminarily planned out the following route:

Day 1: Drive Las Vegas to Williams, AZ(I already got the Holiday Inn in Williams on Priceline so I can't change this).

Day 2: See the Grand Canyon(i don't need to hike down) and perhaps spend the night in Kayenta?

Day 3: See Monument Valley(don't think I will take a tour) and then drive to Arches NP for the afternoon, then drive down to Cortez, CO to spend the night.

Day 4: Mesa Verde NP, then drive down to Santa Fe to spend the night.

Day 5: Drive down New Mexico and Spend night in El Paso, TX.

Day 6: Carlsbad Caverns, then drive to San Antonio to spend night.

Day 7: San Antonio-Houston.

Day 8: Houston- New Orleans

Day 9: New Orleans- Orlando

Day 10: Orlando - Miami

The part of this itinerary that concerns me the most is the 4 corners portion. Is it worth it to go up to Arches NP? Could I possibly make it from Williams, AZ all the way to Moab, UT instead and spend the night there if all I want to do is see the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley without taking any tours?

I know I have alot of questions, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

San Antonio and Houston are only 3 hours apart. Houston New Orleans is not real far either. I'd drive from SA to NOLA and spend a day there.
The far west part of your itinerary seems to be a lot of "upping and downing" and not much time for seeing. Idon't have a map in front of me however. Distances in the West can be covered quite quickly.

New Orleans to Orlando is an 11 hour drive, that is if you don't hit any construction. You sure you want to do that?

That NO to Orlando stretch will be quite a drive. Let me suggest an overnite around Mobile AL, or somewhere on the Panhandle of Fl.

I thnk the whole itinerary is a bit awry.
As for the NOLA drive, drive as far as she can and then go to Miami. There doesn't seem much reason to go overnite in Orlando. It will just be expensive.

" Is it worth it to go up to Arches NP? "

Not the way you have it planned. I don't think it makes sense to drive up there for an afternoon - you won't have much time to really see anything. If you were willing to ditch the Williams Holiday Inn reservation and just chalk it up as a loss, you could drive from LV to Moab the first day, and then head south from there and continue without so much backtracking.

I agree with the others about the San Antonio - Houston - New Orleans. That should take 1 day, not 2. I'm also not sure why you're going from Santa Fe to El Paso. You could instead just drive to Roswell or Carlsbad, both of which are more directly on the route to Carlsbad Caverns. The other advantage is that you'd get off the interstate - I think you'll see more of NM that way.

The Orlando to Miami drive only takes around two hours or so on the turnpike.

Oops! Three hours or so on the turnpike!

If, and it's a big if, you don't envision coming back west ever again, do whatever is necessary in order to see Arches (and Canyonlands, while you are in the neighborhood). There is no place on earth like our red rock country, and few places with as much mind-boggling scenery as Arches...Bryce Canyon comes to mind.

GoT--I was wondering how fast you were driving, lol! A good friend is from Miami and family is in Jax, so I just remember her talking about the drive a lot.

I just did the reverse of a portion of this earlier this month. If I had to choose between Arches and the Grand Canyon and you haven't seen either, it's a no brainer - the Grand Canyon.

We drove from Northern Colorado to Moab the first day and as we got closer and closer to Moab we saw our first of the amazing rock formations. That afternoon, the visit to Arches was pretty spectacular to us. If you're coming the other direction, you will have seen so many rocks and interesting formations that the Arches might be a little more anticlimactic.

I have to agree with the skip it suggestion. It's a lot of driving just to see it. Save it for another trip.

Why are you overnight in El Paso? You're adding distance and time. El Paso to San Antonio is 550 miles already, without a detour to Carlsbad.

You should just cut through SE New Mexico after leaving Santa Fe on Day 5. It's only 268 miles to Carlsbad, so you can visit the cavern in the afternoon, and spend the night there, or down in Pecos, TX.

Wow thank you for all of the great advice so far!

I think everyone is right about skipping el Paso. I think I'll just head down to Carlsbad and spend the night there....seeing the bats fly out of the cave sounds like quite an experience!

I have never been to the Grand Canyon before so it is definetely a must see.

I've always thought the Arches NP looks amazing, but I'm still torn on whether I should go that far out of the way to see it.

Thank you so much for all the helpfull information that everyone has provided thus far!

Could you play it by ear? Decide on Arches after you get to the Grand Canyon. See if you're rocked out by then. And if you feel like driving 8 hours out of the way.

I would skip Arches...for now. Utah has so many fabulous parks that you should make it a point to visit the state another time, when you can really enjoy and appreciate it's beauty.

Do you have time over the next 2 weeks to drive to Arches or the Grand Canyon? Since you're relatively close, why not pick one or the other and go see it before you move? That would give you more time during the 10-day move to see other stuff.

Skip Kayenta; stay in Flagstaff.
Save Arches for another trip. Monument Valley to Four Corners to Mesa Verde would make more sense than going up to Arches. That is a lonnnngg drive. You could detour to Bryce instead.

Once you've seen the Grand Canyon it is all downhill anyway. I loved Monument Valley. If you get tired in Florida there are lots of cheap hotels around the Gainesville area because of the college. Vegas to Miami....egads!!