I'm thinking of driving across the country

[Mike]

Caitlin's Mom, on a whim, accepted a job in LA while out there visiting a friend. As such, her car needs to get there. Michael sees this as a wonderful opportunity to drive across the country (she'd pay for gas and my return ticket). I haven't asked for the time from work yet, but it's a pretty sure thing assuming the dates work out for her. I would also be doing this solo... So keep that in mind when suggesting alternate routes... I think my limit is about 8 hours of driving a day.

Anyway, I'm so excited I've devised a handful of plans and would like some advice as I know very little about all the planned stops. Since I'l only have 9 days to complete the trip, there wil be a lot of driving, but I'll hopefully be able to drag myself away from the car enough to do a bit of sightseeing in the afternoon/evening hours.

Without further ado, I present you the routes I've come up with:

North
day 1 - cleveland (373, 6:13)
day 2 - chicago (345, 5:34) 718
day 3 - omaha (467, 7:16) 1185
day 4 - denver (541, 7:28) 1726
day 5 - moab (355, 5:28) 2081
day 6 - grand canyon/flagstaff (408, 7:24) 2489
day 7 - los angeles (489, 7:14) 2978
day 8 - la
day 9 - fly home

Center
mid route
day 1 - charleston (361, 5:46)
day 2 - st louis (505, 7:40) 866
day 3 - topeka (312, 4:52) 1178
day 4 - denver (542, 7:49) 1720
day 5 - moab (355, 5:28) 2075
day 6 - grand canyon/flagstaff (408, 7:24) 2483
day 7 - los angeles (489, 7:14) 2972
day 8 - la
day 9 - fly home

South
day 1 - asheville (469, 7:38)
day 2 - nashville (293, 4:37) 762
day 3 - st louis (308, 4:46) 1070
day 4 - kansas city (250, 3:55) 1320
day 5 - denver (604, 8:45) 1924
day 6 - moab (355, 5:28) 2279
day 7 - grand canyon/flagstaff (408, 7:24) 2687
day 8 - los angeles (466, 6:43) 3153
day 9 - fly home

Border
day 1 - asheville (469, 7:38)
day 2 - montgomery (368, 5:57) 837
day 3 - new orleans (310, 4:41) 1147
day 4 - san antonio (543, 8:23) 1690
day 5 - el paso (552, 7:18) 2242
day 6 - phoenix (430, 6:13) 2672
day 7 - san diego (356, 5:22) 3028
day 8 - los angeles (121, 2:03) 3149
day 9 - fly home

Google
day 1 - knoxville (484, 7:40)
day 2 - memphis (391, 5:55) 875
day 3 - oklahoma city (467, 6:54) 1342
day 4 - albuquerque (543, 7:47) 1885
day 5 - flagstaff (323, 4:32) 2208
day 6 - los angeles (466, 6:43) 2674
day 7 - la
day 8 - la
day 9 - fly home

I'm pretty happy with all but the Google and Center routes. It is your job to narrow it down.

[Mike]

after another look, the google route looks fairly decent. i'd have a day to spend at the grand canyon, a day to head down to san diego, and maybe a little time left over to visit joshua tree...

although, with her now living in la all those things are pretty easy for me to do... so perhaps i should worry more about the middle of the trip; the places i doubt i'll ever get to.

[Apoc]

South, for the BBQ.

The Google route lacks the charms of some of the major cities but I think there's a lot to be said for "free time" no matter where you spend it.

[Steve85]

I took the Google route out and back and it is not very exciting. Quick, but not the best route if you are making a trip out of it. I did detour to the Grand Hole and Vegas. After getting through the eternal flatness of OK and TX coming into New Mexico and Arizona were beautiful.

My friends did the center and south route. From their descriptions and couple ski trips there, working the Colorado rockies into the trip might be worth it. I'd love to see it in the summer. I would also personally want to work Chicago into the trip but not if had to sacrifice San Diego and good time at the canyon.

The plains are tough to get through, it seems like you can see an hour away. It's neat to see the "big sky", with unobstructed view from horizon to horizon but after 3-4 hrs...getting through it quickly to enjoy the Southwest is a good plan.

I did my trip out in Feb so I took the Triple A (Google) route mostly because of weather concerns.

[Mike]

the north route isn't all that appealing because i spent 5 days in chicago last fall. other than that, cleveland and omaha? not too exciting. i too want to see the rockies... i haven't since i was a id... that's kinda why denver is worked in to so many of the routes

[Mike]

my current rankings:
1. border
2. south
3. google
4. north/center

[.RJ]

Dont take the border route - I-10 through texas, new mexico and arizona is pretty awful. There's nothing to see and its way too boring.

[Mike]

i suppose i should think more about the roads than the cities... hrmph... much harder to research.

[Apoc]

+1 for the Rockies. I was there last May and it was really freaking cool.

South really has it all. KC BBQ, the Rockies and Grand Canyon.

[ScottyB]

ask Jayray, he did an out-and-back trip not long ago.

if you have the time and resources (sounds like you do) i would 100% do it. you may never have the chance again and gas is only going to get more expensive.

[KPWSerpiente]

Mike,

I've driven across the country to LA and back and I much prefer going the "border route" in which you drive down to New Orleans and then head west on 10 until you hit LA. I think that drive is a lot nicer to look at then if you were to go through Ok, KA or NE. Trust me, I have driven across them all.

The only route I really havn't driven is the extreme northern route in which you would hit Chicago and then the Black Hills in South Dakota and on. My friend just did that though to get to San Francisco from NoVa and I'm pretty sure he had a good time.

However, if you go through the center of the country or a more northern route you can make the drive from Denver to LA across the rockies and that is a pretty sick section of the country.

Dont take the border route - I-10 through texas, new mexico and arizona is pretty awful. There's nothing to see and its way too boring.

As opposed to what? Driving across the flat lands of Kansas? I know hitting mile marker 880 or whatever and knowing that is how much more of Texas you have to endure kind of sucks, but watching the grass thin out into desert and then painted rock kicks the shit out of a lot of other roads.

Either way if you are passing through Omaha let me know.


-T

[Sijray21]

1. pass through the midwest as fast as you can. it's flat and very boring. if you drive during the summer there are legit tornado risks the longer you stay.
2. the south has great food, eat at a few restaurants while you're there.
3. avoid North Little Rock, AR; western St. Louis, MO; and expect people to ask for money especially with the high gas prices and the out-of-state license plates
4. drive out to the rockies as fast as you can. you're close enough to explore the awesome Smokey Mountains of Tennesse from here and there really isn't much to see until you hit the rockies.
5. make some time for the Grand Canyon and reserve your hotel in advance... all the hotels in Flag Staff and the Grand Canyon fill up quick - i thought i had to sleep in the car
6. consider driving through Utah and Colorado - some of the most spectacular landscapes for pictures and roads
7. consider taking spare gas with you. some of the gas stations are very spread out in the west, hundreds of miles a part at times
8. if you go to Oregon try and fill up your own gas....see what the attendants do ;-) (it's like Jersey)
9. cities are alright, but you're really only there for the night and you wont' see much in your time frame - i'd definitely focus on the roads and places to see along the way.

my route:
day 1 - St. Louis, MO (wv/ky mountains)
day 2 - Denver, CO (flat ass Kansas...)
day 3 - Salt Lake City, UT (aspen, Co)
day 4 - Boise, ID (yellowstone)
day 5 - Eureka, CA (oregon forrests and the Red Woods)
day 6 - SF, CA (took the PCH down...awesome)
day 7 - SF, CA (stopped by Laguna Seca, Montery/Pebble Beach)
day 8 - LA (family)
day 9 - LA (just 'cause)
day 10 - Flag Staff, AZ (lucky to get a hotel, stopped by Vegas on the way)
day 11 - Grand Canyon, AZ
day 12 - Albuquerque, NM
day 13 - North Little Rock, AR
day 14 - Atlanta, GA (holla at the ScottyB)
day 15 - DC

I really wish i spent more time at the Grand Canyon and i wish i finished the PCH trip from SF to LA - it was dark when i left Monterry

enjoy the trip - where ever you go! :-) - i'm planning on doing it again in a nicer car.

[HAULN-SS]

The black hills and badlands are awesome, fwiw. I've driven to South Dakota a couple times. Hit up Rapid City, SD if you go that way. The bad part of the trip is just the miles and miles of corn fields, which slowly turns into Ranch Land.

[Evan]

N'awlins = love so I think I would do border route, but it looks to me like any of them except north look fun too

[Mike]

so jayray's comments are interesting... the stuff east of the mississippi i could pretty much do whenever. i should focus on getting out to awesome driving in the west asap (forget the cities since i'll likely do a long weekend in most of them some day).

has anyone done any serious enduro driving solo before? what is a reasonable number of miles/hours in a day?

i'm thinking of hauling ass to get out to the rockies, spend a day in the rockies, a day in the grand canyon, and a day in san diego.

jayray - i've done northern cali and oregon as a kid... have not done the south so i'd rather hug our lower border than the upper one.

[Ole]

Pussnuts! I do this in 4 days! With a 40' gooseneck trailer in tow!

I have done the majority of this trip at least 5x now (DC to Phoenix). If you want to get there fast take the I-40 route. Its boring in OK, TX, NM and AZ (AZ turns nice after Flagstaff) but it is by far the fastest. The best route I have taken was Central. St. Louis, by day one (stay at Harrah's, free room if you gamble enough and it is brand new!). Denver on day 2. Vegas on day 3 (stay wherever you can get a free room (try Monte Carlo - talk to Ryan Crist). LA on day 4.

Break it up how you like and spend time seeing some beautiful sights. It is fun to see this beautiful country we live in......

Great BBQ if you go through Memphis. Check out when the "Memphis in May" BBQ Cookoff is.

[John]

Mike, what time of year will you be doing this?

Having done the drive last year, I can assure you that you should avoid the I-40 google route. Once you leave Memphis, you have 1200+ miles of crap through Arkansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. While there are some interesting oddities to see along the way, in general, it's a pretty lackluster route.

The northern route has its charms, but driving through most of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas is pretty dismal as well.

I would do the central route to hit Denver (love that city) - but would suggest spending some more time in in Colorado and Utah. From there you can head SW, hit Zion NP and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (more remote, less touristy, and better views than the South Rim).

More later when I have time...

[Mike]

i will be doing this the week of memorial day if i'm doing it at all.

[Ole]

What are you driving?

[Mike]

it's a model or two ago accord v6.