Anyone here done one? What route did you take?
Since I broke my engagement and thus cancelled the wedding…I have vacation time to use up at work :lol.
I was thinkin somethin like this at the end of summer with some friends of mine:
Hoping I can squeeze that into a 2 week long trip. I’m estimating about $1000/person after food, gas, spending money. I will have a place to stay in almost all of those cities with friends, etc.
Sorry about your wedding buddy… good luck on the trip
Ive driven on I90 from Albany to Seattle Wa twice and im about to do it a third time. My best time so far is 36 hours. On this trip were planning on stopping and seeing things so it will be a little different. By far the worst state to drive through is Montana, there is absolutely nothing and it takes half a day to get threw :lol
Ain’t no big. Better now than later.
When you plannin to do this? If it’s before me, let me know what places you stopped at that were worth anythin :lol.
2 weeks is barely enough time to make it and see anything.
My 6 day trip to Key West and back I barely did anything, barely stopped anywhere and average close to 800 miles a day. Solid 500. And that’s only sleeping a full night twice, everything else was naps.
I wouldn’t even recommend it unless you just want to say “I did it”.
If you could dedicate more time and actually see things I wouldn’t do it. A month south fair and appropriate.
I leave May 3 and we plan on stopping at the mall of America and Mt Rushmore and thats really it. But i will definitely let you know.
Hmm. That’s what I’m worried about. May have to cut some stops out of the list then.
I dunno if I can get 3 weeks off, but I may try :lol.
Oh, I didn’t even think of Mall of America. I’m definitely doin Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. Those two are givens. I flew over the GC, so have pics from 30k feet…but being there is probably a whole nother story.
The other option a buddy and me talked about…is to fulfill HIS plan/dream/desire/what not…which is to drive a car from Moscow to London.
The Grand Canyon has got to be amazing to see in person but for this trip its just to far out of the way for me. Someday though :lol . And you cant skip Mt. Rushmore.
I’d hit up every possible place to make you appreciate America more. Tons of stuff to see. I’d also use a different route there and back. Pretty much on the way there, hit up a lot of the southern attractions, all the way to Hollywood/LA, then up California to San Fran and hit the northern part of America on your way back, which would include Mt. Rushmore.
Notes to consider:
Sleep, gas and food will take away more time than expected.
Unexpected things will happen, whether its traffic, people you meet, places you see, losing a key, getting sick or mechanical difficulties.
Expect to averse around 600-700 miles a day after everything is said and done - stops, gas, towns etc.
Highways suck but are faster. Won’t have anything to be excited about on them though other than occasional city overview. Often try to find a scenic empty country path.
Random people you meet will be half the trips value.
You can’t ever plan enough nor can’t you ever plan for everything.
Hotels suck, consider camping in places, especially far out west. Nobody ever remembers average hotels but a camp night with a buddy in the middle of the desert where no city pollute the sky and you can see the milky way are easily remembered.
That’s a few for now.
I’ll add some other notes and destinations when I get back home.
Try to take a convertible if you can for a more pure experience.
Do it! I had a whole trip planed with all of my routes memorized and was sooo pumped then the economy took a dumper (2009) and lost all of my vacation time at work. Within 3 years I had a new house, new baby girl and a whole new ball game of responsibilities. Do it while you can without hesitation, and if work won’t let you take 3 full weeks off, fuckem.
This! My wife and I drove a Xlr-V to SC on mostly I-81s, and through the mountains in Virginia it was an amazing sight to see in a drop top.
I’ve been across the country once. Went to montreal.
2 weeks will not be nearly enough to do what you want. You might want to consider just blowing through the first half of the US and concentrate on the Westen half. Your chances of getting to the West again may be few and far between, as opposed to taking smaller trips to see stuff this side of the Mississippi.
Way back in 1981 (yeah, I’m old), a friend of mine and I drove to Ca and back. We drove 30 hours straight to Amarillo Tx, then to the Grand Canyon for 2 days (awesome! Pictures can never do it justice), Malibu and L.A. for 4 days (beach, bars, TV and film studios), 3 days in Las Vegas, had school pals that lived there(Gambling, saw a show, strippers…Time of my life!). Then we decided to average 500 miles a day coming back. 30 plus years later I still smile thinking about that trip! Everyone should take off and look around the country when they can!
Our route was 90 to 70/77 through Indianapolis to I40 west to Ca. On the way back we basically took I80 to 90. I’d consider hitting up parts of Rt 66 going out, very scenic with tons of history(It used to be the main route to the west from Illinois). No matter, You will have a Hell of a time, and remember it for the rest of your life!
That’s basically the route I’m taking, just the other way around. North > West > Southwest > South > Southeast > Northeast.
The trip in the link I posted is about 9000 miles and includes some of the ‘main’ attractions. I figure if I can do everything (side trips, etc.) in 10,000 miles…I should be right around $2k in gas (based on NY prices). I do about 380 miles per tank on the highway, so that’s about 27 fillups @ $75/fill up.
As for lodging, if we need to drive a couple hours extra to reach the next destination, we will just switch drivers. But, believe it or not, I have friends in almost every major city in the US in the North East, North West, and the South.
Convertible would be nice, but I’d need to rent that.
Yeah that’s why I decided to do it. Always wanted to, but now that I’m back on the market so to speak and have no ties to anyone person and can afford to disappear for a few weeks…I’d love to do it. My friend and I are trying to find another person or two to help split the costs, but we really want to do it.
:rofl
Yeah, that’s what I’m kind of thinking now. My friend wanted to hit up some of the east cities like Philly as well and that’s what I told him…that we can make separate smaller road trips to the cities closer to home.
Me, his brother (who’s now married) and him took a trip to FL last spring break and that was one of those trips you can ‘smile about’ years later. Had a freakin blast.
I’ve done Pheonix to Albs, what a long ass drive, lol. ~2500 miles with the route we went, made it in 38 hours and only 1 speeding ticket (damn Ohio female troopers). Eventhough we made it quick, we still saw some pretty amazing sights and landmarks. I’d recommend it, just not in a cobalt like us, haha.
LMAO! Yeah Ilya, your infiniti will be sweet for a trip like this!
Forgot to add, no cruise control. :banghead
Yeah…I told the kid we aren’t takin his Honda lol.
My car has all the amenities needed for a trip like this. REAL roomy back seat, cooled seats for the desert, etc. :lol
Only problem is my car is a gas guzzler (22mpg on the highway). However, I am thinkin about getting a plenum spacer which I guess helps the VQ35 motor out a whole lot with efficiency so I may be able to bump it up a couple MPG to say 24 or so.