Driving from Los Angeles to New York City (safest, install)

[jenriq1]

Hi, I will be driving cross country next week and since this is my first time driving alone, I would like to know the best, shortest and safest route for a first timer. Could someone help me on this? Thanks. I really don't care for sight seeing.

[katenik]

i like the southern route, I-95S to I-10W. i don't think it's the shortest route, but there's only one interchange to watch for so it's nearly impossible to get lost. texas is a long snore, but you have much more interesting choices of cities in which to spend the night than you would if you traveled through the middle of the country. the route through the rocky mountains (I-80 to I-15, or I-80 to I-76 to I-15 if you want to pass through denver) is more picturesque, and if you've never seen the rockies, i recommend going that route just to experience their magnificence.

if you have a AAA membership, go to your local office and get a "triptik" made. they'll print your maps in a convenient and easy to follow spiral-bound packet, and give you tour books for all the states along your route so you have phone numbers to call ahead for lodging. i've driven across the country alone three times, and the final time i delayed my departure by one day so that someone could fedex a triptik to me. my local office either could not or would not make one on the spot, so i had someone in LA have it made and sent to me. i'm telling you this so you know just how important it was to me to have these resources while traveling alone, and how helpful they were to me. IMO, it's the best service that AAA offers.

[jenriq1]

Thank you so much for your repply....I've driven trough the rocky mountains before with friends and loved it and I'm thinking about doing it again......I have another question for you....how's the weather in the south now? Is it too hot? I heard that you'll save more gas money if you drive without air conditioner. I guess that if it's hot in the south I will have to use the air conditioner. thanks!

[katenik]

i would imagine that it is beginning to cool off in those places that cool off, which would include the southwestern states. however, you should probably expect the gulf states to be hot and muggy, as they are most of the year. i'm not sure if the AC factor is so significant to your gas mileage that you should be concerned about it. it's probably more important to make sure it's working before you get on the road, so that you can use it as needed. personally, i have a high heat tolerance, so i drove in june with the AC turned off and the windows open much of the time, but i found texas especially hot.

if you don't already have it, you might want to install weatherbug(.com) on your computer and monitor the weather in a few different places to see what you might expect next week.

[jenriq1]

thanks a lot!!!

[katenik]

Originally Posted by jenriq1

thanks a lot!!!

my pleasure.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by jenriq1

Hi, I will be driving cross country next week and since this is my first time driving alone, I would like to know the best, shortest and safest route for a first timer. Could someone help me on this? Thanks. I really don't care for sight seeing.

I did the drive last October... in the other direction. This is the route we took, which worked out pretty well.

10 E to 15 N to 40 E to 44 E to 70 E to 79 N to 80 E.

[JackSparrow]

I would take:

10 E 15 N 70 E 78 E

No tolls, fast.

Google it! Hope that helps.

[katenik]

Originally Posted by LASam

I did the drive last October... in the other direction. This is the route we took, which worked out pretty well.

10 E to 15 N to 40 E to 44 E to 70 E to 79 N to 80 E.

did you make all of these highway changes because you wanted to pass through certain cities? just curious.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by katenik

did you make all of these highway changes because you wanted to pass through certain cities? just curious.

We based our route more on shortest amount of time, than picking particular cities. There are some interesting cities along the way though

I believe you can also take I-15 to I-70 and all the way across the US, but I'm not sure if that's any quicker.