Driving from NJ to AZ

[rawskillz23]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

I think a couple of those could be fairly aggressive - but again, you know yourself

A couple things to keep in mind - the times posted look like they are off google maps or some like site - this is their estimated driving time.

That first leg is 716 miles. That pace listed is pretty much running 65 mph the whole distance. Since most of it's open road that seems feasible as far as driving speed. I don't know your vehicle or how much weight you are hauling or your comfort with speeding, but it is possible to make up some time.

For example for your road time if you were able to average 75 mph you are looking at a 9 1/2 hour drive on the fast side - with stops your most optimistic time if you are averaging 75mph on the road would be in just over 10 hours

I know with me and my wife we would have a couple of stops in there and for that much of a day probably 90 minutes worth of stops so our best case would be close to 11 hours - with a buffer of an hour if we need to stay at legal speed and another hour of a buffer for the just in case that would put us somewhere in the 11-13 hour range given our "normal" driving habits ..... again, that's us and others are different - for us that's about as far as I'd want to go on a given day

Also, I personally find some of those stretches to be pretty dull and mind numbing ..... I always hated driving across PA - it just felt like it took forever .... plus when you hit the plains states and west texas you'll have some fairly long stretches where nothing changes and the clock seems to drag - at least that is what it has felt like to me

Finally, when I get close towards the end of a long run I typically just want to be there

If you are booking hotel stops think long and hard about this - I've had a couple of times where I've had a hotel waiting for me at the end of a 10-11 hour drive time and given the circumstances of the day it ended up running 13+ hours, which can be a little bit tiring towards the end of that drive for me

If it were me and I had to pre-plan stops I would probably draft up something like this:

Day 1 = NJ to Dayton OH - 592 miles
Day 2 = Dayton OH to Springfield MO - 574 miles
Day 3 = Springfield MO to Amarillo TX - 544 miles
Day 4 = Amarillo TX to Flagstaff AZ - 608 miles
Day 5 - Flagstaff AZ to Buckeye AZ - 178 miles

The bulk of your drive will be in 4 days, each day very manageable even if something were to go wrong - staying in well populated areas with some good lodging & other options but not in any real major city - that last day would provide flexibility to either run up to the Grand Canyon or hit a couple spots on your way down to Buckeye (Sedona, Prescott, Jerome, etc) while also allowing you to arrive without it being super late at night or already at the end of a long day

Again though, a lot of this is very personal to the individual

I would definitely second the comment above about not staying in Winslow - I wouldn't even recommend stopping there ....... Holbrook is a little bit better of a stop, especially south of I-10 but still not a lot to write home about .... Most of the area from Albuquerque to Flagstaff isn't the most attractive as far as stops at cities/towns go (grants, gallup, holbrook, winslow) - although Holbrook does have an interesting motel in the Wigwam Motel if you are into novelty stops

Im going to take your advice and follow this route. I really appreciate the help all you guys have given me. The trip will be in Sep so ill keep you guys posted.

[Finger Laker]

Best of luck. September should be a pretty good time, might catch the tail end of Monsoon activity depending on when in September. Welcome to the valley.

[Ted Bear]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

I don't know your vehicle or how much weight you are hauling or your comfort with speeding, but it is possible to make up some time.

For example for your road time if you were able to average 75 mph you are looking at a 9 1/2 hour drive on the fast side - with stops your most optimistic time if you are averaging 75mph on the road would be in just over 10 hours

Don't forget folks that the OP said they were driving an eight year old Maxima and would be pulling a 5x8 U-Haul Trailer.

That adds extra strain to the driving, and perhaps means the average speed will be closer to 55-60 than 65-70. It doesn't sound like much, but when you start doing the math it all adds up.

Ten miles and hour over an eight hour day means 80 miles....nearly a full hour and a half of miles made, or not.

Stopping for even fifteen minutes to munch, gas and walk the pooch means 15 miles not made. Four stops per day means a full hour's worth of miles not made.

You'll get into a rhythm, but I would see how it goes the first day without getting too set on how much you can do each day. I used to run back and forth from NYC to Winston-Salem. It was a good ten-eleven hour run in the car. When I moved my stuff in a rental truck, it was two l-o-n-g days (and a LOT of fuel). You'll use a bunch more fuel with the loaded car pulling the trailer. Just things to ponder.