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Ok, we will be driving from Glendale, AZ to Garner, NC while pulling a U-Haul 5X8 Cargo trailer. With us will also be my 11 year old son, a dog, and a cat. I am looking to do the trip in three to five days. If we do ten hour days, where do you suggest cities/ states to stop along the way. I am trying to plan ahead because we are going to need hotels/motels that allow pets. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Can't really give you too much good information but I just drove to FL from NY and back recently. Make sure you set the cruise on the speed limit in those southern states! They like to give tickets to out-of-staters as you probably know. I got a ticket in South Carolina.
Can't really give you too much good information but I just drove to FL from NY and back recently. Make sure you set the cruise on the speed limit in those southern states! They like to give tickets to out-of-staters as you probably know. I got a ticket in South Carolina.
Thanks for the heads up, I am definitely a fan of cruise control because I can have a lead foot
If we do ten hour days, where do you suggest cities/ states to stop along the way.
I took this as a challenge, and plotted it with additional destinations using Google maps.
1. Phoenix to Tucumcari, NM
2. Tucumcari to Clarksville, Arkansas
3. Clarksville, AR to Knoxville, TN
4. Knoxville, TN to Garner, NC.
The last leg is only 6 hours, but it's a little harder over the mountains.
I would def. consider camping as an option. We ended up camping so we could take our doggie babies with us. We stopped at places w/campsites for the pets and an educational spot pretty much each night. Don't forget to organize trip around pet stops too, as it's a long trip for them.
Google Maps/Earth and Mapquest offer motel-searchable maps that you can use to plan motel stops; they will do mileage and time, and you can search the motels listed on the maps for animal-friendly places. You can do this right now as you plan your route, or you can do it at night when you stop for the evening. I did both; the first as a general idea for distance and locales ("well, there are three pet-friendly motels 20 mi S of St. Louis, we can look there"), then night to night as our plans changed. We even had a route change due to construction (that we were warned about the night before on local TV) that we could plan for seamlessly.
I would not suggest 10 hour days with a pre-teen and pets; the long driving days will exhaust you and them. Since you will be heading east, you will not want to drive facing into a low-hanging, blinding sun, so you should leave later in the AM when the sun is decently up in the sky. (When we moved from SC to NE, we would stop before the western sun became visible in our windshield.) It's not just the visual acuity that changes (reflected light off of windshield that blinds not only you but other drivers) but driving into an inescapable sun will give you eyestrain and a headache! You will also want to be very aware of weather; lots of rain and/or storms will slow traffic and cause more wrecks. When we saw a potential for severe weather one AM on our laptop, we stopped very early that afternoon, when we saw thunderheads in the distance. By the time the storm rolled over where we were, the dogs were fed, walked, warm and dry in the motel room.
Day One: You're not going to want to put in a full 10 hours as packing the car and getting out will be stressful. In fact I don't think you'll want 10 hours of driving any day as you're going to have to stop multiple times for gas, bathrooms, walk the dog, to eat, etc....So I gave you 8 hours drive time which gets you to Santa Rosa, NM. The Best Western is nice and accepts pets.
Day Two: Fort Smith, Arkansas...it's a bit over 8 hours. Check out the LaQuinta Inn which is well rated and accepts pets.
Day Three: Cookeville, TN...also a bit over 8 hours. The Red Roof Inn is highly rated and accepts pets.
Day Four: Garner, NC...just under 7 hours.
Good luck!
*** By the way I use Bing which I find to be more realistic in terms of drive time and actual highway speeds.
In fact I don't think you'll want 10 hours of driving any day as you're going to have to stop multiple times for gas, bathrooms, walk the dog, to eat, etc....
Multiple stops are great for kid and dog, but the cat will cook in the car while the family enjoys a break. For the cat's sake, just drive through - eat in the car and stop only when necessary.
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