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Was thinking of doing a road trip with a friend who will be visiting me from abroad. Tentatively this is planned for the summer with a full month allotted. I know that's not a lot of time but it's all we've got.
Anyway, the route will definitely start in New York (NYC area) and we want to end up in SoCal and make our way up through California and the west coast. Not sure if we want to go through the MidWest or South on the way from NY to SoCal. We were hoping to make it up to Vancouver as well.
I have a car with excellent mileage (it's a Toyota...). We'll make as many stops as possible within a one month time-frame. Also, I'll probably be able to stay with friends for a day or two in many areas of the country.
So just wondering what sort of prices I'm looking at here. We'll try to swap driving between the two of us so that we only need to stop and sleep at the sites we want to see, but I'm not sure how realistic that is...lastly, we'd prefer to take scenic routes when possible, unless they add an unreasonable amount of time to the journey
Just for clarification: you want to bring your car from NYC to SoCal, right? You don't want to return?
If that's the case, it's definitely doable in one month but you will have to make some choices cause you can't wander too much. As for the best path, I'd first ask myself where I have friends that I can/want to visit. That generally lays out most of the plan for me. Beyond that, the question usually is where have I never been? Are you more interested in seeing big cities, interesting smaller towns, national parks, or something else? And lastly, I am the kind of guy who likes to spend some time in a city when I travel. I could do a park or some other site of interest in a day, but if I'm visiting a city I want to spend at least a couple days. So, are you guys the same way or are you happy spending one day in a place then moving on?
Alrighty...all of that said, my personal choice would be to cut straight through the midwest. This probably won't pertain to most folks, but I've been all over the rest of the country numerous times while the midwest has remained mostly "flyover" territory for me. So I'd love to spend some time driving through there. Head through upstate New York, hit Niagara (best in the summertime anyway) maybe swing around to Toronto just cause it's so awesome, to Detroit, then pick Cincy-Louisville-St Louis-Kansas City or Grand Rapids-Chicago-Des Moines-Omaha (there are many other cities in the midwest for you to zig zag if youd like) eventually out to Denver, up through Wyoming to Grand Teton/Yellowstone, then Boise-Seattle-Vancouver. Then down the west coast with stops in the Oregon college towns and NorCal wine country.
Wow that sounds awesome...and too much for one month, lol.
Price is hard to guess without knowing what kind of car you drive (is it a Prius?) and how many friends you'll be able to stay with. Anyway, happy planning and have fun!!
No way. I just ran a random check for a KOA campground in Durango, Colorado, The rate for two adults in a tent with a car is $31 plus tax. In Waterloo, Iowa, 29.95. You can almost always find a motel for about $40-50 just by stopping along the road and asking for rates. And you don't have to sleep on the ground in the rain with no electricity or TV and the bathroom a block away and a bunch of kids and dogs running around yellilng.
To find cheap motels, stop at a truck stop near the state line and look for those motel coupon books in a rack by the front door. Search along your route for the town with the cheapest rates. Borrow a friend's expired AAA card and flash it at the desk for a 10% discount, nobody will ever scrutinize it. Or borrow somebody's AARP card, tell them the other occupant is your elderly mother.
Yes, camping is a good idea, but never in commercial campgrounds like KOA and not in state parks either, which cost anywhere from $20-30 as well. State park camping is cheaper in PA NC IL MO, because they don't charge an extre $5-10 a day just to drive in through the gate.
Your best camping bet is in National Forests, usually about $10 for a campsite, self-pay honor system. National forests are shaded light green in the Rand McNally road atlas, with little green tents showing where there are campgrounds. A green tent next to a pine tree is a state park.) In some national forests you can just camp anywhere nest to logging roads, free. Never travel without a road atlas or paper maps, on which it takes only 5-10 seconds to check your route. Up to date road atlas is five bucks at WalMart.
In Kansas, you can camp free at State Fishing Lakes (green tents in RMcN -- no amenities). There's one in every county in eastern Kansas, and a lot of them in western Kansas. (They are not signposted, and can be hard to find without online mapping.) Most little towns in Nebraska, the Dakotas and Minnesota have a free campground at a town park, just ask locally. West of those states, you can camp just about anywhere you can pull off a road, as long as it's not on cultivated land or behind a fence (in some states, trespassing is a felony). Anywhere, stop at a place that sells hunting and fishing licenses and ask where hunters and fishermen camp.
I'm not going to suggest hard-core stealth camping, which takes some practice. But the above should be easy, just by being aware of it. If you're going to avail yourself of free or cheap camping, please be a responsible citizen and protect the property, and be mindful of other users who have gone there for the peace and quiet of a primitive environment. If it's an "unofficial" campsite, don't make it easy for the police to find reasons to run you off.
I've done the trip numerous times SoCal to NY and Back.
Pacing is the key. try to limit yourself to no more than 8 hours a day ( I have driven 22 hours straight, you start feeling it after 12 hours)
I did the trip once by staying of the interstates. High recommended if you have the time.
Plenty to see along the way, no matter which route you take. Try to stop anywhere that may interest you.
Try to eat at non franchise restaurants.
Try to stay at name brand hotels. I used to stay in Microtels as a way to extended my lodging money. They have knew ownership so I do not know how good the quality is now.
I would go with driving thru the south... More unique, diverse and interesting. If it's round-trip, go thru both ways.
I agree with this. My sister and I recently did a 10 day roadtrip starting in Philadelphia. We drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Mountains and came back up the coast, from Philly---Charlottesville, VA-Asheville, NC-Columbia, SC-Savannah/Tybee, GA- Charleston/Folly, SC- Myrtle Beach, SC- Wilmington/Wrightsville, NC- Outerbanks, NC- Assateague Island, MD----Philadelphia.
About 2,500 Miles put on the car.
We had a tent and camped out 3 nights for about $20 a night, stayed in hostels 2 nights for about $30 each night, stayed with friends 2 nights and hotels the rest for about $50-75.
I would love to do the trip across country too, but would like to wait until I can spend a few weeks (months?) in California once I get there.
I would go with driving thru the south... More unique, diverse and interesting. If it's round-trip, go thru both ways.
Disagree completely. I'd go Upstate NY, follow the Great Lakes over to Western MI/Sleeping Bear up Lake Michigan, follow the UP/WI/MN southern Lake Superior shore (one of the most beautiful and least-visited areas of the country), down the Great River Road for a bit and over through the Black Hills/Badlands in the Dakotas, Yellowstone/Jackson Hole/Tetons in Wyoming/Idaho, and take 101 down the length of the West Coast. Since this is likely a once in a lifetime trip, why not hit the most out-of-the-way spots that are far away from any metro you are likely to visit in the future? For true wilderness and beauty, this route is far more interesting than going across the southern Midwest or (outside the Appalachians) the deep south. Once you hit the Rockies, it's pretty and remote regardless, so why not end up on the northern end and experience the incredible drive along the Pacific Coast Highway? Either way, you're in for a lot of fun and I'm jealous!
First, get a AAA membership. For one thing you may need it if you break down in the middle of nowhere, for another, you can get discounts on motel rooms as a member.
With a month I'd take the northern route such as I-90 across to Seattle. You can see Detroit, Chicago, Mt. Rushmore, Mall of America, and make your way into Seattle/Vancouver. Then, take coastal 1 and/or 101 down the west coast. Portland, Oregon Coast, California Redwoods, San Francisco, Carmel/Monterey, L.A., San Diego.
The drive home I would opt for either I-40 and what's left of Route 66, or I-70. All depends on what you want to see more...Vegas, Denver/Rocky Mts., Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh...or Phoenix, Albuquerqie, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, head to the coast and work your way up through DC/Baltimore. You can also take I-10 across the southern route but there's not a lot to see in between huge portions of NM and Texas.
I already have an AAA membership. Also, the northern route actually sounds VERY appealing to me. I know I wasn't very specific wrt what I wanted to see but "Black Hills/Badlands in the Dakotas, Yellowstone/Jackson Hole/Tetons in Wyoming/Idaho" are definitely on the list. Also, I'd like to see a bit of Colorado and Utah.
Would it be an odd route to drive along the northern route, then cut down south through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona (for the Grand Canyon), then back up north along the West Coast and up in Vancouver? The trip is quite far in the future so I've got tons of time to plan. Also, I may be able to extend to 1.5 months, although not sure yet.
One last question that will probably make me sound ignorant: I'm not white (Asian American) though my friend is. In some of the rural areas in the north/west, am I likely to encounter any issues with racism? I've lived mostly in NYC/the surrounding area for much of my life. I've lived in Texas before but even then, it was in Houston, so I don't have much experience with small towns/rural areas, though I've heard some bad things. I just want to know what to expect...
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