Driving from Boston suburbs to Los Angeles in October, how long will it take? (how much, hotels)

[f2racer]

On October 15th, I will be packing up my family (wife, 13yo, 2 dogs, and a cat) and driving across the country. The reason why we have to drive is that both of my dogs are elderly snub nose breeds that the major airlines no longer fly. What do folks think is a reasonable timeframe for such a trip. We don't intend to stop and sightsee along the way, just stopping for food and bio breaks. We'll probably average between 6-8 hours of driving every day and sleeping at whatever pet friendly hotels/motels along the fastest/shortest route across the country. Do folks here think it can be done in 6 or 7 days? The reason I ask is that I have to close on the purchase of our new house (in Hawaii) on October 21st, and need to sign paperwork at the offices of a national title and escrow company (I'm assuming that there is one in most medium to large cities across the country). Alternatively, should I plan to sign in Las Vegas?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by f2racer

On October 15th, I will be packing up my family (wife, 13yo, 2 dogs, and a cat) and driving across the country. The reason why we have to drive is that both of my dogs are elderly snub nose breeds that the major airlines no longer fly. What do folks think is a reasonable timeframe for such a trip. We don't intend to stop and sightsee along the way, just stopping for food and bio breaks. We'll probably average between 6-8 hours of driving every day and sleeping at whatever pet friendly hotels/motels along the fastest/shortest route across the country. Do folks here think it can be done in 6 or 7 days? The reason I ask is that I have to close on the purchase of our new house (in Hawaii) on October 21st, and need to sign paperwork at the offices of a national title and escrow company (I'm assuming that there is one in most medium to large cities across the country). Alternatively, should I plan to sign in Las Vegas?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Less than a week for sure.

Unclear as to why you need to drive to LA or LV that a city like Boston or NY would not suffice. Don't you need to get on a plane to go to Hawaii?

[wolfgang239]

That sounds about right if you stick to 8 or 9hrs a day of straight driving. But only you know how much you'll need to stop, your dogs might slow you down, and every person deals with a long trip differently. You may not have the option but only doing 8hrs a day is nothing for a trip like that.

As to your second question, that is completely out of the hands of anyone on this board. It would be complete speculation for people to answer that. Contact them directly, see what location is possible set a date and make sure you are there on time. Even spend an extra day or two just to make sure it goes smoothly.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

Less than a week for sure.

Unclear as to why you need to drive to LA or LV that a city like Boston or NY would not suffice. Don't you need to get on a plane to go to Hawaii?

Word for word what I was thinking

[redplum33]

It's ~3000 miles. I'd estimate needing 60 hours of driving time.

[f2racer]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

Less than a week for sure.

Unclear as to why you need to drive to LA or LV that a city like Boston or NY would not suffice. Don't you need to get on a plane to go to Hawaii?

My dogs can fly on one of 2 air cargo carriers from LAX to HNL. I cannot fly them across the continental US due to the snub nose restriction. While I can arrange for "ground" transport, they are both older (10yo Boxer and 9yo English Bulldog), so we're choosing to drive them ourselves to lessen their "stress".

[scorpio516]

I've driven Detroit to Sacramento in 3 days twice. Once with a cat. And Boston to Detroit takes another day.

I've also driven Detroit to Tucson in 4 days, including a stop at the Grand Canyon and a 6 hour side trip to Chaco Culture.

7 days is easy. 6 days is pretty easy too. Depends on how much time you want to take, and how many bathroom brakes you need. I typically drive 12 hour days so YMMV

[matrix5k]

I've driven San Diego to Boston twice, one by myself and one with a friend. I also drove Boston to San Diego with my wife (then girlfriend). Took about a week every time, averaged 8 hours per day. The first couple days aren't bad cause there's cities and things to see. Once you get in flyover country it gets hard and boring.

I highly recommend not going through Kansas. There are miles and miles of corn fields and nothing else, and there are cops everywhere. I got a speeding ticket for going 87mph (which isn't considered fast in Socal) on an empty highway. Had no idea where he came from, popped up like a daisy.

On one of the trips I got burned out in day 3 or 4 and only managed 5.5 hours. I imagine with your entire family and dogs, this is likely to happen.

Also be prepared for things that can go wrong, for example when we got to OKC we had to move down south towards Texas to dodge hailstorms. Would have been out of the way if we had been going to Vegas.

[id77]

Originally Posted by f2racer

On October 15th, I will be packing up my family (wife, 13yo, 2 dogs, and a cat) and driving across the country. The reason why we have to drive is that both of my dogs are elderly snub nose breeds that the major airlines no longer fly. What do folks think is a reasonable timeframe for such a trip. We don't intend to stop and sightsee along the way, just stopping for food and bio breaks. We'll probably average between 6-8 hours of driving every day and sleeping at whatever pet friendly hotels/motels along the fastest/shortest route across the country. Do folks here think it can be done in 6 or 7 days? The reason I ask is that I have to close on the purchase of our new house (in Hawaii) on October 21st, and need to sign paperwork at the offices of a national title and escrow company (I'm assuming that there is one in most medium to large cities across the country). Alternatively, should I plan to sign in Las Vegas?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

One week should suffice. The wildcard is going to be your flexibility on the 6-8 hours a day driving and how often you stop (and for how long) for food/bio breaks. A schedule I've done in the past (with companion and dogs, but no kids):

Day 1: Cleveland (or close)
Day 2: St. Louis (or close)
Day 3: Denver (or western KS if it's too long for one day)
Day 4: St. George, UT/Mesquite, NV
Day 5: Los Angeles

That was driving about 12 hours per day, and you could shorten or lengthen a few of those and still make it in under a week.

If mountains are a concern, add a day and go south after St. Louis - I-44 to OKC then west via I-40. With this schedule, your days after St. Louis would look like OKC/Western OK, Albuquerque NM, Flagstaff AZ, then Los Angeles

[id77]

Originally Posted by matrix5k

I've driven San Diego to Boston twice, one by myself and one with a friend. I also drove Boston to San Diego with my wife (then girlfriend). Took about a week every time, averaged 8 hours per day. The first couple days aren't bad cause there's cities and things to see. Once you get in flyover country it gets hard and boring.

I highly recommend not going through Kansas. There are miles and miles of corn fields and nothing else, and there are cops everywhere. I got a speeding ticket for going 87mph (which isn't considered fast in Socal) on an empty highway. Had no idea where he came from, popped up like a daisy.

On one of the trips I got burned out in day 3 or 4 and only managed 5.5 hours. I imagine with your entire family and dogs, this is likely to happen.

Also be prepared for things that can go wrong, for example when we got to OKC we had to move down south towards Texas to dodge hailstorms. Would have been out of the way if we had been going to Vegas.

The problem is OK, IA, TX, or NE isn't any better. Best bets through the midwest to Socal are I-70 or I-40, with I-80 and cutting down I-76 to Denver being a third but less optimal option. All have a 1,000 mile stretch of nowhere small farm towns staffed with police who have nothing better to do and love out-of-state plates going at least 7 mph over the limit (1 mph in the TX panhandle - don't start me on that one).


Taking back road US highways (US-54 is a notable example) is even worse. It shaves 100+ miles off your trip and adds hours of slowing down to 30mph to go through some tiny no-stoplight town with one grain silo and one cop itching to nail people not slowing down. Yes Minneola, I'm looking at you.


Depending on time of year, KS can be scenic with the sunflowers (though likely not in Oct), and if your car can handle the mountains, the I-70 stretch from Denver to Grand Junction is beautiful. I-40 has its moments in NM and AZ with the painted desert and the mesas, but it's pretty blah otherwise.