Driving from florida to seattle??? (rent, roadtrips, best, price)

[pilgrim7578]

HI Everyone,
My wife and I plus our two small children are driving from Florida to Seattle in about two weeks. We were just wondering if anyone else on the forum has driven this trip in the past. If you have would you do it again? We are relocating and noticed the prices of used vehicles in WA is alot more than FL. If it wasnt for this reason we would sell our cars FLY and buy new ones when we arrived. Its quite a difference..

Anyhow aside from that anyone have any helpful information about the cross country trip?
Thank you
Richard

[flkingfan]

Sorry I can't offer any advice, but it sounds like a great plan. I'm sure there is so much you can and should see along the way since it might be a once in a lifetime road trip. Have a safe trip, and it would be great to post your experience once it's done. I sooo would like to hitch a ride with you ...one day it will happen.

[StealthRabbit]

I love roadtrips and our kids got plenty of 5,000 mile + when they were little ones, so it is possible. The fall is a really nice time to travel and your route should avail you some nice places to see. I would check the fall foliage websites, as well as this America's Byways®: National Scenic Byways Online to plan a fun trip. Watch this site for best route planning (weather related). http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...ctions/610day/ I prefer I-94 and I-90 to I-80 as 80 has herds of fast moving trucks and very unpredictable weather. I-70 in Colorado is ok, but it seems very slow and not too interesting (I'm from Colo, so not impressive for me). I prefer 'back roads' for as much time as possible.

If you are into the 'Straight "get-there" plan, then I would drive at night and have a spouse take the kids swimming or to library a couple hrs / day while the driver sleeps in the car. You can rent motels much cheaper during the day, but I usually sleep under a tree or in the park for 'driver' naps.

BTW, I often buy used cars in Dallas, as it is cheaper to ship (~$800) or fly / drive than to find used in WA. I'd be sure to bring a car or two into the state, or you will be paying ~ 9% SALES tax on a purchase in WA. (BTW, don't bring your boat, or you may pay sales tax AGAIN)

[M3 Mitch]

StealthRabbit is right on how to do it. I'd add that AAA is worth having, if only for the maps, and of course give both cars a good going over before taking off on the trip.

I drove my old 65 GMC pickup towing an air-cooled VW Bug from Atlanta to Eastern WA back in '91, didn't have any problems.

Me, I would spring for motels and sleep at night though.

Depending on what your 2 vehicles are, it might be worthwhile to consider towing one with the other. If you had a Suburban and a small FWD car, towing would be the way to go. If you have 2 cars about the same size, probably not worth doing.

A couple of walkie-talkies would be good to have if you end up with 2 drivers.

[pilgrim7578]

Thank you for the info everyone.

We will be driving two vehicles. My wife with an infant, driving a honda element. I will driving a honda odyssey with a 4 year old. Going to stop in Indianapolis along the way to break it up a bit. Going to try to do 9 hours of driving a day...

Has anyone taken the route Google maps provides?

Any cool sites along the way from Indy to Seattle... so far I found Rushmore....

Thanks
Richard

[Anders15]

i was thinking about doing this, but from VA

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by pilgrim7578

Thank you for the info everyone.

We will be driving two vehicles. My wife with an infant, driving a honda element. I will driving a honda odyssey with a 4 year old. Going to stop in Indianapolis along the way to break it up a bit. Going to try to do 9 hours of driving a day...

Has anyone taken the route Google maps provides?

Any cool sites along the way from Indy to Seattle... so far I found Rushmore....

Thanks
Richard

Personally I would not want to take that route (through Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Idaho?). I would consider crossing over in Memphis, TN, Oklahoma, northern Texas, and then into New Mexico going through Albuquerque. I would then head north through Flagstaff, AZ, which is beautiful, visit the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and then head through Salt Lake City into Idaho and then Washington.

Or you could totally bypass Utah and continue east to California going through the Mojave Desert. I would head north on 395 stopping in Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Klamath Falls, Bend, OR., and then cutting over Portland and into Washington. A lot of people just take I5 through California, but there is nothing to see, so stay east on 395.

That's what I would want to do, but I'm sure others will have different preferences.

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by pilgrim7578

Thank you for the info everyone.

We will be driving two vehicles. My wife with an infant, driving a honda element. I will driving a honda odyssey with a 4 year old. Going to stop in Indianapolis along the way to break it up a bit. Going to try to do 9 hours of driving a day...

Has anyone taken the route Google maps provides?

Any cool sites along the way from Indy to Seattle... so far I found Rushmore....

Thanks
Richard

Well, I don't see you towing one of these with the other. You might want to run the numbers on shipping one vehicle and all going in the other, unless you have enough "stuff" that the movers won't take to justify driving both vehicles.

If you shipped one vehicle and drove one, you would save the gas burnt by one vehicle and would have 2 drivers for the one car. One could drive while the other is available to take care of baby.

The way you are planning to do it, 9 hours of driving in 2 separate cars, sounds like a chore to me.

IMHO there is not a lot of difference from one Interstate to another.

[Alaskan Mutt]

If at all possible, limit how much stuff you take along in the cars. If you have the cars loaded with items of value you will be afraid to leave the cars to do some sightseeing.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by pilgrim7578

Thank you for the info everyone.

We will be driving two vehicles. My wife with an infant, driving a honda element. I will driving a honda odyssey with a 4 year old. Going to stop in Indianapolis along the way to break it up a bit. Going to try to do 9 hours of driving a day...

Has anyone taken the route Google maps provides?

Any cool sites along the way from Indy to Seattle... so far I found Rushmore....

Thanks
Richard

If you're taking two vehicles, I'd recommend a couple of things:

1. Get a couple of cheap CB radios for communcation if you don't both have cell phones.

2. Plan "rally points" along the way in case you get separated (You will...trust me!). A "rally point" is a specific, predesignated spot to find one another when the inevitable happens. They should be about an hour apart. This will prevent turning around and searching for that lost car as it searches for you. That can go on ALL DAY! LOL

3. Take care that the rear vehicle doesn't tailgate the lead vehicle. The natural inclination is to stay close enough that another vehicle can't get in between, but following that closely can cause a real tragedy if something happens up front. I've seen it happen. The important thing for the trailing vehicle is that it keeps the lead vehicle in sight. That doesn't mean right on his azz.

Google maps? Frankly, I don't trust them and neither do I trust any GPS system because of a critical flaw they all have: They've never actually driven the routes they suggest. How can they? They're computer programs! And, their "knowledge" is only as good as the data entered into them.

But, that's just me. I drove a truck for over 30 years and have the experience not to worry about finding the right route. I've driven them all. In fact, I've made the very trip you're talking about several times, both ways, in every season of the year.