Road trip from Los Angeles to Boston and back.

[jcya]

The end of this June 2011 the wife I and two children 13 and 8 are going to venture on probably a ill advised 22 day 6,700 mile road trip. Any advice about toll roads on the east coast and places to stay away from, would be great. here is a revised version of our planned trip.
Day 1 leave Los Angeles and Drive to Cedar city UT 442 miles stay in hotel
Day 2 Drive to west yellowstone 569 miles stay in hotel
Day 3 Drive to Cody WY 146 miles stay in hotel
Day 4 Drive to Devils Tower 313 miles then to Keyston SD 128 miles stay in a hotel
Day 5 visit Mount Rushmore
Day 6 Drive to Chicago 931 miles stay in hotel
Day 7 relax in Chicago
Day 8 Drive 500 miles to some where in Pennsylvania (any suggestions?)
Day 9 Drive 384 miles to Farmington Ct. and stay with family
Day 10 relax
Day 11 drive to Boston
Day 12 sight seeing in Boston
Day 13 Drive to new jersey and see the statue of liberty
Day 14 Sight seeing in N.Y.
Day 15 Leave for D.C. 340 miles
from this I have not planned the next 7 days. any suggestions on things to see or places to stop on the way back to Los Angeles. We plan on the Grand Canyon being our last stop before ending our trip. I know this is a tight schedule and that isn't nearly enough time to get out and see things as they should be seen. We plan on taking lots of pictures and enjoying our views from the car on our trip. If we do deviate from plan and stay someplace an extra day we will make it up the next day with a 20 hour drive. I am used to driving at 10 + hour trips and will have 2 people to share the driving and plenty of sleeping area in the van we are driving plus t.v./internet/video games for the kids to help pass the time. Most of the driving will be done from 6am to 2pm to be able to enjoy the scenery. The drive from South Dakota to Chicago will be the longest and since the scenery leaves a bit to be desired we will start at 4am.

[jcya]

the drive home from D.C. I would like to try and drive about 400-500 miles a day

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA forum!

Your plan is mostly well thought out, but your SD to Chicago day just is not safe or reasonable. That going to take you at least 17 hours, which is not safe even for 2 drivers, and it's going to be miserable for your entire family. You absolutely need to rethink and rework that day. There are plenty of things to detour and stop for like the Badlands, the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and the Wisconsin Dells, just to name a few.

Similarly and plan to "make it up with a 20 hour drive" is just as reckless. Driving those kinds of hours is forbidden by law by professional drivers because they inevitably make you as dangerous as a drunk driver because of the inevitable fatigue.

Here are some more ideas to have a fun family roadtrip, rather than a long drive where the kids "plug in" and wait for it to be done.

There are far too many thing between DC and LA to even begin listing them, but I would encourage you to look at the RTA Map Center to get more idea for throughout your trip.

[jcya]

Thank you for the feedback. I hadn't thought about the Mississippi river. Couldn't think of a stop before Chicago. I will rework it. Going to put a 500 mile limit on the driving per day and work it that way.

[glc]

Going to put a 500 mile limit on the driving per day

That would be very wise.

With that in mind, I'd try to go farther the first day so your second day won't be as long. Cedar City to Yellowstone is quite a stretch, I'd try to make Fillmore, Richfield, or Salina. The first day will go quicker than you expect, once you leave CA you will have 75 and 80 mph speed limits through NV and UT.

Between Rushmore and Chicago, I'd stop somewhere in southern MN - Albert Lea, Austin, Rochester.