Santa Barbara to Chicago to Boston

[PAL_04]

I have never taken a road trip before. I will be alone as I drive from the West Coast to the East. I just came across this great site and am leaving in a few days. Any tips? I plan to stay in hotels along the route.

[glc]

Welcome!

How many days are you planning on taking, and what do you want to see and do on the trip?

[PAL_04]

I am mostly doing this trip to drive a relative's car from one location to the other (they are transferring jobs). I would like to arrive in Chicago as soon as possible....maybe 3 or 4 days. (and I have 5 more days to drive to Boston). I am most concerned with anything I should be aware of when driving in the mountains on the first leg of the trip. I don't want to take much time for site seeing...but, if there is something I can see without taking too much time, I'd love to hear suggestions. (Pretty boring itinerary...thanks for any help you may provide!!)

[glc]

It is a 4 day drive from Santa Barbara to Chicago via fastest Interstate highways. There's nothing particular you need to be aware of driving the Interstates through the mountains - if you can cope with SoCal freeways it will be a piece of cake. Other than the higher altitude, it's no worse than the Grapevine or Cajon Pass. I would take I-15/I-70/I-76/I-80. Suggested overnights would be Cedar City UT, Denver, and Omaha. The longest stretch of highway with no services will be about 108 miles between Salina and Green River UT.

Chicago to Boston is an easy 2 day drive via I-90 all the way, suggested overnight Buffalo. This is a toll road most of the way.

If you want to avoid the worst of the LA traffic, take the 101 to the 126 like you were going to Six Flags - then take Magic Mountain Parkway/Valencia Boulevard/Soledad Canyon Road through Santa Clarita to the 14, and either take that to the 58 in Mojave to get to I-15, or take the Pearblossom - know what you are getting into before you take that though.

The other option is 101/134/210 to I-15, but I'd bet that would be congested as heck in the morning.

[PAL_04]

AWESOME!! Thank you sooo much for your help!!!!

[PAL_04]

Tell me more about the Pearblossom...

[glc]

It's a pretty heavily traveled 2 lane road with no shoulders between Palmdale and Victorville. It has been called "Blood Alley" due to a lot of head-on collisions from people passing unsafely.