Orlando to LA Drive 17th December 2011 **Help Needed**

[megagun]

Road Trip

Day 1 17th Dec Book Into hotel
Day 2 18th Dec Orlando Old Shopping area & Gator Park (Chill day)
Day 3 19th Dec Early start Drive to Daytona Beach Start the trip Memphis << NOTSHORE BEST ROUTE ??
Day 4 20th Dec Still Driving to Memphis arrive Memphis on night
Day 5 21st Dec Memphis Graceland & Mississippi river
Day 6 22nd Dec Beale St explore Memphis
Day 7 23rd Dec Early Start drive to New Orleans US 61 (seems best route) arrive Late New Orleans
Day 8 24th Dec New Orleans explore
Day 9 25th Dec New Orleans explore
Day 10 26th Dec Louisiana to Houston
Day 12 28th Dec Houston explore
Day 13 29th Dec Houston to San Antonio
Day 14 30th Dec San Antonio to Tucson ) 2 day drive
Day 15 31th Dec San Antonio to Tucson (Just Howl at the Moon for Newyear)
Day 16 1st Tucson to Winslow Meteor crater
Day 17 2st Monument valleys Grand Canyon
Day 18 3nd Las Vegas
Day 19 4rd Las Vegas
Day 20 5th Drive to LA early
Day 21 6th Jan LA
Day 22 7th Jan LA Airport Back UK

Or Second Idea

Day 1 17th Dec Book Into hotel
Day 2 18th Dec Orlando Old Shopping Mals
Day 3 19th Dec Drive to Tallahassee then off head on H 98 to Panama City Mobile
Day 4 20th Dec Head to New Orleans
Day 5 21st Dec New Orleans
Day 6 22nd Dec New Orleans
Day 7 23rd Dec Stop off Jackson then Memphis (Studio 6 Memphis)
Day 8 24th Dec Graceland
Day 9 25th Dec Xmas Day Memphis Stile
Day 10 26th Dec Dallas Drive all day (work Out what to see on route) Little town Malvern
Day 11 27th Dec Dallas All Day Site seeing
Day 12 28th Dec Dallas to Tucson 2 day drive
Day 13 29th Dec Dallas to Tucson
Day 14 30th Dec Tucson to Grand Canyon on way Meteor crater
Day 15 31th Dec Grand Canyon New Year in A Hut god Knows Where lol :@)
Day 16 1st Dec Drive to Las Vegas
Day 17 2st Jan Las Vegas
Day 18 3nd Jan Las Vegas to Deathvally Area 51
Day 19 4rd Jan Drive to LA
Day 20 5th Jan LA
Day 21 6th Jan LA
Day 22 7th Jan LA Airport Back UK


Basic Idea of what I am doing any tips ? Thinking might have to miss Memphis and spend more time In LA Vegas

Help needed here I am going to drive as much as I can off Interstate & see more of real america.

Just point out that its only me & the wife No Kids & I am used to driving long distance.

Many Thanks for reading this

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

While I don't blame you for wanting to get off the Interstate and see more of real America, you will always have to check locally for road conditions, no matter which option you decide to take. For instance, in Option #1, you have Day #16 driving from Tucson up to Meteor Crater. By Interstate, that's about a 6-7 hour drive. If you were to choose the state highways, such as AZ 87 through Payson, you'll have to find out how the roads are because you get into some higher elevations that might have snow. Interstates are closed when there is a bad snowstorm/blizzard, but they are quickly cleared and reopened since our truckers MUST get through. (BTW, Meteor Crater itself is not "on the way" from Tucson to the Grand Canyon unless you use the state highways. But it's only 20 minutes or so one-way, out of the way. GC is about 350 miles from Tucson, otherwise.)

I'd make a decision either way, pretty quickly. New Years Eve hosts book quickly, especially the two you mentioned. If it were me, I'd call or email both venues and make sure either one still has space now.



Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I think there are some areas where you need to examine your map a bit more closely.

The biggest one that stands out in mentioned a stop in Juarez - which is in Mexico and is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Perhaps you are thinking El Paso, which is in Texas and is perfectly fine since very little of the violence has spilled across the border.

For that matter, if you are trying to get from Dallas to Meteor Crater/Grand Canyon, it would make much more sense to head up towards I-40 instead of going all the way down to I-10. Or you could skip Dallas completely, and just shoot across on I-400 from Memphis, exploring parts of old route 66 along the way.

In your first option, you mention going from New Orleans to "louisiana" and then to Houston. Louisiana is a state, and it is the state where New Orleans is located, so I really have no idea what you are considering here.

Otherwise, I think you still need to figure out your priorities about which places you want to visit most. Also, if you want to spend your drives off the interstate, then you probably need to give yourself more time for your drive. None of the drives you've listed are too far in one day - if you take the interstate, but if you are taking slower routes they would make for very long days, and wouldn't leave you much time left for the stopping and exploring to actually get a feel for where you are driving. Although, if you find the "fake america" some where, please let us know, because despite frequent requests from people to see "the real america" I'm really never sure what part that is supposed to be.

[megagun]

Just me being dumb there ment to be Houston lol
I was only going to follow the broader no chance am I even interested in going into Mexico.
Needed to point out that I have been to Newyork Miami all over florida so driving in USA does not bother me I have good maps & 2 satnavs

[megagun]

Going to be over States for about a month & going to be on Orlando 17th but not planning to drive to Memphis till 19th I can see most direct route, but what is best way I dont mind driving all day its about 780 miles but I am going to spend 2 full days traveling so plenty of time I will be up and away by 7am most mornings only me & wife no kids and we are only in are early 40s ...

Google Map Route
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...ed=0CCkQ-A8wAA

Any tips on the route be cool I know the route I want to drive back from Memphis to New Orleans & that looks cool follows I 61, I found a cool site for that.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...rns-atlas-nod/

Then after just going to stay south away from the cold so thats why getting Memphis done first.


Many Thanks

Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip, or each segment of a trip. Keeping everything together lets everyone see a complete picture of your trip.

[glc]

The most direct route from Orlando to Memphis is Florida Turnpike/I-75/I-10/US-231/I-65/US-78. You can drive this in a day and a half, with an overnight in Montgomery or Birmingham.