My best friend and I are planning to spend the winter in San Diego. We want to take a short, 6-10 day road trip to get out there. (Coming back in the Spring we want to take a longer one, up the west coast, and then back east). This is loosely what we want to do:
NYC --->
---> Kansas City (2 nights w/ family)
---> Austin (a few nights couchsurfing)
---> Grand Canyon
---> Las Vegas (one night)
---> San Diego
1. NYC to KC is a long drive (16 hours?). Is there anything to stop and see along the way and stay the night? Indianapolis and St. Louis are both on the way.
2. Same question for Austin --> Grand Canyon
3. Is the Grand Canyon even fun in the winter?
We haven't seen much of the country at all, want to see some beautiful scenery and meet cool people on the way. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated, doesn't have to be touristy stuff.