Chicagoland Bound

[Baseballman]

Hello-
I am heading to Chicago from Phoenix in a week, I know this is crazy but I have a job offer and my girlfriend moved there 6 months ago. I need advice on the best southern route to drive. I am getting a little old and only will travel about 500 miles a day. I can stop anywhere and take as long as I need.What are your suggestions...
Thanks
PS I only can drive in the daytime!!
Also if I could get the towns I will be staying in that would be great.
I will try to use my Marriott points if possible

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

If you were to be on the road for about 8 to 9 hours a day including stops along the way for food and fuel and to stretch your legs, you will need 4 days to cover the distance.

Day1 would be just east of Albuquerque [maybe Santa Rosa] 2] Oklahoma 3]St Louis and 4, a 6 hour drive into Chicago. That's not necessarily the 'best' route for you, only you can decide on that if there is anything in particular you would like to see and do along the way and if you want to spend any extra time exploring.

[glc]

Your best bet for finding Marriott properties will be near larger cities, so I'd be looking at Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis. It will be Interstate all the way - I-17/I-40/I-44/I-55. This will be about 500 miles on each of the first 3 days, and 300 miles on the 4th. You will probably find that Fairfield will be the most economical. ABQ has 2, OKC has 6, and STL has 4. For least hassles, favor ones that are east of the respective downtowns, so you won't be fighting morning rush hour into the city. In ABQ, the most convenient one is right by the I-40/I-25 interchange, in OKC look at the ones in Edmond or Quail Springs, and in STL look at the one in Collinsville IL.

[DonnaR57]

Phoenix to Santa Rosa is almost 600 miles. Albuquerque's east side is a more likely 480 miles, depending on where you start in "Phoenix". (We went from the west side of ABQ to Tempe a couple of years ago and the mileage was 475.)


Donna

[glc]

You can also cut off up to 75 miles by taking AZ-87 up to Payson, then AZ-260/277/377/77 to Holbrook. This is of course dependent on where in the PHX area you are, and on the weather. It's a very scenic drive.