Getting Married, Trip from Memphis to San Diego, Need Advice!

**AZBuck** · 05-02-2012, 02:47 PM

Memphis to San Diego is nearly 1800 miles. If you do nothing else but stop for gas and bathroom breaks, you must break the speed limit and you must become a hazard to other drivers. Neither of those activities will find a sympathetic ear on these forums. We wish you the best, but your plans have crossed the line to advocating unsafe practices and have no place here.

AZBuck

**sportsdude1** · 05-02-2012, 02:57 PM

Who said I WAS going to do that. I was just putting it in perspective, sorry if I offended some. Being from California, driving 15-20 over the speed limit is common practice!

So, going back to my revised road map, any special places I should make a stop at along the way? I think I covered the major ones being great sand dunes, saragosa springs, monument valley, grand canyon, and vegas.

Any others? I'm a west coast guy from cali so this part of the country is foreign to me!

**Midwest Michael** · 05-02-2012, 02:58 PM

Sorry, I'm hoping your statement was just in jest, but even with a police escort you couldn't make this trip in anywhere near 24 hours. Ignoring the impossibility of safely driving without sleep, with even the most basic of stops you'd need to average nearly 100 miles per hour when you are actually moving to obtain the 75 mph hour average overall speed you think you could do.

Your car isn't that fast, and the people with whom you are sharing the road are not indestructable. (aka, doing anything like you suggested would be grounds for reckless homicide charges in most states)

Your original plans showed you were looking at being more reasonable in your actual plans, but the reality is that 5 days is very limited based on the amount of things you want to do. At most, you're going to have a couple of hours at each of the places you've mentioned, and even there, I think you'll have to trim some things off to actually fit it all in.

**glc** · 05-02-2012, 05:18 PM

Being from California, driving 15-20 over the speed limit is common practice!

Got plenty of money for your various bail bonds on your way across? You might as well paint a target on your forehead.

How on earth can you enjoy a HONEYMOON when all you are doing is driving all day?

**CAnative** · 05-03-2012, 03:22 PM

Congratulations on your imminent marriage.

I did a slightly longer drive (LA - Atlanta or reverse) when my sons were in college. Based on that, your plan does sound more like a driving marathon than a honeymoon. Why not save Colorado for a future trip? Just taking I-40 with a few short sightseeing stops (Arkansas, New Mexico and Arizona) is quite a lot.

PS Unless things have changed, you won't want to be driving in Texas after sundown when speed limits drop on many highways.

**sportsdude1** · 05-08-2012, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by glc

Got plenty of money for your various bail bonds on your way across? You might as well paint a target on your forehead.

How on earth can you enjoy a HONEYMOON when all you are doing is driving all day?

It's called a police detector :)

And we're going to Mexico for a week then coming back and making the road trip. We're actually not crunched for time so we'll be making as many stops as we like. Our hold date is the JW Marriott in Vegas on Friday night. Besides that, it's easy sailing!

**Midwest Michael** · 05-08-2012, 02:17 PM

Police attractor might be a better term. Of the many cops I know, they all love them, and love handing out no-mercy tickets to those who have them. Throw in an out of state plate - where you're almost certainly not going to be fighting a ticket in court - and you've got a great way to make their day.

I'm not really sure how much more help we can be for your trip, however. We do wish you well and safe travels.

**sportsdude1** · 05-08-2012, 03:08 PM

Haha, I'm not as crazy as I sound, but I do drive fast and have never had a ticket with a detector :)

As for helping me out, I'm just making sure I covered my bases with my road trip and I'm hitting all the cool spots along my route.

So far, I have this for main locations to stop and explore:

Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Santa Fe, Great San Dunes, Pagosa Springs, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and lastly Vegas!

Am I missing any big locations? I'm so excited for this trip but want to make sure my fiancee is impressed with my planning for this one. Any added advice or tips would be helpful!

FYI, I don't have a timeline, so if there is another place you recommend, go ahead and respond!