Roadtrip from MN to Grand Canyon to LV to CA to Seattle to Vancouver and back to MN.

[jennyrae2829]

Hello! I thought I would give this a try and see if we could get any kind of information and guidance on our HUGE roadtrip we are planning for early September of this year. We have some ideas about where we want to go and what we want to see, but we would love some input on what we may be missing and what we NEED to see. Our very early plan is this:

MN to Vail, CO - Leaving MN Thursday evening and arriving in Vail Friday mid-day. We want to see the city and visit a friend or two.
Vail, CO to Four Corners Monument - Leaving Vail Saturday morning and stopping to see the four corners monument and possibly staying at the Grand Canyon Sunday night. What part do we HAVE to see??
Grand Canyon to Las Vegas - Sunday morning and staying in Vegas until Wednesday mid-day.
Las Vegas to California - We definitely want to see the Sequoia trees and stay on the coast. We wouldn't mind driving up the coast to get to our next destination. We are open after this on our trip because neither of us has spent much time on the west coast. We were thinking of possibly driving up to Vancouver, since it is only 2 1/2 hours north of Seattle. We would love some input on some great spots to stop along the way or cities to spend the night and places to eat. Thank you so much for your input! We look forward to planning our trip in better detail in the future!

J

Please do not edit posts after responses have been made. It is an extreme disservice to those who have taken the time to try to help you. - Mod

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'm sorry, but you've got some intensely bad ideas about what you can actually SAFELY achieve during a roadtrip.

The very first day is impossible to achieve and homicidal to attempt. It's more than 1,000 miles from the Twin Cities to Vail. Not only is is beyond foolish to attempt to drive through the night - driving fatigued is every bit as dangerous as drunk driving - even if you could SAFELY drive 1,000 miles in one sitting (which is impossible to do, even with multiple drivers) you still couldn't meet your timeline. It will take you more than 20 hours to cover the miles, so even if you ignore all of the safety warnings, it is actually impossible to leave in the evening and arrive there midday the next day.

On top of all that, even if you ignored the fact that you'd be putting yourself, and everyone else on the road in an extreme amount of danger, and even if you ignore the fact that your timeline can't physically be reached - it would still be a horrible idea. All you are going to do is get your bodies completely out of sync, and will be exhausted for days afterwards - making it extremely unlikely that you'd be able to enjoy anything else on this trip - much less be good company for the friends you are planning to visit in Colorado.

Your idea of leaving Vail Saturday Morning and getting to the Grand Canyon with any time to see it is equally impossible. It's more than 600 miles, mostly on 2 lane roads, which is going to take you at least 12 hours of driving - before any extra stops at 4 corners or anywhere else.

I can't comment much on the rest of your trip - because it is just too lacking in detail - but based on your 1st couple days of planning, you need to go back to the drawing board. It doesn't matter that you might have multiple drivers, and it doesn't matter what an online map program says you can do. In the real world, your current plan is at best unworkable, and at worst deadly. Keep in mind, professional drivers are limited by safety laws from covering more than about 600 miles in a day - and that's sticking to the freeway. If you are getting off the freeways, and actually want to see something, you should be looking at less than that. Also, online mapping programs don't factor any kinds of stops or slowdowns for anything - you need to expect their estimates to be off by at least 20%, and often more.

Keep those things in mind, adjust your plans, and we'll be glad to help you build a trip that you'll remember - for all the right reasons.