North Carolina to California

[mrsslater]

Hello everybody, what a great forum! I wish I would have discovered this long ago. I'm making the drive from coastal NC to southern CA in October. This isn't a new drive to me, I've made it several times, just my son and I. The only difference is this time we are driving in the fall instead of our usual summer trip....

Any advice on road and weather mid October? We are driving the 40 most the way. LOL I think it's all the way. Passing through TN, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, and finally CA. Like I said I've got the trip down, favorite hotels and all, although I wish I knew of a few more kid friendly places to stop, dino park in the desert is my least favorite place of all lol. I'm concerned about the weather, so if you've traveled this route during October, I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Oh, and this is our final trip across the country for a few years. We are actually parking our car in CA and moving to Japan!!!
~mrsslater

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

October is actually my favorite time of the year to be on the road. Traffic is way down from the summer. Hurricane season is over. Winter has not set in, although - to be sure - the odd snow storm is possible in the northern mountains. There is a nip in the air that encourages you to get out and walk through some of the parks along the way, rather than just drive through and say you've been there. If 'dino parks' are what you think of as kid friendly, then you may be selling your son short. See what he thinks of some slightly more interesting (you don't have to use the word 'educational') venues like the Great Smoky Mountains, Mud Island, a wildlife refuge, the site of an Indian battle waged by Custer and the 7th cavalry, Petroglyph National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Mojave National Preserve for starters.

AZBuck

[mrsslater]

Wow thanks for all the great suggestions for stops. Dino park is a bad bad place, he really only likes the gift shop $$$. He's only 4, so he's had no education, other than me, he'd be game for anything, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Glad the weather should be driver friendly. That will be one nice difference from summer driving I guess.

Thanks again!!
~mrsslater

[mrsslater]

We leave home in 17 days. I have mapped out and printed all my directions. Should I bother making hotel reservations? I'm leaving on a Friday, should I make a reservation at least for the first 2 nights? I do not plan on doing ANY night driving so I will be coming in at reasonable hours.

In the past when I've traveled with my husband we just stopped where we felt like it, and he ran inside the hotels to see about a room. When traveling with just kid, husband has always been available via cellphone to find a hotel online, and reserve within 20 minutes of me calling with my location, this is very helpful when traveling with a toddler! The husband is now stationed in Japan, and can not help with this time.

Is this a high travel season where I would need to be worried about vacancys? I'm traveling from NC to CA on the 40.

Thanx
~mrsslater

[PNW Judy]

We're definitely into the shoulder season where more rooms will be available. I would only worry about reservations if you're stopping at some very popular place like Grand Canyon.

You can actually do what your husband did for you online, except do it by cellphone. Bring along a few good guidebooks with motels listed and then start calling around for a reservation that night once you get an idea of how far you might travel that day and where you will want to stop.

Hope this helps!

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