LA-NYC solo (w/2 dogs) 5 days

I'm looking for a little advice:

I am driving from LA to NYC later this week (prob leaving Thurs Fed 29 in the afternoon). I am driving solo, but am bringing 2 mid-large dogs (mutts, if you're wondering!).

I have been told & researched that its better to take 40 out during the winter. However, I have a car that is great in weather & the extended forcast looks pretty clear if I wanted to take the northern route.

I'm hoping to make the trip in 5 days.

I'd love any advice on how to break the trip up. Any interesting quick stops etc... Any spots to avoid during specific times etc.

Thank you!

You're planning on driving 2800 miles in 5 days. This will take roughly 50 hours so you'll be driving 5 days for at least 10 hours per day. You don't really have time to take the northern route, to do any exploring off your main route, or to stop and see anything that isn't right on your way. This all becomes more true because of your dogs. You will need to stop more often and stop longer just to give them time to eat, do "their duty", and burn up some energy. This is going to eat into any time you may have been able to squeeze out to sightsee.

Of course, this doesn't mean you can't do anything fun for yourself. Just try to combine it with fun things for your dogs. I think I'd not plan for anything specific but just pull off at places you see signs for that seem like a good stop at the time. My only two exceptions for this might be the Oklahoma City Memorial and the St. Louis Arch. The rest of your trip might be best just played-by-ear.

Dogs virtually require that you break up your trip with stops every two hours or so. And, really, that's good for you, too. In fact, you're really on a speed run so you might want to check out these tips. This article should answer a lot of your questions.

All the advice Judy has given you is dead on. Particularly about how you don't have time to wander off the main route. However, for just those reasons I would suggest that you take the 'northern route' up to central Utah and then across the Rockies on I-70 to Denver where you'd use I-76 to connect with I-80. This route is only about 25 miles longer than the I-40/I-44/I-70 route, but lets you see a lot more gorgeous scenery (the treat for you) and offers a number of great places to stop (the treats for the dogs) without adding to the time required for the trip.

AZBuck

Thanks Judy & Buck!

Someone mentioned that there is a lot of left over snow on the 70-76 right now, which might make walking the dogs a lot tougher. Maybe they'll like the snow...they are a couple of LA rescues so they've probabaly never seen it before!

Thanks for the advice.

B

I've never had a dog that didn't go crazy rolling around in it. We don't get it very often so it's not like they're used to it. Quite frankly, I don't get why their little toes don't freeze but it doesn't seem to bother them. While I can't guarantee your dogs will feel the same way, it might be fun to give them a chance to try it.

The best way to find out about road conditions is to check out the weather reports and camera shots of the highway. If you google "state name Department of Transportation", you'll find the information you need about the specific road conditions where you're driving.