Roadtrip from NYC to LA in Dec/Jan looking for help and advice

Hi myself and one possibly 2 of my friends and I are planning on driving across the country to LA in Dec or LA in order to move ourselves out there. We are new to the whole road trip way of traveling so I decided to try and come up with a plan. We are looking for any help or advice that anyone has to offer. We may be traveling with 2 small dogs, depending on how much tough that makes the trip. At this time we havent determined any specific sites to visit though we would like to make the trip in a reasonable amount of time, because we will have to start working. If anyone has any advice, routes, places to stay or visit, thoughts on traveling with dogs or anything else I would really appreciate it!!!

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

We have some advice about traveling with pets at this link, and if you do a search of the forum you are bound to find many more threads.

How much time do you have for your trip? The general guideline is that it takes five days to go coast to coast at a comfortable pace while still getting to see some things along the way.

I think your primary route is going to largely depend on the weather forecast, but you do have several options:

You could take I-80 to I-76, I-70, and I-15 into Los Angeles.
You could also head to I-70 and then follow the I-15 connection.
I-70, I-44, to I-40 is a possibility.

Again, it depends largely on the weather as well as how much time you have for this trip.

well we were thinking of taking around yes 5 days. We did want to have the drive be relaxing and not overwhelming and get to see something. We are figuring that the week leading up to the trip we will certainly be spending alot of time on the weather channel checking out the weather.

as far as spending the night along the way, do most people make their reservations in advance?

Hi leesht,

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do most people make their reservations in advance?

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It's kind of a freedom v's security option. It's nice to know you have a room to go to each night rather than have to look for one on your arrival. Of course by not booking you can pull up early if you find a nice town or choose to get more miles under your belt if you feel okay to do so. Which ever option you choose I would certainly research places in locations that you think would suit an overnight stop and take a list of contact numbers so you can check ahead, especially as not all will be dog friendly.

This link on safe driving distances maybe useful along with this one that covers aspects of winter driving and some good tips fromMark, here at R.T.A.

If you set yourself out an itinerary and post it up along with things that may be of interest, i.e; natural wonders, city's, small towns e.t.c, I am sure the folks here can help you fine tune your trip.

When I travel, I generally do not make reservations and do not stay anywhere near big cities. I usually hit the small towns along the Interstates, most have inexpensive to moderately priced hotels (Motel 6, Super 8, etc.) at the exits. I usually try to get off the highway no later than 9pm, the earlier the better for finding a reasonably priced room. If you are making this run in Dec/Jan, I'd advise the southern route. I'd plan something from NYC to Dallas, then I-20/I-10 the rest of the way. Anything farther north could give you weather issues. The only downside to that is the run from Dallas to El Paso is one of the most boring drives on the planet.

Even going down to I-10 is no sure way to avoid bad weather. Dallas and onto West Texas is very much subject to nasty ice storms. There just is no single cross country route where you can be assured of good weather in the US throughout winter.

The best bet you can make is to simply look at the forecast and plan your route according to what route looks like it will have the best conditions at the time you are traveling. Even that isn't a sure thing, but its better than simply assuming that one route will be better than another.

The reason I made that suggestion is simple odds. It's the farthest south and the least mountainous. You do make an excellent point. Last December I went from Joplin to San Diego, I wanted to take I-40 to Flagstaff, then down to Phoenix to get I-8. I checked on the weather when I was in Albuquerque and found out that it was snowing in Flagstaff. I then took I-25 down to I-10.