NYC to Notre Dame to Chicago to Minnesota and back

Okay so me and a couple of friends are planning a road trip during winter break in January to Minnesota. We've allotted ourselves 5 days to do it all in. We will leave late January 12th early January 13th about 2 or 3 in the morning. We want to go to Notre Dame first as we are all huge fans of their college football team and what not. Then we want to book it to Chicago and spend a day there doing all the cool stuff there. Finally after we are done in Chicago we want to go to the Mall of America in Minnesota and then head back.

We need to be back January 17th/18th depending. What do you guys think would be the best way to do all of this? THANKS! =]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

At around 2,500 miles for this trip, you are looking at 5 days of driving to complete this trip. That leaves no time for visiting South Bend, Chicago or Minneapolis, so I guess my question is: Why are you doing this? I know you're young and have visions of driving through the night, sharing the load, and having a grand adventure, but the ugly reality is that you'll be spending most of your time crammed in a small space, trying to sleep, watching essentially the same scenery roll by mile after mile, eating junk food, and all for practically no meaningful experiences at you destinations. Even if you just cut out Minneapolis and waited until the morning of the 13th to leave (after a good night's sleep) you could have a much more enjoyable trip, actually see a few sights along the way, get some useful sleep en route, and still have a day or so to split between Notre Dame and Chicago. This is really a case where a less ambitious trip would be much more enjoyable and memorable.

AZBuck