Philadelphia to LA in 4.5 days

Wow, this board is exactly what I was looking for!

I got a job in LA, and my last day at my job here in Philly is the 5th. Need the 6th to move out of my apartment, will hit the road on the 7th. My roadtrip buddy has to catch a flight out of LA (back to Philly) on the 11th at 6:30, so I'd say we have about 4 and a half days to make the drive.

I'd like for the drive to be as scenic as possible, but other than that I have no preferences, I just want to make sure that I take full advantage of this opportunity and check out anything interesting that I'm close to along the way.

Any suggestions? Even advice on how to break the trip up (which cities to stay in along the way) would be appreciated - As I said before, I have no strong preferences, although I would definitely like to see the Grand Canyon if possible.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

By the most efficient route (I-76/I-70/I-44/I-40/I-15), Philly to L.A. is a shade over 2,700 miles. In order to cover that distance you will need to average 600 miles a day. That is more than we generally recommend, but still doable as a Speed Run with no sight seeing on the way. Your target overnight stops would be roughly Richmond, IN; Joplin, MO; Tucumcari, NM and Seligman, AZ.

IF you well ahead of schedule (by at least half a day!) when you reach Flagstaff, AZ then you can consider a quick detour up US-89 to AZ-64 along the south rim of the Grand Canyon and returning to I-40 at Williams. But make no mistake, the trek ahead of you will be serious work if you expect to complete it in the timeframe you've allowed and I doubt very mush that you will have time for any side trips.

AZBuck

If your buddy is booked on a flight already, I would recommend you drive as far as you can, each day... without wasting time. You never know what holdups are ahead. Over two days this week, I have had several holdups through road works, and a detour... all these reduced my speed to such an extend and for such distances, that both days I arrived at my destination almost three hours later than planned.

You wouldn't want your buddy to miss the plane.

Lifey in MN

I appreciate the advice thus far. It looks like I'll be taking the recommended 70W route. Driving down 15 sounds like it will be very cool. I'd like to check out Arches National Park if at all possible, the "Valley of Fire" came highly recommended to me. Hopefully this is an attraction that I can enjoy without consuming too much time.

Let's analyze this. If you want to take I-70/I-15, you need to be in Las Vegas for the 4th night to get you into LA early enough to a) beat afternoon rush hour and b) get your buddy to the airport on time.

Let's put this through mapping software. You are looking at 4 very long days on the road, but it *IS* doable if you don't have a problem with spending 12 to 14 hours on the road for 4 days in a row. Take I-76/I-70/I-15. You need to make it at least as far as Indy the first night, Salina KS the second night, and Moab UT the 3rd night. Hit Arches on the way out of Moab.

It's 2100 miles from Philly to Moab. That's 700 miles a day, over our recommended daily maximum, but doable with 2 drivers switching off every 3 hours or so with a 15 minute stretch at each driver change. When you come into Moab from the north, the first 2 hotels you see will be a Motel 6 and a Super 8, both pretty decent for what they are. If you want higher end, get more into town, but be advised rates will be high.

Sounds like you've got some serious traveling to do. I am incredibly jealous- have fun!!