X Country October 2012

Hi, I am organising a road trip from Los Angeles to Orlando in October next year. We will be hirering a car (one way drop off) from LA to FL for 30 days. Travelling with me will be my husband, my son, his wife and my 2 grandchildren, aged 1 and 4.
What I wish to know at this stage of planning is if the distance and where we want to stop off is doable in the time frame we have. My son and his wife request that we spend 4 days in LA at the begining of the trip, so this has to be factored into the time frame. Also is the distance between each leg a comfortable days driving while allowing some sight seeing and stops for small children to break the boredom of the driving?

1. Los Ageles to San Diego
2. San Diego to Las Vegas
3. Las Vegas to Flagstaff
4. Flagstaff to Phoenix
5. Phoenix to Tombstone
6. Tombstone to Las Cruces
7. Las Cruces to Roswell
8. Roswell to Dallas
9. Dallas to Huston (via San Antonio)
10. Huston to New Orleans
11. New Orleans to Tallahasse
12. Tallahasse to Daytona Beach
13. Daytona Beach to Miami
14. Miami to Key West
15. Key West to Naples
16. Naples to Tampa
17. Tampa to Orlando

I would appreciate any advice re these choices of routes and time as well as what would be worth seeing along these routes.

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum.

Since I am not familiar with the middle portion of your trip, I shall leave that to the experts. But certainly the western and the eastern end are doable. Be aware that the San Diego to Las Vegas leg is a long day in the car, especially for your grandchildren.

At the other end, what jumps out at me is Key West to Naples. Not necessarily because of the distance, but because there is just so much to see and do, that with all the stops, it could make it a very long day. And if you are interested in the Space Centre (between Daytona and Miami), you might like to add a stopover there.

For attractions along the routes, check out the 'attractions' and 'map centre' tabs on the green bar above, as well as this thread.

Just out of curiosity, where are you planning on spending the other 9 days?

Lifey in Melbourne

Hi Yah, I dont plan to drive every day, just legging it between destinations :) Have yet to work out how many nights are to be spent where so these 9 days will be broken up with stopovers in places we wish to explore a little more. Have already spent some time in Orlando about 3 years ago and have seen the Kennedy Space Centre, Seaworld, Disney World and other various attractions around. Also have to work out what my son and daughter-in-law wish to see and do. So 9 Days still a work in progress.

I realise that some days will just be for getting from A to B, unfortunately. But need to know that these distances arnt unreasonable to drive in one day. We need to include the stops for the kids in this time as we want to have our sanity when we get to B.

I really appreciate you input and advice and look forward to further chats re my trip as planning progresses. This trip is for my 50th birthday so is very special as my family are giving up thier time to come and spend it with me. (I am certain that it wasnt too difficult for them)

Please do not continue yoour attempts to make your posts stand out by the use of non-standard typefaces, sizes, colors, etc.

The only day there which will be a really long haul will be from Roswell to Dallas. If you are planning on seeing the Grand Canyon, that portion of the trip could use a little tweaking. You also won't have much time to see or do anything in San Antonio if you are planning on driving from Dallas to Houston via San Antonio in one day.