June or July 2012 - Wichita, KS to NYC and back

Hello. This is my first time here and have found lots of useful information so far but needing more. The plan is a 7 to 10 day trip from Wichita, KS to NYC and back this summer with my my husband, 10 year old son, father-in-law and my self. We are looking for things to do along the way there as well as on the way home.

We would like to get there in only 2 days, stay in NYC for 2-3 days and then return home via Cedar Point theme park and a stop in Chicago (3-4 days). We are into history, theme parks, ghost towns, quarky and unusual stuff, and nautre. What are some ideas to do and see in Chicago? Is there a better time than others to make the trip? i.e. early June as apposed to late July, etc. What are other things to do or see along the way? Any any other info would be great too.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Sorry, but it's simply not possible to get safely from Wichita to New York in only 2 days. That's nearly 1400 miles and is a minimum of 2½ days, and 3 when you start to factor in the extra stops required by having so many people. Coming back via Cedar Point and Chicago is a minimum of 4+ days (assuming only a half day each in your two stops and the fact that Chicago to Wichita, at over 700 miles, is not drivable in a day.) So that's already a minimum of nearly 8 days just to make the drive, spend a half day at one of the great amusement parks and see a few of the multitude of attractions in Chicago. If you spend just a day or so in New York, you've used up your entire available 10 days and you'd have no time for anything else along the way.

AZBuck

Excellent points on travel times. I know the trip can be done in 2 days, I've done it before (with 2 drivers) but was in a time crunch to get there. Wichita to Indiannapolis on day one, then day two to Trenton, NJ.

This trip we will have 3 drivers. If we need to break it down into 2.5 days to make some fun stops along the way, we will. Otherwise, we don't have a problem hurrying to get there and having fun on the way home.

Also, if there are more fun things we find to do along the way, we may extend the trip.

Just because you "can", doesn't mean you should. Professional drivers are limited to 10 hours a day on one driver, for very good reason: fatigue. It really doesn't matter if there are 2 or even 3 drivers. The fact is, you get crunched up when trying to drive 12-14 hour days, especially two days in a row.

My husband and I have actually done stuff like this. One time we left San Diego at 1 in the morning and drove for 720 miles up to Shasta Lake in northern California. We pulled in at 3 in the afternoon, absolutely EXHAUSTED. We vowed that we would never, ever drive for that long again. It's why we recommend....600 miles a day, or 10 hours.

BTW, the more people you have in your car, the more stops you have to make. That 700+ miles will take even longer.

If I were you, I'd start to plan to extend the trip now. It would be very easy to find fun things to do along the way. For instance, in PA alone you could have Hershey and Gettysburg (fun and history). In OH, there's the National Museum of the Air Force and all the Wright Bros stuff, in Dayton. You'll easily fill your 3-4 days in Chicago.



Donna

There's a difference between hurrying to your destination, and pushing yourself to the breaking point.

Back to back 700 mile days is not going to be anything resembling fun, and your family will be miserable and exhausted if you try to get to NYC in 2 days. The drivers will be burnt out and your 10 year old will be ready to explode from sitting in a car for about 14 hours on back to back days. Even beyond the very real safety concerns, its practically a guarantee that your family will be at each others throats for nearly the entire trip as your family will spend the rest of the week trying to recover from a miserable grueling journey. 2.5 days is the bare minimum to make the trip, and even that doesn't include time for anything other than the essential stops for food, fuel, and some short roadside rest breaks. If you want to make this trip actually enjoyable with time for stops, then you really need to plan for this trip to take pretty much all of 3 days.