Brooklyn to Oakland

Hi all,

First time poster, long time reader! A friend of ours recently asked if me and my husband would be interested in driving their car cross country and then flying us back to NY. They have a baby and don't want to attempt the trip themselves. The alternative is them shipping it out. The chance to travel cross country would be amazing - however, we only have about 7 days for the trip. Too crazy? We're fans of the smaller, more scenic routes and would hate to just barrel down I80 the whole way. We've done trips to Ohio, Chicago and Michigan and down south, so missing out on stuff that way isn't a big deal.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for routes/interesting things to do and see that would be feasible in 7 days. We're both seasoned drivers, but don't want to spend ALL DAY in the car.

I have been reading previous threads, so have some idea of what to expect, but they are generally for longer trips.

Cheers!
T

Welcome!

Without any sightseeing, you are looking at a 5 day drive on I-80 all the way. This would be 10 to 12 hours per day. With only 2 extra days to play with, you would have to choose your diversions carefully.

I think I would reserve your limited time for the West - you could make it to the Denver area via I-80/I-76 in 3 days, then you would have 4 days to get to Oakland from there.

One suggestion would be to spend the 3rd night in Loveland CO, then spend the next day in Rocky Mountain NP - take Trail Ridge Road over the top, and spend the next night somewhere west of the park such as Granby. Work your way down to I-70 (the stretch between Denver and the end in Utah is one of the most scenic Interstates in the country) and take that out through Utah to Salina, then take US-50 (The Loneliest Road) across Nevada. If you do that, note that there is no lodging between Ely and Fallon - and not much of anything else.

You would have to plan on spending the last 2 nights in Grand Junction and Ely. The only lodging and services between Grand Junction and Salina is in Green River.

If you are running ahead of schedule, you could take a side trip to Moab and see Arches and/or Canyonlands.

Ely can be fun - you could stay in the old Nevada Hotel, and have dinner across the street in an old jail cell.

Thinking on it, we really have 9 days.....4 weekend days and a week.....mayhaps slightly more time to play? I think saving the time to actually do something out West is exactly what we need having only really checked out Wyoming/Montana.

With a little extra time you could also stop at Zion NP and possibly Bryce canyon in Utah. From Moab you could head to Bryce canyon via Capitol Reef to Torrey and then take Utah Scenic Byway 12. Another option from I70 would be to head west from Cedar City to the ET highway [NV375] to US6 through Tonopah. You can then link up with CA120 which goes into Yosemite NP and crosses the Sierra Nevada on the spectacular Tioga Pass.

You will still have to pick and choose and each and every park is quite spectacular in it's own unique way. If I were heading to Oakland, I certainly wouldn't turn down the drive into Yosemite, it's spectacular !!

Even with just a little extra time, you can start getting off the Interstates and traveling some of the 'other' roads of America that let you (force you, actually) to see the countryside at a bit closer range and slower speed. Remember that there was a vast, interconnected, inter-state system of highways before the Interstates were built, the 'US' highways (actually state maintained roads with a national numbering system.) They're still out there, often running parallel to the Interstates. I-80 follows much the same routes as US-6, US-20, US-30 and US-50 in various parts of the country, so you can at almost any time, get off I-80 and use whichever of those highways is closest. Some of them, US-6 across Pennsylvania and US-50 through Nevada, are quite scenic and a definite alternative to the superslabs. Others, such as US-30 in Nebraska, follow even older routes such as the old Oregon Trail and are strewn with landmarks and historic sites. In Wyoming, I-80 and US-30 are co-located, i.e. they are exactly the same road. But still there are side trips and great Old West towns such as Cheyenne and Laramie, or a detour down to the Flaming Gorge - Uintas Scenic Byway in Utah.

The thing is that as long as you keep an eye on the clock (or even the calendar) you can wander off the main road as often as you like, knowing that it will always be there, relatively close at hand, should you need to cover some miles or make up a little time.

AZBuck

Thanks all! I'll keep the forum updated with what we actually end up doing. VERY excited to be planning this out with help!