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We will be departing DC on Aug 10 to drive to Seattle. Any advice on how long this will take? I know there are many lovely sights along the way, but our main objective is to make good speed to Seattle, because there is so much we want to do in the state of Washington.
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The minimum safe driving time for this trip is five days. Trying to do it in less time will have you trying to drive farther each day than professional long-haul truckers are legally permitted to drive, and unless you have at least some experience in speed runs I wouldn't recommend that you try one of this magnitude as an introduction. For a five day trip, your overnight stops would be roughly around Jamestown IN (junction of I-80/I-90/I-69), Austin MN, Spearfish SD. and Butte MN.
AZBuck
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You need a minimum of 5 full days to make this trip.
There are several route options, however, the one I would use would be:
I-70/I-68 across Northern Maryland
I-79 back to I-70 in Western PA
I-70 to Indianapolis
I-74 to Davenport Iowa
I-80 Across Iowa.
I-680/I-29 to Sioux Falls
I-90 the rest of the way to Washington.
This isn't the shortest route, but it avoids the tollways and heavy traffic areas like Chicago.
I'd be looking at stops around Indianapolis, Missouri Valley Iowa (Omaha suburb), Spearfish SD, and Butte, Montana. Those are all 550-600 mile days on the road, that will take you 10-12 hours each, which is really about the most you should do on a trip of this size.