NC to ? - end of December, with dog - what would you do?

Hi all! So happy to find this forum - I love road trips.

I have 'use or lose' vacation days and find myself off from work starting December 18 through January 1. Good news! I currently live in the Raleigh, NC area and want to take a road trip with my dog (who is great on road trips).

My ideal would be to drive to California and back, but not sure I have quite enough time with doggie stops and stops for fun...do you? Of course I also have to consider that having my dog limits me anyway (won't leave her in car in heat - though in December I could get lucky - won't leave her alone in car for any real stretch of time).

I think I have time to drive to New Orleans, and then San Antonio or Austin...really, really want to see the Grand Canyon...really would love to see San Diego. But San Diego is a stretch maybe, especially since I also have to figure in the good odds of some bad weather (especially in TN/NC end of December).

I have no real agenda and am definitely a "let's see how it goes" person...could totally see myself living in an RV someday. But for now I'm mid 40s female traveling with a hound dog.

What would you do/where would you go? I like offbeat things as well. Thanks!

Hi, and Welcome to the Great America Roadtrip Forum.

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Originally Posted by NC_B

What would you do/where would you go?

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Your post rings so true to what I like to do on roadtrips. As a senior female (albeit without pooch!) I like to just hit the road and see what is over the horizon. Right now I am typing this in north eastern PA, but have no idea yet where I will be tonight, nor where I will be heading tomorrow. I just know where I have to be on 1st October, and keep that in mind.

So why not hit the road, head for the horizon, travel wherever the road leads... wherever the wind blows. Engage with the locals when you arrive. They will tell of their favourite spots/attractions in their little part of the country. And if it means you don't even get to cross the Mississippi, does it really matter? So long as you have a good time and get out of the trip what you want.

And then come back here and tell us all about it. We love to read how others travelled.

Lifey

If you really really want to see the Grand Canyon, that's something you could fit into a two week trip. You could get there in a pretty comfortable 5 days each way, being on the road for 6-8 hours a day, but still leaving time to make a couple nice stops each day, and have plenty of time for smaller stops for the dog to run around. It could even be done in 4 days each way, but I think that would require a pace faster than you'd enjoy.

That would be about 10 days of driving round trip, leaving you 2 days for the Grand Canyon, and a couple extra days at stops where you see fit. Keep in mind that New Orleans and Austin/SA are not on the direct path, and that would be another full day of driving between NC and Grand Canyon.

San Diego would be tough. That's another full day driving past the Grand Canyon, so while it could be done, I don't think you'd want to do that kind of pace.

And you will have to factor in weather. Really, anywhere on your route you'll have the chance of seeing snow or ice. Remember, the Grand Canyon is up at about 7,000 feet elevation and sees snow, but even I-10 across Texas and New Mexico can see winter storms.

Basically it takes 5 full days of interstate driving to go coast to coast. Now with the stops needed for the dog I would guess it would take 6 days to make that trip.

So if you are off for 14 days. Is 2 days enough to see all the Grand Canyon has to offer?
Is it worth it to you to that much straight driving?

Now being you can save 2 days by not going to the coast you can pick up some slack in your schedule.

So think about if you are driving to GC is there any must see things for you on the road there. Then you decide your must includes and must leave outs. You may not want to drive that far so you can accomplish other road trip goals.

Or you may decide being able to just see the Grand Canyon is worth going that distance.

What I would suggest is if you want to see the GC and other sights to insure that you get to spend the time you want at the GC that you go there first. Because if you run short of time you will of seen your most important destination and can leave the missed destinations for future trips.