Moving from Miami to Seattle early September- first time driving cross-country

Hello everyone, been browsing around this great site and could not find any thread of someone driving cross-country during early September. My wife and I will be driving from Miami to Seattle in our honda civic the first week of September, after labor day; we want to avoid the heavy traffic on the highways. The route that we have planned so far is passing thru Memphis, Albuquerque then Grand Canyon using I-40 then, head north to Salt Lake City then I-84, I-82 and I-90 to Seattle; driving for at least 10 hours everyday until we make up north, trying not to take longer than 5 nights on the road. Any suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advanced :)

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

The route you have planned would take every second of the ten hours a day for six days that you say you have available. That leaves NO time for the Grand Canyon or any other stops along the way. If you can't stop to see it, there's really no point in driving to the Canyon and you can significantly shorten your drive by going more directly from Memphis to Seattle, or even more directly from Miami to Seattle. In either case you can save a full day's worth of driving, have a more relaxed journey, and have a little time to actually stop a few places along the way to see something.

AZBuck

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

By going to the Grand canyon as described you are adding around 350 miles to the shortest route. That's going to take all of 6 days of driving for 10-11 hours per day with time for basic stops for food, bathroom and rest stops. Add to that half a day to visit the GC,[ I presume you would like to see it after going all that way ] and the possible need to take a break and have a shorter day on the road and I think you will find that at least one extra day would be real beneficial to make those extra miles anywhere near worth it.

Thank you for the advice! We' ll see if we can add another day or two to the trip. Now, do you guys suggest we take another route? Maybe something more direct/scenic?... Also, do you have an idea what kind of weather we may come across?.

To only spend 5 nights on the road, you have to take the most direct (fastest) route - which is:

I-95/Turnpike
I-75
I-24
I-57
I-64
I-70
I-29
NE-2
I-80
I-84
I-82
I-90

Overnights will be in/near:

Macon GA
Paducah KY
Lincoln NE
Laramie WY
Twin Falls ID

The only way you will be able to do any sightseeing or have any fun would be to add some days.