Washington DC to San Fran with a dog!
Hello All -
My wife was just transferred from her job in DC to San Francisco, and we are planning on making the road trip over 5-6 days in mid April. Unfortunately, this is mostly a "utilitarian" drive. We will be driving a rented SUV. We are mid-30's professionals, and we have done a good bit of driving all over the country, so I am not overly concerned about 10-12 hour days of driving. I have done a meandering cross-country trip over 3 months, but that was obviously a very different planning process. Because we probably won't have a ton of time for stopping, some decent window scenery would be nice! Complicating everything is that we will be bringing our 120 lb dog. So here are my questions:
1) Which route, the I-70 (Northern) or I-40 (Southern) route has better scenery? and;
2) Are there any suggestions for dog-friendly stops along the way? Motels, parks, or anything that may keep our buddy from wanting to jump out the window?
Thanks for the help already, and for future comments!
-Patrick
That "-" Makes a Big Difference
When you say that you "are planning on making the road trip over 5-6 days". that hyphen between the five and the six is a huge change on a trip of this magnitude. The fact is that by the shortest possible all-Interstate route, this trip will take five full days. If you want to 'detour' and use I-40, then you will need more than five days (but less than six). If you were planning on using the I-40 route to enable you to see the Grand Canyon or make any other major stop, then you would need a full six days or more. The rough numbers on miles per day that Donna gave you are right on. While you might have been able to do a bit more on an occasional one day sprint, this trip is going to be a marathon and fatigue is going to accumulate throughout. By the end of it you are going to be exhausted.
And don't be lulled into the common fantasy that because you have two drivers you can go faster or farther. Neither is true. Indeed, you will perforce maintain a slightly slower average speed, because at a minimum you will have to stop more often (whenever either of you needs food or a bathroom) and each stop will take longer (dictated by how long it takes the slower of you to complete the purpose of the stop). And both those situations are only made worse by the presence of a dog. More importantly, any 'sleep' you might get while sitting in a moving car will be fitful at best and will rob the driver of his co-pilot/navigator as well as the possibility of playing some music to help keep alert.
In the end, though, I wouldn't use either I-40 or I-70 exclusively. Rather, I'd try to 'thread the needle' through the Ohio country and Midwest by using I-270/I-70/I-76 out through western Maryland to I-79 north, connecting again with I-70 around Washington PA. That is a nice, scenic route and avoids the tolls (and the booths) on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Then at Indianapolis, I'd switch over to I-74/I-72 through Champaign IL to Hannibal MO. US-36 across northern Missouri is not an Interstate, but is near-freeway quality, and using it lets you avoid both St. Louis and Kansas City while still picking up I-29 north at St. Joseph. Use IA-2/NE-2 to make the connection between I-29 and I-80 at Lincoln NE, ad then follow I-80 all the way to San Francisco.
Finally, stops along the way. You are going to need to make stops other than just at roadside 'Rest Areas'. All of you are going to need several short breaks each day to stretch your limbs, take your mind off the road, and just plain relax in a quiet setting if you want to make this trip enjoyable. All the more reason to both keep the route as short as possible and to add that sixth day if possible.
AZBuck
