Moving across the country

Thanks for all of the thoughtful responses everyone! We decided to skip the RV and are instead going to rent a big SUV and are going to make the trip over 7 days and stay at AirBnBs where our pup can hang out while we explore. We are early risers, so we'll likely be on the road every day at 6:30/7A so we can get where we are going with some daylight left to explore.

Here's the plan we came up with:

Day 1: 9 hours (a long day) to Indianapolis. This is really purely a travel day, but we will try and find some places to check out in Indy.

Day 2: 4 hours to St Louis, MO. Easy driving day and plenty of time to go see the Arch and maybe check out the zoo.

Day 3: 6 hours to Salina, KS. Mid-range day, but we can make it by mid afternoon. We'll eat way too much BBQ and find something fun to check out.

Day 4: 6 hours to Denver, CO. Mostly site seeing planned and enjoy the views.

Day 5: 7 hours to Richfield, UT. Again mostly a site seeing day, but we'll get some hikes in that are right near the cabin we are renting.

Day 6: 8.5 hours (the last long day) to Reno, NV. People watching and exploring a cool city.

Day 7: 4 hours to San Francisco. We have arrived!

Going to try and find some cool places to stop mid-way each day which will add an hour or so to the travel times, I figure.

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Originally Posted by BillyGr

One thing that you didn't mention - are the kids at a point (age etc. wise) that they would be OK without being with Mom for a few days?

And, if so, would you be OK having the kids and the dog to deal with solo?

If both of those are feasible, you might be able to stretch things out a bit by starting out (with the car or RV, whatever is easier) on Sunday (since that would fit the dance schedule on Saturday), drive (with all of you) at a somewhat slower pace for several days (say until Thursday or even Friday), and set the route such that you end up at a city with a halfway decent airport.

Drop Mom off there, she flies from that point to the destination (that allows her to be there in time for Monday), while the rest of you continue the drive. That way, if you need extra day(s), it's not an issue (or at least based on what you said so far - I can assume that the kid(s), if in school, will be done by the time you leave, and you didn't mention a due date for you), but they are also not being separated for a whole week+, only for a few days.

And, depending on the method of transport, even the single (shorter) flight may still not make it more (or not much) than the cost of the pet transport would have been.

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That's a clever idea! If we were going somewhere we had more of a support system to land in, I think this would work. The kids and I would totally be fine without mom, but she wouldn't be comfortable getting there solo.

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

I have to agree with Dave and Michael that 3000 miles in six days would be a hard push and doing it in a mere five would be near impossible, even with two drivers and without any detours or stops for historic, scenic or quirky sites. Remember that road fatigue is cumulative; you'll be worn out by day three or four and would benefit greatly from a full day of not driving at all.

The other thing to remember is that Google Maps 'lies'. Their time estimates, 42-44 hours in your case, are based on always driving at the speed limit and assume no traffic and no stops whatsoever. "Your time may vary" is an understatement. It will vary and it will be noticeably longer than predicted. Also I personally would not take either of the two routes suggested by their algorithm. Their northern route, basically I-76/I-90/I-80 is heavily urbanized and sees a lot of trucking in it's eastern portion (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago). That route also consists entirely of toll roads between Philly and Chicago. The southern route (I-76/I-70/I-44/I-40/I-5) would have you driving through the desert Southwest just as things are really starting to heat up. Days in the 80s or 90s are to be expected.

Instead I would split the difference and use I-76/I-81/I-68/I-79/I-64/I-70/I-29/I-80. That would still leave you some tolls (a potion of the PA Tpk), some cities (Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Salt Lake City) and some heat in northern Nevada, but it's a good compromise and is roughly the same length as the two options Google comes up with.

But, again, the primary constraint in your plans is time. I would add a day to pick up, learn and load the RV at the start and to unload and return the vehicle at the end. I'd also, as noted, add another day off somewhere along the way, and finally a day at least for that "family adventure" aspect of the trip. So nine days total. I know it's tempting to want to do the trip in as little time as possible and as cheaply as possible, but you want it to be fun, not a slog through Hades.

Finally, once you decide what works for you, make motel, RV park and/or campsite reservations in advance. Not only will this insure that you'll find a place at the end of the day (June is a heavy vacation month) but will help keep you on schedule. Please let us know what route/timing you choose as we can then offer some attractions/adventures available to you as well as suggest some final tweaks.

AZBuck

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Thank you for these tips! Right now the plan has us going I-76 to I-70 and then taking I-70 all the way out to Utah. Looks like we take I-50 to I-80 to get to Reno and then I-80 the rest of the way to San Francisco. How does that sound? I know I-76 well, but I haven't taken I-70 or the others before.

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Originally Posted by EngineerAdam

Looks like we take I-50 to I-80 to get to Reno and then I-80 the rest of the way to San Francisco.

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There is no highway known as I-50. I think you are referring to US-50.

I-70 across Colorado and Utah is one of the most beautiful highways in the USA. Here is a field report about some of the viewpoints found along I-70 in Utah. The report is going west to east, but you can read it backwards.

I think that's a much better plan to work with, well done. The one thing I would point out is that it looks as though you are still taking your timings straight from Google map estimates. It doesn't alter your trip goals, but it's best to prepare yourself for it all to take longer than you are expecting it to. I always allow extra leeway as it feels better to be ahead of schedule rather than playing catch up all the time. As I'm not sure where in Philadelphia you are starting I will use St Louis to Salina as an example, that will likely be 7 hours with a short stop, Richfield to Reno 9.5 hours and so on. One tip would be to try and stay to the West side of major City's, so that you are heading away from the morning rush that's heading into the city.

If you have any other questions, please ask. If not I hope you have a great trip, but please drop by and let us know how it went.

Dave

I mentioned in my previous reply that mapping routines compute distances based on unrealistic assumptions that are never met in the real world. Even at that Google Maps says that Phiily to Indianapolis is 10 hours. Rather than adding time to come up with a more realistic estimate, you're planning on doing 650 miles in 9 hours. That is simply not going to happen. I would strongly suggest that you split your first two days more evenly, say Philly to Columbus OH on Day 1 (470 miles) and then on to St. Louis on Day 2 (420 miles).

AZBuck

Salina KS -- I have family there, so I've gotten to know it fairly well.

Overnights - We've had overnights in Best Western Plus (our favorite), Quality Inn, Holiday Inn Salina, and both of the Comfort Inns in town. All were fine.

Food - Our family loves to go out to eat. Hickory Hut is a favorite, but you are forewarned that the parking can be hard to find.

Also to note: St Louis to Salina is probably going to be around 7 or 8 hours. You'll have to deal with St Louis and Kansas City traffic, plus there is a lot of construction on I-70 through Missouri. If you have any kind of a toll transponder, bring it, as the Kansas Turnpike between KC and Topeka is now completely cash-less. You either need a transponder or they're going to bill through your license plate. The good thing is that they have a lot of reciprocity with other states' transponders and don't require the K-Tag.


Donna

EZ-Pass doesn't work in Kansas.

To cut down on some tolls, get off the PA Turnpike in Carlisle, take I-81 to I-70 to I-68 to I-79 back to I-70.

Thanks again, all. We understand Maps is only an estimate and adding in bathroom and food breaks will certainly add onto our times. We're about an hour west of Philadelphia, so a bit of a jump start heading that direction. Just used that as a convenient city reference :) We also will likely be getting on the road around 6:30A each day, so maybe getting a bit of a jump on traffic.

Thanks for the local tips DonnaR57! We love to go out to eat too. I'm already looking forward to Hickory hut now.

I see conflicting information about EZ-Pass in KS. It isn't listed on the KS turnpike website, so I'll assume it doesn't work there. Looks like we can setup an account with just the license plate of the rental car.

Great tip SouthwestDave! I (totally intentionally) wound up booking places that are all on the west side of the cities we will be passing through. :)

Appreciate the advice everyone and I'll come back with an update after the trip. Will be a bit, we are heading west middle of June

My family suggested that there's a new BBQ place in Salina that they like better: Wild Boar.

As for EZ-Pass not working on the KS Turnpike, that may be true. I said "many transponders", but not "all". I use Sun Pass out of Florida, and I know it works though it was very slow to be charged - almost a month after my trip to KS in October.


Donna