NYC to LA via Chicago, Vegas & SF

Hello All and a Happy New Year.

I dug up this old thread rather than starting a new one, since we have now booked our flights and the rental car. The trip is 30/04 - 20/05, the flights are London-NYC & SF-London, so that is 21 days (arrive back in the UK on day 22), and the car is a small class SUV (went with SUV rather than standard-class car since gas seems to be cheaper now so the MPG figures are less important and because it offers a slightly higher driving position, hopefully enabling us to 'see better' - I drive a tall truck at home and like it.)

The aims for this trip are to see a mixture of cities, smaller towns, some scenic roads and (briefly) some of the National Parks (the parks are not the main focus for this trip, but I'm already planning a family trip around the Southwestern parks in the future...)

I have a few general and specific questions about the below proposed itenary (as our plans currently stand), if anyone would be kind enough to offer some assistance.

DAY 1 & 2: NYC

DAY 3: Pick up car early, drive from Newark Airport to Winchester, VA. (300mi) What is the easiest and least-congested Interstate-route between Newark and Winchester?

DAY 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: This is the troublesome part. We have 5 days to get from Winchester to Denver (or Boulder, CO), using US-50 to St. Louis, and then use I-29 to head north from Kansas City through St. Joseph to Nebraska City and then use NE-2/US-30 to follow the old Oregon Trail along the Platte River (as AZBuck suggested). I'm not sure how to divide the drives, so that we could stay in nice and safe smaller towns and maybe Cincinnati or Louisville, KY (but not St. Louis)? Athens, OH and Lincoln, NE seem nice, but I'm struggling to decide how to approach this section. Can anyone help, please?

DAY 9: in Boulder and/or Denver

DAY 10: Denver to Moab, UT, I-70 via US-6 at Loveland Pass and UT-128 into Moab (360mi) - also hoping to drive to Dead Horse SP and back to see the sunset this evening - not sure if there will be time, though.

DAY 11: See Arches NP briefly early morning (between 5am - 8am) for the sunrise. Drive Moab to Monument Valley via Moki Dugway (150ish mi) - accommodation here is a problem, though: The View and Gouldings Lodge are fully booked.

DAY 12: MV to GC NP via AZ-64 (200mi). Stay for the sunset, then drive into Tusayan (preferred) or Flagstaff for the night.

DAY 13: Flagstaff to Vegas via old Route 66 (300mi).

DAY 14: Vegas

DAY 15: Vegas - Death Valley NP - Bakersfield (450mi). Is this too long? Considering staying the night within the Park, if accommodation can be found.

DAY 16: Bakersfield to Carmel, CA (250mi). Also, if we don't stay in Death Valley, is there a better (smaller) town than Bakersfield to stop around here?

DAY 17: Carmel to SF Airport via PCH (150mi) - return car. Go to SF City.

DAY 18: SF

DAY 19: SF, flight back in the evening.

So, this currently leaves us with 2 days to add, because it's a 21-day trip. Possibly 1 day in Cheyenne and 1 in LA, but not sure about this.

Also, if we can't find accommodation around Monument Valley, is it possible to do DAY 11 and 12 in one long day? If so, we would then have 3 extra days to add.

Also, generally speaking, is it advisable to wash the rental car before returning it? I've rented cars in Europe and never washed them, but maybe in the US the culture is different? And as for gas and food stops, what are the common places to stop at? Gas stations and food stops separately, or do you have in the US the massive Service Stations that we have in the UK that combine everything (they serve a purpose, but are rather soulless, in my opinion)?

Any thoughts and corrections/improvements would be most welcome. Sorry about the long post and thank you very much for your time!

Subman

Welcome Back to the RTA Forum, and thanks for keeping your question with your original thread.

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Also, if we can't find accommodation around Monument Valley, is it possible to do DAY 11 and 12 in one long day? If so, we would then have 3 extra days to add.

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It's might be possible, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it. In fact, my initial thought is that those two days are already rushed, and that's an area where you'd be wise to use one of your extra days.

Arches is a park that's tough to see in 3 hours, as you'll spend about an hour each way just driving back into the park. Even a quick trip here pretty much requires a half day. You might also consider Canyonlands/Island in the Sky, especially at sunrise, where Mesa Arch might be one of the world's best places to see the sun come up. Between Moab and Moki Dugway is Natural Bridges Nat. Monument, which is another one of my favorite spots in the area - and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. If you can't find lodging at MV itself, also look around at some of the nearby towns like Kayenta AZ or Mexican Hat or Bluff UT.

Similarly, the Grand Canyon is a big place that really deserves a full day if you can make it work. What I might do if I were you, spend another night in Moab, spend day two driving through Nat. Bridges, Moki, MV and then spend the night closer to GC, maybe at the Cameron Trading Post, and spend day 3 at GC.

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DAY 16: Bakersfield to Carmel, CA (250mi). Also, if we don't stay in Death Valley, is there a better (smaller) town than Bakersfield to stop around here?

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Lake Isabella is a place you might look at, a nice little resort town with quite a few place to stay. Actually, since it will be the end of May by this point of your trip, I'd be looking at heading towards Tioga Pass and going through Yosemite - if the pass is open. That's another place that would be more than worthy of one of your extra days.

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Also, generally speaking, is it advisable to wash the rental car before returning it? I've rented cars in Europe and never washed them, but maybe in the US the culture is different? And as for gas and food stops, what are the common places to stop at? Gas stations and food stops separately, or do you have in the US the massive Service Stations that we have in the UK that combine everything (they serve a purpose, but are rather soulless, in my opinion)?

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I wouldn't wash the car, unless you get it really dirty, then it might be a good idea to make sure you don't get hit with a cleaning fee of some sort.

As far as gas and food, I'm pretty sure the one-stop shop is an American creation that's been exported to the UK. You'll have big truck stops with gas, several fast food chains, and a sit down restaurant or two, but even many small town gas stations will have some kind of fast food chain in the same building. Of those that don't, most will still have some food options like sandwiches and hot dogs, etc. Every once and a while, you'll find a real gem of a restaurant inside a gas station (oddly, some of the best sushi I've ever had, was from a restaurant located inside a gas station in Bakersfield!) but most of the time, I'd go elsewhere if you're looking for something other than quick fast food.

Michael, thank you for your thoughtful, helpful and detailed response.

Adding a day in Moab has been a consideration, and it is probably a very good idea, we will look at this. That said, do you think DAY 10 is possible, to begin with, with the drive and the Dead Horse SP at sunset?

If all the other drives are reasonable, we could easily add the 2 extra days in this section, but it's tricky with the limited accommodation options around these parts and the wish to see some of these places at sunset.

Day 10 shouldn't be a problem at all. Even factoring the detour to Loveland Pass, Denver to Moab can be done in 7 hours or so, and you should have plenty of time to make it up to Dead Horse. In fact, you might even have time to take a quick look around Canyonlands this day, depending upon how much time you take on the drive across Colorado (there are plenty of places you could stop there too).

Day 3: Take I-78 to I-81 to get from EWR to Winchester.

Day 11: Closest lodging to MV if Gouldings and the View are booked would be in Mexican Hat and Kayenta.

At the GC, if you don't stay in Tusayan, I'd go to Williams instead of Flagstaff.

If Tioga Pass is open, coming out of DV you can stay in Lone Pine or Bishop.

Thank you Michael - I'm very happy that DAY 10 should be ok, as I was unsure about this.

GLC - thank you for the info. DAY 11 (Mexican Hat or Kayenta) and, later, Grand Canyon (Williams): do you think these would need to be pre-booked as well (from the UK, before leaving)? We would like to book as little as possible (apart from NYC, SF and Las Vegas), to give us flexibility in case our plans change slightly during this trip, but it seems like around these popular spots there is very limited availability (Tusayan, for example).

Would it work not to book anything in advance, but doing so while on the road a couple of days before arriving at a destination, since we'll have wifi in most places and our phones of course?

Also, we won't be doing Tiago Pass or Yosemite on this trip, as I wouldn't want to rush through them. I'll save that for the next trip with the family!

And sorry to be a pain, but I was wondering if you have any advise on DAYS 4 to 8, as to the places to stop (nice/interesting/smallish towns) with fairly even driving days? If not, no worries: we will just need to figure it out ourselves...

Thanks again.

It wouldn't hurt to book day 11 ahead of time - there are only 3 lodgings in Mexican Hat and 4 in Kayenta. If you want to stay in Tusayan (and are prepared to pay the price) I'd book there too. Williams shouldn't be necessary, and if they happen to be full, I can almost guarantee that Flagstaff won't be.

If you want to take a chance, there's a little motel in Tusayan called the 7 Mile Lodge that is inexpensive for the area - they do not take reservations and they usually don't answer the phone. It's walk in first come first serve.

GLC - thank you for the advise - I am looking at bookings in this area, we may want to go to Page, AZ as well, so have booked there already in case (can be cancelled, if need be) and in Moab (likewise). We might try 7 Mile Lodge - if that doesn't work out, then Williams.

We also managed to book Furnace Creek Ranch in DV NP - hopefully will get some clear skies that night!

I have one further question about the TOLLS, if anyone can help please. We don't mind paying them, but were wondering if, on our route - I-78 and I-81, around Cincinnati, St. Louis and Kansas City, Lincoln, NE, Denver, LA (driving from DV to Hollywood area) and around SF Airport - there are manned toll booths/credit card machines at all places?

We would prefer this to some kind of pre-paid arrangements I've heard about, and definitely to automated payments charged to the vehicle after passing through, as I've read that this can create big problems/charges with the car hire company.

The route keeps changing slightly almost every day, but the planning is fun!

Thank you, as always, for your help.

Subman

The only unmanned tolls anywhere on your route are the the C-470 bypass around Denver and the Golden Gate Bridge. You may find unmanned toll express lanes on some of the LA freeways, just don't use them. Everywhere else, carry cash, don't count on being able to use a credit card. There is a toll bridge on I-78 at the NJ/PA border and a stretch of I-70 from KC to Topeka is toll. Most of the other bridges in the SF area are toll.