Boston - LA (Honeymoon)

Hi everyone,

I'm getting married next year, and am currently planning our honeymoon. It involves driving a convertible Mustang from Boston to LA in around 24 days stopping at various places. I'd appreciate any advice, and if my plans sound feasible.

The plan so far is:
Day 1: Arrive in NY, rent a car (cheap as possible) and drive to Boston area where we'll stay the night.
Day 2: Drive to Salem and see witch trials related stuff (one of the Mrs-to-be's ideas). Spend the rest of the day in Boston following the freedom trail.
Day 3: Drive to NY where I'll drop off the car back at the rental place. Do some sight-seeing.
Day 4: Full day in NY, more sight-seeing.
Day 5: Even more sight-seeing!
Day 6: Early train to DC, do some sight-seeing (I'm gona abbreviate this as SS else I'll be here all day)
Day 7: Pick up convertible Mustang (which we'll keep for the rest of the trip) and drive to Pittsburgh
On the way we'd like to stop in Bird-in-Hand and visit an Amish farm, where they do tours. After that I want to stop in Punxatawney and see Phil before heading to Pittsburgh.
Day 8: SS in Pittsburgh.
Day 9: More SS in Pittsburgh.
Day 10: A bit more SS before heading to Bristol LA, where we'll spend the night.
Day 11: The reason for stopping in Bristol: get up very early and head for Great Smoky Mountains. At the end of the day drive to Knoxville.
Day 12: A bit of SS in Knoxville before heading to Anniston, AL. Depending on timing, maybe visiting Birmingham and SS, or doing that the next day.
Day 13: Either Birmingham then head to New Orleans, or just head straight to New Orleans for SS.
Day 14: Another day SS in New Orleans.
Day 15: Head to Dallas, stopping in Gibston to see the Bonnie and Clyde Museum on the way. A bit of SS in Dallas.
Day 16: Zero-gravity them park in Dallas. Maybe more SS if time allows.
Day 17: Long drive to Albuquerque. SS if there's time, but probably just relaxing by the pool.
Day 18: Possible balloon ride in Santa Fe, more SS type stuff.
Day 19: Drive to somewhere near the Grand Canyon and sleep for the night.
Day 20: Early to Grand Canyon, spend the day there, then head towards Las Vegas, stopping for the night somewhere along the way (probably closer to the Grand Canyon than LV.
Day 21: Las Vegas!
Day 22: Drive to LA, bit of beach time.
Day 23: Early drive to Yosemite, spend the day there. Head back to LA area at night.
Day 24: Another day probably at the beach.
Day 25: Fly to NY, then from there to Glasgow.

And there you have it! I can knock a day or two off places like Pittsburgh and New York, but does this look feasible? I've planned it so there's not really any long driving two days in a row. I don't mind long drives anyway, so it won't be much of a problem.


I know there's still a long way to go with the planning, like which route to take, and what to see along the way. We like seeing odd tourist attractions, and want to stop at places like the worlds largest office chair along the way. But before all of that I just need to know if I'm being too ambitious.

Any advice welcome!

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The only spot I see a problem is with Yosemite. It is too far away from LA to do it as a daytrip, and it also would just make much more sense to do it right after Vegas - heading through Death Valley and over Tioga Pass in the process.

Have you sorted out the rental car yet? Finding a company that will let you do a one way, cross country rental in a convertible could be difficult, and if you do find it, it will be very expensive.

Is there something specific about Pittsburgh that is really drawing you there? It strikes me as at least a little odd that you are spending more time there than almost any other of your destinations, including Washington and Las Vegas. It's not a bad thing, just a bit unusual.

Your trip is pretty city-focused, and there are lots of other National Parks and natural wonders that you could explore, especially out west, but that might not be a priority for you.

Otherwise, it looks like you've got a pretty good plan started.

Thanks, yeah that does sound like a better idea. Pittsburgh is somewhere we'd maybe like to move to one day, and we'd like to see some of the sports there like a baseball or football game, but I think I've been a bit excessive so might knock a day off that. I might also knock a day off New York, and spend a bit more time in the west. I also wanted to visit Joshua Tree national park.

I do like the idea of visiting more national parks, but the problem is you have to spend a fair bit of time at them to properly appreciate them. I'll bare that in mind about going through Death Valley though, thanks.

The Rental Car should be fine; I've found a company that do it, although it is a $750 one-way charge which is expensive!

When do you plan to be making this trip?

Pittsburgh's PNC park is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, in all of baseball. Certainly worth a trip if you're there on a gameday.

National Parks do require a fair bit of time to appreciate them, but is that really much different than dedicating a full day to explore a city?

$750 for a one way fee with a specialty car on a cross country trip is actually pretty reasonable, all things considered.

Are you planning to do that 200+ mile drive after a very long flight from overseas? That caught my attention right away. The other thing that jumped out at me was Dallas to Albuquerque, a 650 mile drive. It will seem longer since it's not all on the interstate freeway.

Bristol VA to Knoxville, via Great Smoky Mountain NP, will be about 160 miles. That will be a nice leisurely, beautiful drive during the day!


Donna

Around June 2015. Yeah I'd prefer to go to PNC park, but if the timing isn't right I'll probably try and find some kind of game in another city along the way. I'll try and find more time to fit some national parks in along the way, it's just very difficult to time it all!

Do you have any advice on picking the right route? Like which roads to take, and when to ignore Google maps?

I would consider using public transportation from NYC to Boston and back, and also from Boston to Salem and back. The NYC and Boston metros and in between are not pleasurable places to drive.

Donna, US-287 between Dallas and Amarillo is near-freeway quality, you can make good time on it. 650 miles is indeed a long haul but it's not that terrible. You will want to make a very early start to get out of the DFW metro before the height of morning rush.

I would purchase a Rand McNally road atlas for planning, there is no substitute for paper maps.

Thanks, I might consider taking public transport then. It'll have to depend on the timing of when I arrive etc.

I've just come back to the planning after a while so I think I made a couple of changes to the plan that I've now forgotten. I'm sure Dallas to Albuquerque was broken down into two journeys, but if not, I think that's the only significant long journey of the trip so I don't mind taking the hit that one time. That's something I'll definitely look into though.

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Originally Posted by LeicesterLuke

... and when to ignore Google maps?

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Google - or any other mapping site - is not exactly the tool to choose routes. Google is only interested in getting there as fast as possible. Google is not interested in history, natural wonders or scenic routes. Laying out a route is what one does with paper maps, where all the options are laid out in front of you. As mentioned, purchase a Rand McNally road atlas or some really good maps. (I like to have both.) You will find that not only are the scenic routes hilighted on maps and in the atlas, but many of the natural features, historical sites and quirky attractions are marked on good maps. By all means use the computer programs to work out distance, etc.

NYC to Boston - definitely take the train. Neither city is car friendly, has good public transport and is expensive and difficult to park.

I too would recommend you rework the plan somewhat to make a little more time for the great natural wonders out west. You won't regret it.

Lifey

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

I too would recommend you rework the plan somewhat to make a little more time for the great natural wonders out west. You won't regret it.
Lifey

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Ok I'll take public transport to/from/around Boston. What kind of natural wonders would people recommend most?

That's interesting about the maps though. Around the UK maps are there to tell you how to get from a-b, and google maps is as good as anything else. But that's because there's no great distance between anything, so whether you take one road or a similar one is gona make no real difference. I'll make sure I'm careful about the route I pick. It might even change one or two of the destinations.

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Originally Posted by LeicesterLuke

What kind of natural wonders would people recommend most?

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Check out the National Parks website. Choose carefully. There are so many, you could spend months there, and not see it all. Then of course there are the State Parks, National Monuments, National Forests and State Forests... all over North America.

Lifey

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

Check out the National Parks website. Choose carefully. There are so many, you could spend months there, and not see it all. Then of course there are the State Parks, National Monuments, National Forests and State Forests... all over North America

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Ok, well the ones chosen so far are Summersville Lake in WV, Great Smoky Mountains, the swamps of Louisiana, the Grand Canyon, driving through Death Valley, Yosemite, and Joshua Tree national park. I thought that was quite a varied selection, but it sounds like I'm missing some obvious choices out.

It's all good recommending every national park in the country, but do you have any personal recommendations you'd pick over all the others? It's quite difficult on a trip with tight time constrictions to make time for national parks when I don't have a clue what to go for. With the cities I can go off what I know, and use websites like tripadvisor to check the place out. All I get with national parks is "this national park is great", but no way of determining which ones I should go for, and what makes them unique from all the other national parks.

There's a reason Lifey suggested checking out the National Parks website, so you can explore for yourself and see which ones you think are most interesting. The fact is that any place that has been selected as a National Park has earned that distinction because they are unique attractions that you won't find anywhere else.

I will say that based on your current route, I'd start by giving some consideration to the parks of the 4 corners area. For example, after Santa Fe/Albuquerque, you could go up to Great Sand Dunes and/or Mesa Verde in Colorado, and then go through Monument Valley (Tribal Park, not National Park, as it is on Indian Lands) on your way to the Grand Canyon. Or if you stick to I-40, the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest are right along the way.

Between Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, you could head up into Utah and check out Zion or Bryce Canyon.

Those are just a few of the options, that are close to the path you are already looking at, but I would urge you to follow the previous suggestion of spending a little time researching the parks yourself to see what looks interesting to you.

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All I get with national parks is "this national park is great", but no way of determining which ones I should go for, and what makes them unique from all the other national parks.

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The truth of the matter is: every national park in the US is unique and has different things to offer. Almost all of them offer some form of hiking and other outdoor recreation, but their scenic beauty is what makes them different.

Mesa Verde National Park -- the site of old Native American cliff dwellings, in a very different setting.

Grand Canyon -- the southern most canyon of the "Grand Staircase". Unless you hike it, you are on the top looking down with the Colorado River at the very bottom.

Zion - another part of the "Grand Staircase" where you are looking at beautiful red rocks and formations, but you are at the bottom looking UP.

Bryce Canyon - a helluva place to lose a cow, as one historic rancher said. Part of the "Grand Staircase", this place is spires and canyon, once again looking from the top, but totally different from the Grand Canyon.

Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks - northernmost section of the "Grand Staircase" geologically, but mostly different from the GCNP.

Joshua Tree National Park - where a huge amount of a specific plant called joshua trees grow all in one place. In southern Arizona, there is Organ Pipe National Monument -- thousands of organ pipe cacti grow there -- and Saguaro National Park --- where thousands of saguaro cacti all grow in the same area.

This summer, my husband and I are planning to check out a lot more national parks and national military/historic parks and national monuments. They're all different. Gettysburg is of course the site of the biggest battle of the Civil War, and we hope to finally get there after 2 other failed attempts. Wind Cave National Park, which is a specific type of a cave. Devil's Tower. Yellowstone (full of lakes, hot springs, hot pools and geysters), Grand Tetons (a majestic set of rugged mountains), Cuyahoga Valley in OH, and so much more. Some day I'd like to say that I've been to all of the national parks and most of the monuments -- a bucket list -- because they're all unique.


Donna

Since this holiday is still more than a year away, and now that you have some starting points, why don't you spend your time till then reading:-

*through the NP website
*other websites you may find by searching on the park names
*books from your local and school libraries (there are bound to be some books on the US and/or its NPs)
*magazine stories on the area, especially old copies of National Geographic such as found in waiting rooms and also easily obtained through your local freecycle group. (Freecycle.org)
*watching relevant TV programs or videos on the subject
*plus any other resource which comes to mind

All the time having a note book handy to take notes. No doubt the park on which you have made the most notes, and which is not too far of your route, is likely to be the one which has caught most of your interest. Or you could find that the parks end up designing your route.

It is easy to go and see what others have liked and recommend. But it will not necessarily be that which interests you and your future spouse most. There simply is nothing like doing your own research.... driving your unique dream roadtrip.

Of course you are always welcome to come here to ask specific questions as they arise.

Lifey

Ok thanks, I'll check all of the national parks on that website along the route and hopefully get some more books to help make the decision a bit easier. It's all a bit daunting trying to fit everything in, but I'm sure I'll make it work if I put the planning in.

I'm sure I'll be back with some questions along the way, so thanks for your help

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a road trip from Boston to LA for July, and one of the stops is Yosemite. I'm looking for some advice about travelling there and where to say. The original plan was to book one of the camp sites in the valley and stop at somewhere like Bishop the night before and drive there in the morning. This was before I realised how far Bishop is from the valley.

My new plan is to leave Las Vegas and spend the day driving through Death Valley NP stopping at Dantes View, Badwater Basic etc then camping somewhere near Tioga pass just outside the park. Then the next morning leaving early and seeing if I can get a camping space at one of the sites nearer Tioga pass in the NP, then the next day moving the tent to a booked space in the valley.

So my question is, are there any bookable camp sites near Tioga Pass that are close enough that I can get to the NP camp site early and get a space? Also, how quickly do the camp sites fill up? Like if I get there at 10 will all of the camping spaces be taken?

Any advice very much appreciated!

Moderator Note:

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I merged your new thread into your original planning thread. Please, keep all of your posts in the same thread -- doing so makes it easier for us to keep track of your plans.

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It looks like there are quite a few campgrounds in the Lee Vining/June Lake/Mammoth Lakes area, but it looks like most of them are first come first served. If you want to cross the pass, you could try for reservations in the Tuolumne Meadows campground in the park.

For your info - and for anyone else that's curious - Tuolumne is pronounced too-WAH-luh-me.