Allentown PA to Los Angeles CA - Nov 1st week

I am moving from Allentown PA to Los Angeles CA (relocation). I have the option to drive my car cross-country or to fly and ship my car. I prefer to drive my car cross-country with my wife. I am starting my trip during 1st week of November.

1) If I give myself a total of 5.5 to 6 days driving (and 5 nights stay), is that enough? I think I will drive about 500 miles a day (except 250 miles on Day 6).

2) I am planning to take the southern route (Ohio, Missouri, OKC, Albuquerque NM, Arizona, Los Angeles) instead of the northern route (Illinois, Colorado, Utah) because I am concerned about any snowfall in the North. Will the southern route have any snow fall in the 1st week of November (forecasts for that route has around 45F as minimum, so it should be ok I guess, please advise).

3) Planning to drive about 3.5 to 4 hours each (8 hours max a day), me and my wife to cover 500 miles each day of the trip. Is this doable, meaning we wont be exhausted as hell at the end of the road-trip? I understand some fatigue, but i hope it's manageable. We are in early 40s.

4) Should we plan for any historical or not-to-miss place to stop by and take a few pictures along the way, given this schedule?

This trip is purely for a cross-country move, not for sight seeing. But, i am trying to find out if it's doable practically with minimum fatigue and fit 2 or 3 places for sight seeing along the way.

Thank you all for your time.

Hello and welcome to RTA !

Your timing is just about perfect for this trip, keeping it fairly relaxed and having time from the car for a little stroll and to be able to eat and rest without feeling to rushed. You will most likely spend a little longer on the road with stops, perhaps closer to 9 hours but perfectly doable with regular breaks. Nobody can give an accurate forecast this far in advance so I would look at the route you would prefer to take and use the other as a plan 'B'. I say "the other" as going south and expecting the weather to be OK is a common misconception, it's quite possible the south will have storms and the north will be clear. You will have a little time 'here' and 'there' so take a look at your route options and see what stands out, you shouldn't plan on doing more than 550 miles in a single day, but a couple of those and then you could have a shorter day to enjoy a place of interest.

Welcome to RTA!

I've driven the routes you're planning to use - mostly I-70, I-44, and I-40 till you get to I-15? SWDave is correct to say that you'll want to check weather before you leave. I'd add, have paper maps/atlas in the car in case you have to revert to Plan B or even Plan C. Always have an extra day in case you're held up someplace.

Your maps will indicate places of interest along the way, but some that stand out to me might be the OKC Memorial (which might take an hour or so), Petroglyph NM near ABQ, Petrified Forest NP (the drive through may take about 2-3 hours, though), and Winslow AZ has the "standin' on the corner in Winslow AZ..." place from the song fame. I'd suggest Grand Canyon, but once you're settled in LA, it's about an 8-10 hour drive to GCNP - nice for a long weekend.

An early welcome to California to you --

Donna

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Your overall plan is quite feasible, and you've already taken the best first steps you could have by plotting an efficient route, scheduling sufficient time for it, and spreading the workload properly. As we often remind folks, such long RoadTrips need to be treated a bit as a marathon: with a constant steady space that leaves time each day for short breaks every few hours as well as a solid eight hours sleep each night. The one thing I would caution you on is your assumption that 7.5-8 hours of driving will let you cover 500 or so miles. If you understand that eight hours behind the wheel will be needed, and that the total time 'driving' including stops for food, fuel, and bathroom and photo-op breaks (let alone traffic/construction/weather delays) will be closer to ten to twelve, then that's fine. Just don't expect to leave your motel room at 9:00 and be 500 miles down the road by 5:00.

As far as "not-to-miss" places to see, those will depend on your own interests and expectations, but some of the major historic and scenic attractions that you'll pass within reasonable visiting distance of include some Wright Brothers sites in Dayton OH, Lewis and Clark's launch point in Illinois, the Oklahoma City Memorial, Petroglyph National Monument outside Albuquerque, the Petrified Forest, and Mojave National Preserve. You could even afford, if you keep up the pace you envision and find yourself with several hours (at least) to spare when you get to northern Arizona, a drive though Grand Canyon National Park.

Unfortunately, weather forecasts more than a few days out are unreliable at best, so you won't really know what you'll run into on the western portions of your trip, even at the time you leave Allentown. But you've already taken out the best insurance policy available to you. You've built a day or so leeway into your itinerary so that you can just get off the road and sit out any weather that you are uncomfortable driving in. It, too, will pass.

AZBuck

Thanks SWDave, Donna and AZBuck for the quick replies.

I am planning to book the hotels in advance and my stops are Columbus OH, Saint Louis MO, Oklahoma City OK, Albuquerque NM and possibly around Needles CA. Hoping that I don't get stranded somewhere in between (because priceline reservations cannot be canceled and i don't wanna lose a lot of money :-).

I will keep checking the forecast as the days get closer to my trip. But, once I am on the road, how do I check the weather for that day along my route? Like, I can use weather app and radio. But should I be concerned about tornado breakouts in parts of OKC, Northern TX (Amarillo) area or any storms or something near Albuquerque or Flagstaff AZ (on I40)?

I understand there could be specific weather threat on a given day, but Nov 1st week (looking at the forecast now) is in general a OK period to do cross-country? (better than doing it in late Nov or through winter?). Thanks

During the first week of November, there is probably NO reason to get your reservations in advance, especially not the variety that can't be canceled. You're probably better off relying on the coupon-books (found in rest areas, state welcome centers and some truck stops/travel centers) for good deals, as well as getting in early each day (before dinner).

Another word of advice on any of those cities: try to drive through them early enough in the day so as not to get stuck in evening rush hour traffic. Then stay on the WEST side to avoid the morning rush hour. If this were me, I'd plan to stay in Warrenton MO (west of St Louis), El Reno, OK (we've actually stayed there), and at the Coors Rd. exit for ABQ. For Needles, no worries about rush hour there, but you'll want to tread carefully about your departure hour in order not to arrive in LA during Rush! My husband actually stayed in Kingman when he did part of that same trip in mid October, 5 years ago.

If you have a smart phone, most of the carriers have a tornado alert system. It scared the dickens out of my husband and I while traveling through western Indiana, a few years back.

Between Amarillo and Flagstaff, the highway is between 5000 and 7000 ft elevation, so yes, you could see some weather conditions. It can be as easy as winds, or snow, but keeping abreast of the weather conditions and having an extra day to sit out if need be will help. This is another reason why you might not want to pre-pay for overnights.

On that, btw, my husband and I pre-paid one night on our summer trip this year and really, really regretted it. In the future, we plan to pull over, get out the phone, look up some likely places when we're 100 miles out, get the online rate, and then CALL the place and see what they can offer when we get there. Or use coupons (generally available for places along the interstates, rather than small towns along state highways).


Donna

Wow Donna, thanks for the specifics on where to stay.

To be honest, i am still leaning towards booking the Hotels ahead. I know i am like that, sorry :-). But, i will think a bit before I decide whether to book along the way or book now (may be use expedia instead of priceline to keep it flexible for cancellation).

That Amarillo to Flagstaff warning is good - i will be double careful in checking the weather on that day.

You will not see tornadoes anywhere in November, that would be extremely rare.

I also would not book hotels in advance - that way you don't have to feel you have to drive a specified distance. You need to keep flexible due to weather and possible route adjustments. Don't worry, you won't be shut out of anywhere, I VERY seldom book in advance and have never been totally shut out of hotels in any town along the Interstate. Any town of any size will have multiple choices right by the exits.

If you're worried about the price, then you might use an app or similar to book online when you're a couple of hours out from stopping. We've done that a couple of times.

That said, on this past trip, my husband and I pre-booked a lot of places online before we left. Most of the places had a pretty liberal cancellation policy with their online pricing: we could cancel up to 4 pm of the date of arrival. One exception was the booking we made through TripAdvisor -- good experience booking, but the motel was terrible. Another exception was a motel right next to Glacier National Park, which wanted a cancellation 7 days in advance. We found that the online pricing was very close to coupon rates for the area.


Donna

Thanks Donna and glc.

glc - When you say that i may have to make adjustments due to weather - could you please explain a bit more what kind of weather challenges am I looking at travelling the 1st week of November. Snow storm is almost out of question except may be in and around flagstaff or upper elevations between Amarillo and Flagstaff (like Donna said)? Tornadoes are almost out of question as well. Rain should be manageable I guess.

I am trying to figure out what weather related delays may happen.

Ok, if there is snow around the Flagstaff area, then can I go from Albuquerque to Phoenix and then I-10 to Pasadena? I mean, looking at the stretch that I will travel (Columbus -> St. Louis -> OKC -> Albuquerque -> Needles -> Pasadena), there is a potential for snow between Albuquerque and Needles.

So, via Phoenix to Pasadena may be my alternative?

Also, may be I can book the Hotels (if I have to feel better by planning ahead), may be I can book it in the first 4 cities of my trip and leave the Needles/Phoenix option open because it could change due to weather? Thanks

I would not book ANY hotels. You really do need to maintain flexibility.

If there's bad snow in Flagstaff, take I-25 south from ABQ to Hatch, then NM-26 to Deming to pick up I-10.

As I said, why not book the hotels without a pre-payment? That way, if something delays you, you aren't forced into pushing on.

Flexibility -- traffic can delay you, one accident set us back FOUR HOURS one time. Another one caused us to jump off the freeway ahead of time and find an alternative route. Weather can delay you -- rain can cause a washout, which makes you take a congested detour -- snow can come down and close the freeway -- winds can slow you down a lot, particularly if they are headwinds. A mechanical difficulty can delay you just getting the repair done. That's why prepaid is a bad idea in this kind of travel. Reservations are fine, just get the kind that you can cancel before 4 pm on the date of arrival and not have to pay.


Donna

Ok, i see how the delays can happen. I am NOT going to book the Hotels. Will do it along the way. Thanks

Hello Lifemagician, i am making a trip from Allentown the the Los Angeles area (I have another thread open and got very good information from Donna, glc and SWDave).

The route I am planning (weather cooperating) is Columbus OH, St. Louis MO, OKC, Albuquerque, Needles.

Please tell me if I will hit a lot of tolls (or) is there a route in line with the cities above where I can avoid tolls and traffic. Thank you.

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about your trip in the same thread.

There are only 2 tolls on your planned route. The first would be any section of the PA Turnpike you may use, which you could potentially avoid by using I-80 into Ohio and then cut south to Columbus, but that's probably more miles than worth it for the relatively small section of the Turnpike. The other is the length of I-44 in Oklahoma. That toll is probably not worth trying to avoid - and keep in mind, those tolls will be a small fraction of your costs for the entire trip.

Thanks Midwest Michael. Does the I-44 toll accept EZPass?

No! It is cash only.

2 x $4.

Lifey

Actually, Oklahoma does have a transponder system, but it is not compatible with ez pass, so you will need to pay cash.

Ez pass only works as far west as Illinois.

$4 cash between MO and Tulsa, $4 cash between Tulsa and OKC, booths are manned and have change. If you want to bypass OKC on the Kilpatrick Turnpike, it's $1.15 cash TWICE, exact change required here, no pennies, recommended in rush hour. No point in bypassing Tulsa, just take I-44 straight through the city, the toll bypasses add a lot of miles. Your EZ-Pass toll on the PA Turnpike and New Stanton is $13.44. You can avoid that by taking I-81 to I-70 to I-68 to I-79 back to I-70. This adds about 50 miles and close to an hour, is it worth it?

I actually have about $30 in my EZ Pass account. If I make a trip to NYC before I start, I will burn half of it. Then the rest of the account balance I can use it for the straight route on PA Turnpike :-)

Unless you're planning to make a few trips "back east", you *should* use your transponder and then stash it away someplace. Don't throw away your old transponder, though. You may be able to use it if you go back to visit.

Out here, in LA and San Diego, FasTrak is the system used, and I don't believe it is compatible with EZ-Pass. In LA, you can avoid the tolls easily by choosing another route. In San Diego, FasTrak puts you on the commuter lanes -- vehicles with 2 or more people can use the commuter lane free, but with FasTrak, it can be used by a solo driver. I understand that there are a few places in LA where the same is true. But most of the commuter lanes that I've been on, in LA, have been the left-most lane of the freeway, or two lanes in places.


Donna

Doesn't your EZ-Pass automatically replenish when the balance drops below $10?

I haven't lived in IL for 9 years now, and I still have my I-Pass. I do use it on road trips up north and back east, it works wherever EZ-Pass works.

EZ-Pass does not work anywhere where you are going - yet. Here is where it works:


Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority (New York/Ontario)
Burlington County Bridge Commission (New Jersey/Pennsylvania)
Delaware Department of Transportation
Delaware River and Bay Authority (Delaware/New Jersey)
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (New Jersey/Pennsylvania)
Delaware River Port Authority (New Jersey/Pennsylvania)
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
Indiana Toll Road Concession Company
Maine Turnpike Authority
Kentucky Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority (Kentucky/Indiana)
Maryland Transportation Authority
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels (New York)
New Hampshire Department of Transportation
New Jersey Turnpike Authority
New York State Bridge Authority
New York State Thruway Authority
Niagara Falls Bridge Commission
North Carolina Turnpike Authority
Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (New Jersey/New York)
Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority
Skyway Concessions Company (Illinois)
South Jersey Transportation Authority (New Jersey)
Virginia Department of Transportation
West Virginia Parkways Authority

Thanks Donna and glc. Yes, i have a threshold at $10 to replenish. I will most likely have some extra money left. I will either mail them back to EZPass authority or keep the transponders.

I am few days away from starting my trip. Weather looks ok now looking at the forecast, hopefully nothing changes drastically.I am still planning to take the south route.

Thanks All. We are already on the way now to St. Louis (from Columbus OH). The BEST advice I got was not to book the Hotel in advance. It helps me keep my schedule at my own pace and also the rates are not that different compared to 1 week before and now.