Moving to Raleigh from Los Angeles! (October target)

Good day!

recently married and moving Raleigh in the Fall to purchase our first home. Going to avoid that first Southern Summer. ; )

So far it's seems best to do the small Uhaul truck/chase car method.

We understand so far it's about 35 hours total, 5,200 Miles.

We want an efficient straight route, we understand the 10>15>40, straightaway across.

Time is of the essence as I need to get back online for work asap upon arrival. So no side trips, or unnecessary stoppage.


Please recommend,

Route:
"Recommended miles driven in a day, likely cities we would end up at to stay overnight" (Assuming at least 8 hours behind the wheel if not more, we will start at 8 and find our tolerance/pace to add) Newbies at this. Are we looking at 5 days? 6?

Lodging and truck safety:
What types of places to overnight with our truck contents and us in mind. Any particular Hotel chains that have cameras in the parking lots for example?

Of course Cities and anything else you can think of to avoid. And general trip recommendations for this adventure!

I'll stop here, please ask any questions you like!

Thank you!

D.

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Originally Posted by FARKARC

recently married and moving Raleigh in the Fall to purchase our first home. Going to avoid that first Southern Summer. ; )

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Congratulations on the recent marriage and the trip to Raleigh!

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We understand so far it's about 35 hours total, 5,200 Miles

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It is actually about 2600 miles one-way -- are you making a round trip of it?

I can guarantee you that you won't be able to drive a U-Haul, towing a car faster than about 53 MPH over the course of an 10 hour day. You need to plan for 50 hours of travel. The average speed of 53 mph assumes that you will be driving at or excess of the posted speed limit when possible. But the best, possible average speed you could do (due to traffic, construction, food, rest breaks, etc.) is 53 mph on average.

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We want an efficient straight route, we understand the 10>15>40, straightaway across.

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You are correct, that fastest route is I-10 to I-15 to I-40 to I-81 and then back to I-40 (there is still road damage on I-40 for the interval.)

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"Recommended miles driven in a day, likely cities we would end up at to stay overnight" (Assuming at least 8 hours behind the wheel if not more, we will start at 8 and find our tolerance/pace to add) Newbies at this. Are we looking at 5 days? 6?

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Five days minimum. (Although four days is possible, just not wise)

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Lodging and truck safety:
What types of places to overnight with our truck contents and us in mind. Any particular Hotel chains that have cameras in the parking lots for example?

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Just about every chain has cameras in the parking lots. Personally, I prefer Holiday Inn Express and always tell the front desk that you have a U-haul, they will also keep an eye out.

You can stop in Travel Centers (truck stops) but it is always better to get a good night's sleep when you can.

Tips: Stop every 4-5 hours and do some exercises to keep your brain and body fresh.

Here are some more Speed Run Tips from long experience.

AZBuck has created a list of places to stop along Interstate Highways. Check it out here.

Other members will jump in with some suggestions.

mark

Thank you Mark! (And thanks for the help Posting)

One way trip. New Chapter :)

By chase car I meant me in the Uhaul and a my spouse driving her car.

Already took notes from the "Speed Run"article ; )

I will check out the link! thanks for the tips.

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Originally Posted by FARKARC

By chase car I meant me in the Uhaul and a my spouse driving her car.

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Nope, that made total sense. I was referring to the fact that you listed the mileage for this adventure to be 5200 miles -- when it is actually 2600 and so I wondered if you were going both directions for some reason.

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Already took notes from the "Speed Run"article ; )

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I have driven cross country more than a dozen times (LA to NYC or Wash DC ) and some members on this board have done it many more times.

This page is a good primer for finding links that will be helpful to your trip.

And just for fun, you might want to share this quiz with your bride to be aware of any travel frictions that might arise. Although, granted this trip will be mostly about getting there as fast and as safely as possible.

The Chicken Dance is my go-to for stretching out after long days in the saddle.

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You are correct, that fastest route is I-10 to I-15 to I-40 to I-81 and then back to I-40 (there is still road damage on I-40 for the interval.)

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I-40 opened in NC with 1 lane each direction with a 35 mph speed limit on March 1. No need to use the I-81 detour.

Bypass suggestions:

OKC: I-344/I-240
Memphis: I-55/I-240
Nashville: I-440
Knoxville: I-640

Try to make your night stops on the east side of cities to avoid morning rush hour on the way out.

Where you can plan on staying overnight depends heavily on how many days you ultimately set aside for this drive. If you decide to make it a 'speed run' in 5 days, then your stops would be roughly Gordonsville TN, Fort Smith AR, Amarillo TX and Flagstaff AZ. If you decide to take a somewhat more leisurely (but still workman-like) pace and take 6 days, then overnights would be Kingston TN, Fort Smith AR, Oklahoma City, Santa Rosa NM and Gallup NM. Each of the towns I've listed has at least one of the mid-range national motel chains such as La Quinta, Holiday Inn., Comfort Inn, Best Western, Embassy Suites, Wyndham, etc, etc, etc.

One minor correction to GLC's suggestion: Since you'll be headed west, you'll want to stay on the west side of any larger town/city you end up staying in.

AZBuck

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One minor correction to GLC's suggestion: Since you'll be headed west, you'll want to stay on the west side of any larger town/city you end up staying in.

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No sir - title says TO Raleigh FROM LA.

Yep, George is correct. They are heading east-bound under a full head of steam.

So staying on the eastern side of town makes the most sense.

One thing I would suggest is to take an extra hour or two in the morning before hitting the road so as not to be driving into the rising sun. Swim an extra couple of laps and hit the road at 9:30 am instead of 7:30 am or so.

Mark

When we head east (which means a "loss" of an hour three times on your trip, over several days), we often get an early start, then stop for a more substantial breakfast than one gets at the motel continental breakfast. Cracker Barrel, IHOP, Iron Skillet are all tastier (in our opinion) than motel breakfasts. Then we pull in by 4.

My husband and I are ex-Californians, and did a number of cross-country "runs" over the years. We usually took 6 days, and we were not towing anything or in dual cars.

When we moved out of California, almost 4 years ago, we took 4 days. Here's our road trip journal for that trip, CA to MO, in one truck towing a car 4-up on a trailer, and one little "chase car" (as you call it). Donna's moving trip


Donna

Donna,

Great idea to repost your moving report since the OP from this thread is going through a similar transition.

Here is part of Donna's post from that trip (I hope FARKARC takes time to read the whole thread!)

DonnaR57:

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I'm just hoping, that through this thread, it will help just one other person try to plan a moving trip. If it keeps them from sightseeing, encourages them to drive in tandem like we did, or just keeps their mileage down when towing or using a U-Haul, then, GREAT!

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And a follow-up to my previous comment about when to leave when heading east-bound. My normal inclination for years was to hit the road about 6 am and have breakfast about 9 am after driving a few hours.

But, in recent years, I have found that I really need to excercise for a full hour before driving, and so for me that means starting on the in-hotel fitness room at 7 am. Breakfast at a hotel is usually just a bagel or something light -- I prefer to eat a full salad at about 10 am as my breakfast.

And, these days, I really, really don't enjoy driving into the rising sun.

Incidentally, Megan and I are embarking on a 6,000 mile road trip in July to see family. Virtually all of it will be east-bound, so we'll see how diligently I stick to my plan to exercise in the morning hours before hitting the road.

Mark

Thank you everyone who has answered! GREATLY appreciated!

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

Where you can plan on staying overnight depends heavily on how many days you ultimately set aside for this drive. If you decide to make it a 'speed run' in 5 days, then your stops would be roughly Gordonsville TN, Fort Smith AR, Amarillo TX and Flagstaff AZ. If you decide to take a somewhat more leisurely (but still workman-like) pace and take 6 days, then overnights would be Kingston TN, Fort Smith AR, Oklahoma City, Santa Rosa NM and Gallup NM. Each of the towns I've listed has at least one of the mid-range national motel chains such as La Quinta, Holiday Inn., Comfort Inn, Best Western, Embassy Suites, Wyndham, etc, etc, etc.

One minor correction to GLC's suggestion: Since you'll be headed west, you'll want to stay on the west side of any larger town/city you end up staying in.

AZBuck

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So since we are headed Eastbound, will these same cities apply?

thank you!

Yes, the same cities should work. All I did was take your total miles and divide by the number of days to get a rough miles/per day for each case. I then found a medium-sized city at those distances so that each day was approximately that many miles from the last stop, so the same stops should work either way.

AZBuck

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Originally Posted by FARKARC

So since we are headed Eastbound, will these same cities apply?

thank you!

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Not really. Gallup is way too far to go first day.

5 days: Winslow AZ, Tucumcari NM, Ft Smith AR, Nashville TN

6 days: Flagstaff AZ, Santa Rosa NM, OKC, Memphis TN, Knoxville TN

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Originally Posted by glc

Not really. Gallup is way too far to go first day.

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I agree that 651 miles is a bit long for the first day. And I agree with your choices.

For the trip I am doing in July, our first night's stop is Gallup, but we are four hours further east than LA.

Mark

Thanks, George and Mark. I'm not sure how I got Gallup in the original post. Flagstaff would be more appropriate. There are not a whole lot of options for that area, so Flagstaff would be a good no matter whether the poster takes 5 or 6 days.

AZBuck

Such things happen to all of us--sooner or later. On this trip upcoming, I have a couple 500+ mile days, and I ALWAYS prefer to drive no more than 350 miles per day. But the reality is on a 6,000 mile road trip, one has to push the envelope some days to make that happen within the time constraints.

mark

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Originally Posted by glc

Not really. Gallup is way too far to go first day.

5 days: Winslow AZ, Tucumcari NM, Ft Smith AR, Nashville TN

6 days: Flagstaff AZ, Santa Rosa NM, OKC, Memphis TN, Knoxville TN

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We did San Diego --> Gallup one trip, BUT we were not driving two vehicles, nor were we towing anything. Plus we are very experienced road trippers and were trying to make Denver area on the second night. On our move trip, we chose Flagstaff as our first overnight for one reason: many choices for lodging that included a place to park our truck-trailer combination. Same with Flagstaff--> Tucumcari, we found a place in Tucumcari that had plenty of "truck parking", not so much in Santa Rosa.

We are now to the point where 400-500 mile days are in our comfort zone. We used to push to 600, but as we get older, it's not fun. I laugh and call it "FBS" (flat bottom syndrome) even when we get out every 90-120 minutes to stretch.


Donna