one way road trip - car shipping from LA?

[3rugger]

My wife and I have a little under three weeks in august to try and take a cross country road trip. I have an ambitious idea in my head that it would be possible to start from the Dulles VA, head up to the beginning if 66, drive to the west coast, cut up the coast in CA, then head back on 50 all the way. I realize this is probably a little too much for two people to handle in 2.5 weeks and actually have time to stop and see much of anything but think it might be possible.

If this is too ambitious, can anyone recomend a better route for a round trip coast to coast trip that lasts around 2.5 weeks?

[Mark Sedenquist]

My wife and I have a little under three weeks in august to try and take a cross country road trip. I have an ambitious idea in my head that it would be possible to start from the Dulles VA, head up to the beginning if 66, drive to the west coast, cut up the coast in CA, then head back on 50 all the way. I realize this is probably a little too much for two people to handle in 2.5 weeks and actually have time to stop and see much of anything but think it might be possible.

Welcome to the Forum! Well, if you really liked to drive and put the pedal to the metal you could probably complete such a journey in eleven days. For me, that route would entail a little too much two-lane driving for that many days.

If this is too ambitious, can anyone recomend a better route for a round trip coast to coast trip that lasts around 2.5 weeks?

My suggestion would be to use the Interstate highways as much as possible and spend a little time each day exploring the local roads for whever you are.

I would start off by driving a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway and then shift over to I-40 and check out Nashville, Memphis and Littlerock (use the search function on this page for stops recommended by our membership). And then I continue west on I-40 and jump on and off while covering parts of US-66 that you will be parallelling. There are lots of detours that you can take in New Mexico and Arizona and still return to the Interstate.

The trip north on US-1 is pretty wonderful along the Big Sur coastline and you can certainly take US-50 back to Dodge City and Wichita but then I would diagonal north on the turnpike and go visit Kansas City and St. Louis, whereupon your can rejoin US-50 all the way home. 2.5 weeks would be pushing it, but it could be done.

Mark

[3rugger]

My wife and I will be taking a three week road trip in August. We want to go cross country but don't want to feel like we are too rushed to "stop and smell the roses". Originally we were thinking of driving from Northern VA to LA, then up the coast of CA to SanFran, then heading back.

Now we are thinking it might be worth it to do a more Northern route heading to Denver, then to the National Parks in Southern Utah, then up to SanFran, then down to LA. Once there were would hope to drop the car off to be shipped then fly back.

Can anyone recommend a company we could use to ship the car from LA? Or is shipping the car more trouble than its worth?

If we don't ship the car, is going round trip biting off too much for three weeks?

Thanks for any tips.

[Midwest Michael]

I think shipping would be a much bigger hassle than it would be worth here. First, shipping a car is very expensive. I would expect the cost of shipping a car cross country to run close to a thousand dollars. Second, You'd have to worry about getting your car on a truck at the end of your trip and then getting yourself to an airport, hoping everything goes smoothly. I personally wouldn't want to have that over my head during a trip, much less wondering when my car was going to get back afterward.

If you want to do a one way trip, I think Renting a car would be a much better option. It will still be expensive, but I think it would be far easier to manage.

[3rugger]

OK we have our rental car and flight booked! The plan so far is to go from NoVA to Denver as quick as possible then spend the rest of the next 3 weeks hitting national parks including: Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, Arches, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Yosemite. From Yosemite we plan on heading to San Francisco and then down Route 1 to LA. We fly from there back to Dulles in VA.

We are very excited and counting the days to departure! Now I just need to buy a new camera to try and capture all the scenery!!

Does anyone have any suggestions for things to see between here and Denver?

[RoadTripper 101]

Hi,
I have made the drive quite a few times usually in the same fashion. Along Interstate 70 you can stop in St. Louis to visit the Arch. It is easy off/on the highway. You can ride to the top and visit the western/Native American museum in the base. You are also within a short walk to the Mississippi and there is a picnic area.

In central Kansas, Hays was a stop we made along the way. There is Historic Fort Hays which is across the street from a Buffalo herd and county park. The Fick Museum, in Oakley, is another place you can stop and stretch. It's not very big but nice.

I have found Manitou Springs, just west of Colorado Springs, a nice stop. You can take a small detour and visit Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods. You can get off of Interestate 70 near Oakley and drive Rt 40. You can visit Fort Wallace on the way if you decide to take the detour. Rt 94 will bring to to Colorado Springs and then take Interstate 25 to Denver.

In Golden, you can visit the Coors brewery and get a free tour of the town and free samples!

You didn't mention Rocky Mountain NP. It is just northwest of Denver and one of my favorite NP. The views are awesome and Estes Park, CO a great mountain town.

These are just a few of the points of interest along the way that you may choose from.

A National Park pass is a must if you will be visiting so many National Parks. It costs just $50.00 and is good for all National Parks/Monuments.

Hope you have a great trip.

Diana

[AZBuck]

I'm glad to see that you recognize that just because you want to get to Denver as quickly as possible, doesn't mean that you want to skip everything the East has to offer. So here are a few somewhat more scenic routes and quick stops that won't slow you up too much. As Michael suggested previously, you really should drive a bit along the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. But the bulk of the Blue Ridge Parkway may be a bit far south for your purposes. I'm going to suggest instead that you leave the DC area on I-66 west to Front Royal, VA and there get on the Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park. Now, this road is relatively slow travelling, but when you've had your fill you can opt out by either US-211, US-33, or I-64 to I-81 south and I-64 west, a very pretty set of roads where you will be able to make good time through 'Almost Heaven' West Virginia and the Blue Grass region of Kentucky. I-64 will bring you to St. Louis where you can join up with I-70 to Denver. Finally, while crossing Kansas, if you want a break from the Interstate, you can hop off at Manhattan and take US-24 west for about 270 miles to Colby where you'd rejoin I-70. This might cost you two or three hours over just cruising the Interstate, but would give you a real taste for what the prairie is like while following, for the most part, the North Fork of the Salmon River.

AZBuck

[3rugger]

Thanks for the many tips! I got my new Digital Rebel XT to document the trip and will be setting up a blog to journal as we go. I'll post again once I have it set up.

One more thing, can anyone recommend some good BBQ joints in St. Louis and Kansas City?

[Mark Sedenquist]

One more thing, can anyone recommend some good BBQ joints in St. Louis and Kansas City?

I haven't found fantastic BBQ in St. Louis, but there is a place you have to check out -- Amighetti's has a "special sandwich" and of course you need to go get a "concrete" at Ted Drewes.

BBQ in Kansas City is much easier -- I would start at Arthur Bryant's (on Brooklyn) and explore from there.

Mark