NYC to LA 14 days

[duncman]

hi everyone,

myself and 3 friends will be heading to NY in early sept 8th to 23rd , our plan is to drive to LA (to catch our plane home) within our 14 days allocated for travelling east to west.

At the moment Hertz seem cheapest for a mini van/suv (we like a bit of space) ,. at $1400 plus insurance etc. any tips on cheaper rental? I know the one way fee practically doubles cost .

our thoughts on route are open apart from going deep into the midwest. ie Ny / D.C / Memphis / Nashville / little rock/ northern texas Houston/dallas/ new mex / Arizona./ nevada / Vegas / La

how much of those places is realistic? 4 of us driving so we may have to do 1 or 2 days of all day driving to eat some miles.

we want to see the obvious places , but being 4 british blokes , a bit of randomness is welcome too.

cheers!

Duncan.

[RoadTripper 101]

Hello,

I have completed a similar trip in that amount of time. You have to choose the sites you really want to visit, since you could spend months doing the same trip.

NYC- There are many museums-Museum of Natural History across from Central Park, The Met etc. Broadway has many plays and Times Square is right there. Ground Zero is a very sad place for me, but many visit. I feel the Statue of Liberty is more easy reached from Liberty State Park in NJ. The park is very beautiful and Liberty Science Museum is on the access road. A ferry will bring you to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

NJ- NJ has many Revolutionary War sites as well as Atlantic City for gaming. Princeton, NJ is home to Princeton University and very nice. I live here in NJ and can give more info if you like.

Washington, DC has many National Monuments and Historic sites, the White House and museums.

VA- There are many Civil War battlefields in Va-Fredericksburg, Manassas and Richmond to name a few. Williamsburg has an old town that is recreated and depicts the Colonial period. Busch Gardens, an amusement park, is also in the area. Colonial National Historic Park and the Colonial Parkway link Jamestown and Yorktown. Shennandoah National Park is located in western VA and is near Interstate 81 which is a direct route to TN. The park road, Skyline Dr. is great and has many hiking trails to waterfalls. The park is just east of 81 and basically runs along it.

TN- Great Smokey Mountain NP can be entered from the east (actually western NC) and exited in eastern TN and is also very scenic.

TX- Texas is a very, very long drive. Most of my visits were in the south. Guadalupe Mountain NP is in the west just near NM and a nice stop.

NM- Carsbad Caverns NP and Roswell are stops along the southern route. Carlsbad must be seen to appreaciate and Roswell is were the aliens crashed and the town is quite neat.

AZ- Tombstone is a western type town depicted as it once was. There are reenactments and shops and watering holes. Old Tucson is were many westerns were filmed and a neat stop if you like this. Saguaro NP is home to the giant cactus as seen in all westerns. Sedona is a trendy town of mystery and is on the way towards the Grand Canyon. There are fires now but hopefully all will be extinguished by your visit. The Petrified Forest NP is also nearby. You can stand on the corner in Winslow, AZ if you like, too!! The Grand Canyon NP can't be missed.

UT- You can visit some of the many National Parks in southern UT on the way to LasVegas.

NV- The LasVegas area has everything.

CA- I have not visited Death Valley. One the trip we were to, it was closed due to flash floods. It's a NP I want to visit and have heard nothing but raves about. Disneyland is one of my favorite southern CA places. (I am a BIG Disney fan) The drive through the desert is also wonderful.

If you find yourselves wanting to visit many National Parks, the National Park Service offers an annual pass for the cost of $50.00. If you do not have the pass, individual locations charge between $10-$25 per park. The National Park website has a wealth of info about all National Parks/Monuments. I mentioned only a few. There are many more in the areas you plan to see. I have visited quite a few, any questions, please ask. Another place for free info are individual state's websites. Along with what is on the site, they will send free info if you request it. I have found that info very helpful in finding not so well know places.

Hope you all have a great time planning the trip and actually taking it.

Diana

[Quebec Gen]

Hi Duncman and welcome to the RTA forum!

our plan is to drive to LA (to catch our plane home) within our 14 days allocated for travelling east to west. [...]how much of those places is realistic? 4 of us driving so we may have to do 1 or 2 days of all day driving to eat some miles.

I believe 14 days is enough to drive cross-country. You won't have much time to hang out more than 1-2 days or less in each location you mentionned depending on your interests but it is totally doable.

At the moment Hertz seem cheapest for a mini van/suv

If you are under 25, it might cost you a little extra per day (~25$+).

our thoughts on route are open apart from going deep into the midwest. ie Ny / D.C / Memphis / Nashville / little rock/ northern texas Houston/dallas/ new mex / Arizona./ nevada / Vegas / La

You didn't mentionned your age and interests so it's a little tricky to give you advice on places to see along the way but we'll try to feed you with some intel anyway:-)

In addition to Diana's excellent suggestions, here are a couple of places/threads/ideas you might want to check out :

New York City in a nutshell;
D.C. attractions;
Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville;
Stax Museum of American Soul, Memphis;
Rock n' Soul Museum, Memphis;
Graceland, Memphis;
Beale Street, Memphis;
BB King's Blues Club, Memphis;
Hot Springs National Park, AR;
White Sands, nea Alamogordo, NM
Santa Fe and Albuquerque, NM;
Arizona & other south west suggestions;
California and Nevada;

Happy planning!
Gen

[duncman]

thanks

we've all been to NYC before, so just one night there, then hit the road, maybe Washington next stop. Probably hit a few big cities on the way too, nashville,memphis, dallas , phoenix , grand canyon , vegas, La

keep the tips coming 14 days are going to be crammed full of action!

were all 28 yrs+ English /sports/ beer/ music+girls loving blokes, so there is a bit about who we are!

ps.. i found that renting a Mini van on a UK based version of dollar is wayyy cheaper than a US website, total of £800 all in. $1400 which for 4 of us, including a $500 one way hire fee. so were happy with that!

[duncman]

anyone have advice here, were thinking from Little rock do we go west on the I30 to Dallas , then back up on the I35 to Oklahoma + continue west on I40 to albuquerque via Roswel toward Vegas

or is it best to go to dallas then continue west on the I20 and going Via Roswell up to the I40 again and head west ?

or shall we miss dallas ? , the first 2 options are a long drive in their own right , but Dallas could be great fun to visit?


...oh and some advice on the speed limits on the various roads would be cool, out of town interstates can we get a little faster than the limit and be ok?

[RoadTripper 101]

Hi
The speed limits on most Interstates are between 65-75 mph. I don't think speeding through the country is exactly a roadtrip and the posted limits are fast enough. I guess whether or not you can speed and not get a ticket will be up to the officer that stops you. Good Luck.

Diana

[duncman]

were not looking to blast across, just an idea of how long some drives will be.
70mph is a decent pace , but we'll work on a 60mph average to arrange our plans.

[Quebec Gen]

the first 2 options are a long drive in their own right , but Dallas could be great fun to visit?

Yep, it is a fun city. But sometimes you have to make tough choices. If you still want to go, you can order a guidebook right here to learn more about that city.

were not looking to blast across, just an idea of how long some drives will be. 70mph is a decent pace , but we'll work on a 60mph average to arrange our plans.

It's hard to plan in advance what your average speed will be during a particular trip. Your speed will most likely depend on 1) the posted speed limits, 2) traffic, 3) the driver, 4) the kind of road you want to drive : interstates, highways, scenic byways, etc. 5) any other unexpected events (storm, accident, road work, etc).

As you go west, the posted speed limits tend to go up (75 mph max). I recommend you don't drive more than 5 mph over the limit though if you don't want a get an expensive surprise. And beware, in California, they apparently have some of those invisible photo radars, so even if you don't get pulled over, you might get a gift when you return home!

Drive safe!
Gen

[duncman]

thanks for that, i guess we need to be realistic on what we choose to see, and how long we take at each stop. 14 days is enough to travel across but the last thing we want is to leave too much to achieve in the last week.

all help is appreciated!

[RoadDog]

For at least part of your trip you should get on 66 and see America from that vantage point. You can get a good rundown of it on this site.

Major cities it connects are Chicago, St. Louis, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles.

Interstates are always right by it, so you can get off and on pretty much at will.

Outside of Illinois, I'd suggest a guidebook as it is not marked very well. Two fairly new and good ones are Jerry McClanahan's "EZ Guide to Route 66" and Drew Knowles' "Route 66 Adventure Handbook."

Keep on Down that Two Lane Highway. --RoadDog