Brooklyn (NYC) to Bay Area (California)

[sheerock85]

Hi! I'm planning a roadtrip at the end of Sept. 2006 I was thinking Hwy 80 cross the midwest would be my best bet. I only have 5days to do the roadtrip. Would that give me time? However, I do understand there's not much to see...is there? Any tips? Thanks in advance!

[Mass Tim]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America forum!

I'm assuming you mean Interstate 80 to do this trip. Five days seems very limiting to do this trip - a quick glance shows it to be about 2,900 miles, one way. You would have to drive 1,200 miles, EACH DAY, to pull this off, assuming you are taking a round trip. That means, given 12 hour driving time, you would have to AVERAGE 100mph.

If this is a one-way trip, it is doable, but you won't have much time to see anything on your way. And there is plenty to see out there in the vast expanses of America.

[Interstate_80_Rules]

If this is a round-trip then I agree with Tim; it's impossible. But if it's one way that would be good. It sounds fun, but it doesn't sound like most of the roadtrips I read about on here all the time.

[sheerock85]

Oh yes, it will be one way...not a round trip. Correction...I-80. Will this still give me some time to see some sites? If I give myself 6days instead of 5 (I know it's not much, however I am on a time schedule)...I guess I'm trying to figure out how much I can pack my time on this roadtrip. Again, Thanks for your posts. :-)

[Midwest Michael]

The difference between 5 and 6 days for your trip will mean about 100 miles per day.

If you are trying to do this in 5 days, you'll need to average about 600 miles/11 hours per day of driving. This is a very ambishious schedule, and while entirely possible, it is probably more than I would recommend. In fact, if this is a solo trip, I would advise against it.

If you stretch it to 6, it brings you down to a more reasonable 500 miles/9 hours per day. This is much more in the range that I think you should shoot for. It will still involve some very long days of travel, and while you won't have time to make any major stops along the way, you could spend a little bit of time siteseeing during your trip.

Either way, I would recommend reading up on the Art of the Speed Run before you hit the road.

[Interstate_80_Rules]

I've been on this site lately that shows I-80 west and east in some states (road geek site). It doesn't pass through Chicago, and the authour didnt mention anything of interest in Illinios, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, or Nevada (it skipped Utah). But it looked very scienic.

Here's that part of the site

http://www.interstate80.info/i80index.html

[Mark Sedenquist]

I do understand there's not much to see...is there?

I have driven this route a few times over the years and yes, there is plenty to see and do along the route. The biggest problem you have is that it will take five full days of driving to cover this distance. For much of the route you will be following the historic Oregon Trail. But since you seemed to wonder about the midwest -- let's start in Iowa....Jesse James, the famous outlaw, probably wandered along routes close to I-80 in his heyday. Just south of I-80 about half way between Davenport and Des Moines is the small town of Eddyville -- where a fortune in gold is reputed to have been buried with the remains of prospector (minus his head, which was tossed in a campfire) in several pots that are still missing somewhere in the vicinity of the town cemetery. Just north of the highway is the world's largest truck stop at exit 284.

Just south of Des Moines is the National Balloon Musuem A nice place to get out and stretch your legs is Ft. Kearney in Nebraska. But the real attraction in the Kearney area is the Great Platte River Road Archway -- it stretches over all four lanes of I-80 just east of Kearney. The place has an odd spin in local history, but it is certainly worth a stop!

The Buffalo Bill State Historical Park is the former home of Buffalo Bill Cody and has some artifacts in North Platte. The art boots found in downtown Cheyenne make a nice walking tour.

The University of Wyoming is in Laramie -- a nice place to drive around a bit. A real fun side trip would be to take WY-130 over the Snowy Range Pass and then back to I-80 at Walcott.

I have stopped at Ft. Bridger a couple of times -- check out this story about a famous dog!

Salt Lake City is pretty amazing -- and this artifact out in the desert is worth a photo or two!

Well, just a few ideas to get you started.

Mark

[Interstate_80_Rules]

That was pretty funny. And I'm just asking; what's your personal favorite part of I-80 (west or east), in any part that you've driven on.