New York to Seattle and back

[lazarcat]

Hi...My husband and I and our two kids would like to road trip this summer from New York to Seattle, San Francisco and head back. Our idea is to go
through the following destinations

New York
Chicago
Mount Rushmore
Yellowstone
Seattle (to visit friends)
San francisco
Grand Canyon

and then we are stuck on how to come back and what to see. We have about 3 weeks in total to make the round trip. Can we do it? Or is there a better way to make the trip and back by cutting something out? Any advice would be great! Thanks

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Just to drive directly from point to point hitting all the places you've listed would require over 7000 miles of driving. At 500 miles per day, that would take 14 days. Add a couple of days to visit your friends, and even just two or three days to actually experience all the places you're dragging yourselves to and your 3 weeks are pretty much used up. This is just too much to expect of yourselves, let alone the two kids.

But all is not lost. You have the makings of a great trip if you just concentrate on getting to Seattle and back. That cuts at least 1000 mile off the trip and it begins to be possible that you and your children might actually enjoy it. If you plan on taking at least 8 days each way across the continent, then you can break up each day's drive with a stop at some natural wonder each day. And don't just wait until you get to the 'must see' parks out west. Also plan stops at less well known places on the eastern half of your trek as well, such as Delaware Water Gap NRA, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI. Once in the west the same thing applies. Besides the places you've listed you'll also be near Badlands National Park, Devils Tower, the Little Bighorn National Battlefield, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, and you'll be following the Lewis and Clark Trail for much of your route as well.

You don't have to see everything in one fell swoop. The other benefit of dropping San Francisco and the Grand Canyon is that you'll be following much the same route out and back, so you can see half the sights going and the other half coming.

AZBuck

[Traveldude]

wow, that is quite the trip. San fran to the grand canyon then back to NY may be a bit long and would require 4-5 days alone with seeing a few things. Just go to San Fran and then head to lake tahoe to reno and take I-80 back to the Chi-town. But stop and look at hells canyon in idaho, I hear it's deeper than the grand canyon anyways. Also hit yellowstone on the way back so you can maximize your time there. You will know your schedule by then. I think if you guys hustled you could do the original plan, but with kids you may want to take your time and see alot.

[lazarcat]

thanks for your help and suggestions regarding our trip. I think the plan of going to Seattle and back and staying in the northern region (maybe seeing Glacier Nat Park would also work for us. Any more suggestions for the way home? Guess San Francisco and the Grand Canyon will have to wait til nex year! Thanks a bunch!

[AZBuck]

On the way out: I-90/US-14/US-20/I-84 (and connecting roads) with major stops at Cuyahoga Valley, Indiana Dunes, Baraboo, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Bruneau Canyon (to make up for missing the Grand).

On the way home: I-90/US-2/I-94/US-8/US-2/I-75/I-69/ON-402/QEW/I-90/I-81 with major stops at Glacier, Theodore Roosevelt, Mall of America, Colonial Michilimackinac, Niagara Falls, and Delaware Water Gap.

That's still 6250 miles so you may have to trim it a bit, and going through Canada would require that you have passports or birth certificates for everybody, but those are two good, and different, options.

AZBuck