Hey guys,
I was wondering if you could help me out with my Relocation Road Trip. My work is relocating me to Cincinnati, OH from Seattle, WA this July. Luckily they’re picking up the tab on this little road trip (mileage, lodging, and meals) that we’d like to do. The only stipulation is that we travel at least 350 miles a day and use the MapQuest route because that’s what they use to calculate mileage. This gives me roughly 7 days and 6 nights to get from Seattle to Cincinnati (approximately 2,350 miles).
I’m looking for things to do on this drive and advice at where to stay if that’s at all possible. One main thing to consider, the trip will be my wife and I, as well as our 30-40lb. dog. So we’ll definitely need pet-friendly attractions and lodging. We’re not averse to taking small detours to see things or camping either. We're both 25 and we’ve been on long drives before (i.e. 15 hours a day) and are early to bed, early to risers so getting up before the sun comes up wouldn’t be a problem if we had to squeeze more out of a day than we have time for.
Below I’ve sort of compiled a couple options that I’ve looked at. One is the “Shortest Time” on MapQuest while the other is “Shortest Distance” on MapQuest.
1st Option - MapQuest Shortest Time
I-90 E > US 212 > I-90 E > I-35 S > IA-27 S > I-380 S > I-80 E > I-74 E > I-75 S
2,355 miles
Seattle to Missoula, MT
Missoula, MT to Billings, MT
Billings, MT to Rapid City, SD
Rapid City, SD to Sioux Falls, SD
Sioux Falls, SD to Waterloo, IA or Cedar Rapids, IA
Cedar Rapids, IA to Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis, IN to Cincinnati, OH
2nd Option - MapQuest Shortest Distance
US-2 E > I-90 E > MT-200 E > I-94 E > I-95 E > I-65 S > OLD US 421 S > I-74 E > I-75 S
2,315 miles
Seattle to Missoula, MT
Missoula, MT to Billings, MT
Billings, MT to Bismarck, ND
Bismarck, ND to St. Cloud, MN
St. Cloud, MN to Madison, WI or Rockford, IL
Madison, WI or Rockford, IL to Cincinnati, OH
These are just sample stops that we’ve looked into. We’d obviously prefer to stretch this thing out as long as we can.
Any advice, help, or tips?
Thanks so much!