LA to NYC - leaving in 2 weeks - a week long journey.

[NY_ROCKER]

So this is something I have always wanted to do.

I will be in a U-Haul - so I will be moving a little slower than your average bear...

But here are my thoughts - and I would like ANY advice,suggestions,etc - on anything I should see etc.

Leaving LA late Sat going to Vegas. Spending the night in Vegas.
Get up SUPER early - see the Hover Dam - and the Grand Canyon
Then somewhat of a long drive to Albuquerque. (not sure of any specific stops along the way.

Then these are the cities I figured I'd stop at along the way

Amarillo, TX (Night 3)
Tulsa, OK (Night 4)
St Louis, MO (Night 5)
Columbus, OH (Night 6)
Pittsburgh, PA (Night 7)
New York, NY

That's what I figured at this point.

Not sure what to see - or if this is a logical breakdown.

But this is what I have come up with so far.

If you think there are better or more entertaining stops along the way.. please let me know

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Sorry, but your first two days are just non-starters for a discussion. There is zero chance you'll be able to wake up in vegas, see the hoover dam AND the grand canyon, and make it to Albuquerque in on day. Just driving directly from LV to Albq, you're looking at nearly 600 miles, a very full day that will be at least 11 hours on the road. Detouring to the Grand Canyon adds more than 100 more miles on 2 lane road, meaning before you even get into the gates of the Grand Canyon, you'll be looking at about a 14 hour day.

Throw in the fact that you're not even planning to leave until late on the first day, and then turn around and wake up early on the second day, you're setting yourself up for a horrible, overtired, and quite likely dangerous start to your trip.

The thing is, you don't need to have such a rediculous first 2 days. With a week you've got time to make a detour like to the grand canyon, but you need to pace yourself. All of the other legs you've laid out are very reasonable, and in fact, some of them are probably too short. Columbus to Pittsburgh is just a 3 hour trip, for example.

You need to go back and lay out a trip where you are traveling about 500 miles a day, traveling less distance on days where you want to stop and really see things, like the grand canyon. Las Vegas is a bit out of the way anyway, so your better bet would be to head out on I-40 your first day, making it to someplace like Needles or Kingman, make the Grand Canyon the focus of day two, spending the night in Flagstaff, and then continue on your planning from there.

[NY_ROCKER]

Thanks for the advice... I will make some changes.

Let me ask you this -

Are there a few MUST-SEE spots along that route that you can mention to see?

Once we are leaving Flagstaff heading East...

[glc]

I don't know if I'd call them "must-sees" but there's the Petrified Forest and Meteor Crater.