ideas for 2 week roadtrips beginning in philadelphia????!!!

[Jared Slaymaker]

HEy
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of a 2 week roadtrip that included seeing california and ensured my friends and I a memorable trip?! I just bought a 2008 subaru forrester and want to break it in ...has 38000 miles on it.... Looking to go either in early june or late august....I really love nature and well just enjoy being outside and on the beach....Where would we stay and eat? Any and all suggestions would greatly be appreciated!!!!!


and ive heard of driving to california and flying back but how do you get your car back? its all new to me
THanks!

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

If you really wanted to hit the Cali coast and say hit up San Fran and LA you could take a more Northern route 1 way through Colorado and Utah and more to the South coming home through Arizona and Nevada. Your biggest concern should be time, such a trip would take 10 to 11 days of pretty solid driving with practically only time to look around the places you stop for the night and a few days in Cali.

You have to work on your budget and what every one's tastes in travel are, places to stay and where to eat can vary from camping and a cooler box to the Ritz and fancy steak houses and somewhere in between are cheaper chain Motels and basic, but wholesome food.

Most of the driving out and flying back option is done by people who are renting a car or helping a family member to move, not those doing a road trip in their own vehicle. Yes, it's possible to have it transported back but that would be expensive and kind of defeat the object of travelling so far.

If you love nature and the great outdoors I would consider using the Four corners region of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico as a turn around point or try for more time.

Have a chat with your friends and do a bit of research and when you have made some decisions and got some dots on the map we can offer meaningful advice but at this point there are just to many options for us to be able to start churning out ideas.

Enjoy the planning !

[Jared Slaymaker]

Thank you so much!
That really does help!
So my question for you(mayb its tough question) is....i will do anything and everything there is for this roadtrip.....I Just wanna get out of pennsylvania for two weeks....If you had two weeks to travel in the usa with some friends and two cars where would you go? What are some favorite places you have travelled to?
Thank you so much!

[Southwest Dave]

But to answer your question my choice would likely be what I pointed to earlier, the great scenery, National parks, driving roads and towns etc of the Four corner states. A trip to Denver possibly via Chicago and loop back through Oklahoma and St Louis is a possible while exploring this area. Rocky mountain NP is close to Denver and Moab in Utah is close to Arches and Canyonlands NP's and would make a reasonable 'turn around' point, but it's what you want that is important and why I urge you to look around the site. You could head South towards Florida and run back up to the Great smokey mountains and along the Appalachians home. New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville would also be worth consideration with a drive around the Appalachians with a good mix of night life and nature.

[Midwest Michael]

The "Best Places" is really an impossible question to answer, and really is a bit on the pointless side, because your roadtrip is about you.

You need to get an idea of what sounds most interesting to you - and you certainly need to be making these plans while involving your friends.

Based on what you've said of your interests, I think I might put my focus on the southeast. That's going to open up plenty of options to be in nature, exploring lots of nature, like the smokey mountain, but also opens up the beaches of the carolinas or the gulf coast, and it would give you lots of time to enjoy it.

Going west as Dave suggested certainly is a possibility too, but you need to figure out how much time you want to spend driving, vs time you'll actually spend enjoying the sites. The Rockies are about as far as I would try with your available 2 weeks. Trying to go as far as California would be possible, but it would basically just be a sprint to the West Coast and a sprint back, with very little time to spend anywhere.

[Jared Slaymaker]

So i recently changed my idea of taking a 2 week road trip from philadelphia to california to now...philly to Florida ....I think I want to travel from pa to Louisiana than going from there to florida and back. Can anyone give me suggestions of what to see, or stay, or eat? Anything will be beneficial... Im new at this. Im young and enjoy outdoors and just plane old traveling and meeting people. Figured i should do it while I am young and single :)
Thank you so much!

[Midwest Michael]

At this point, we've given you a few ideas for some major stops you could work into your trip, but as we've also said a few times now, this needs to be your trip, and that means you need to work (with your friend) to figure out what you want to see and do.

We'll certainly help you put everything together, but just coming back here and repeating over and over "what should I do?" isn't going to help you get to your goal or have a very good trip.

This site is filled with resources to help you find ideas, so spend a little time looking around. Get out a good map and simply look at what's between PA and Louisiana, think about the reason you've decided to head to LA/FL, and perhaps most importantly, sit down with the people you'll be traveling with. If you make these decisions unilaterally, and your friends aren't just as invested in the planning process as you are, there will be conflict.

Once you've got more of an idea of what you want out of the trip, and come up with some of your major stops, we can then help you fill in the gaps, and help you get the most out of your trip.