Moving PA to CA

[carissanboys]

I’m moving from Lancaster County, PA to San Jose, CA this August and after researching my options, I’m going to pack up my Honda Fit with what little items I plan to take along and hit the road. There is a slight chance I might do it alone, but pretty sure my boyfriend will fly out and drive with me.

I’ve started looking through my possible options for routes but would love to hear suggestions from those who have lots of experience driving across the country. I love the thought of stopping in Chicago and then maybe taking 44/40 to Grand Canyon.

Driving across the country has always been a dream of mine. Ideally, I would love to take a few weeks to do this but I can’t at this time. My goal is to make it the easiest but also the most interesting trip. We’re hoping to drive 10 hours a day (5 hours each) but still have time to at least take photos here and there (we are both photographers).

I have lived most of my life on the east coast and visited California (Bay Area) but that’s about it. So, seeing the rest of the country will be a treat.

Saving money is important but we will splurge if need be. I’d love to camp along the way but my boyfriend is not a fan. Any suggestions on how to plan for lodging for such a trip like this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Carissa

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

How much time do you actually have for this trip?

10 hours a day is a pretty full day on the road, but that doesn't leave a lot of time for stops and if you want to get off the interstates to find some great photo locations, it might not get you as far down the road as you're expecting. The route you've laid out does add some miles too, although it's certainly not unreasonable. You're looking at needing at least 5 days to cover the miles, but that doesn't include time to explore Chicago, the Grand Canyon, or any detours for Photography.

Camping is a great way to save money, but if your boyfriend isn't a fan, then it's probably not a great idea. Budget motels are probably a better bet, and you certainly can look at options like AirBnB to find lower cost room options in other places too.

[carissanboys]

I think we might have some flexibility in our time schedule. If I can find inexpensive lodging, that might change how long we have to get to CA.

I’m more interested in finding out what the best (beautiful views, etc) route is since there are so many choices.

How many do people book lodging for a trip like this when you don’t really know how far you will drive each day?

[glc]

You are going to need more than 5 days unless you take the fastest route across, which are the toll roads to Chicago, then I-80. If you have an EZ-Pass, it works all the way through PA, OH, IN, and IL. Finding relatively inexpensive lodging "on the fly" on Interstate highways is not difficult unless you are in a resort area or near heavily visited national parks. If you take that route, you would be looking at the following areas for overnights:

Elkhart/South Bend IN
Omaha NE
Cheyenne WY
Wells NV

Install the hotels.com app on your phone, this will help you find lodging when you are on the road.

Now - we can make alternate suggestions, but you will have to tell us how many days you can REALLY take.

[carissanboys]

A week (7 days) is probably the most we can do. My boyfriend’s sister lives in Phoenix so if we go that route, we would have a place to stay so sightseeing around that area wouldn’t be counted in our 7 days if that makes sense.

Thank you for the suggestions on lodging!

[carissanboys]

Chicago and Grand Canyon would be great to see but do not have to see them on this trip. Just looking at my options right now.

[glc]

Okay, you should be able to do this:

Take US-30 west to I-81 south to I-70 west to I-68 west to I-79 north to I-70 west.
At Columbus, take the I-270 bypass south.
Spend the night in Richmond IN.
At Indy, take the I-465 bypass south.
At St. Louis, take the I-270 bypass to MO-370 back to I-70.
Spend the night in Lawrence KS.
Spend the night on the west side of Denver - probably Golden.
At Exit 216, take US-6 over Loveland Pass, back to I-70 at Dillon.

Option 1:

At Exit 214 in UT, take UT-128 to US-191. If you have time, go through Arches NP and/or Canyonlands NP.
Take US-191 south. Lodging in Moab is expensive. Spend the night in Monticello or Blanding.
At Bluff, take US-163 through Monument Valley. You will have a great picture opportunity which you will recognize if you saw Forrest Gump.
At Kayenta, take US-160 to US-89.
Take US-89 south to Flagstaff. (Optional - take AZ-64 through the Grand Canyon, exit via AZ-64 south to US-180 to Flagstaff)
Take I-17 to Phoenix.

Option 2:

At Exit 149 in UT, take UT-24 south to Hanksville and Torrey. Go through Capitol Reef NP, spend the night in Torrey.
Take UT-12 to Tropic, go through Bryce Canyon NP, spend the night in Tropic or Panguitch.
Take US-89 south to Flagstaff, if you have time, use the Grand Canyon option.

Note that lodging around the Grand Canyon is expensive, best bet for cheap is Flagstaff.

From Phoenix, you are looking at a day and a half to SJ. Take I-10 west to CA-210 to I-215 to I-15 to US-395 to CA-58 to Bakersfield. This avoids the majority of LA traffic.
Take CA-99 north to CA-46 west to I-5 north to CA-152 west to US-101 into SJ.

[carissanboys]

Thanks glc! I got out my atlas so I could check out your options. Definitely looks like a good suggestion. We are both nature lovers so visiting parks is perfect. :)

Is there an app or website that allows me to put in my own routes for a trip—like GPS but allows me to customize which way I go?

[glc]

We have 2 of them right here!

In the light green toolbar at the top of the forum, right under the RTA logo, there's a Map Wizard and Advanced Maps. Use those in conjunction with your atlas.

Note that I-70 through the Rockies is probably the most scenic Interstate highway in the country. UT-12 between Torrey and Tropic and UT-128 between I-70 and Moab are also great scenic routes. Closer to PA, I-68 across northwest MD is very scenic, and avoids the PA Turnpike tolls. The only toll across any of the routes I recommended are between KC and Topeka, it's only about 3 bucks.

Depending on how many national parks you visit, the annual pass is $80, it may be worth it - especially if you plan on visiting any parks close to home in the next year such as Lassen, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Yosemite, and Sequoia. It can be purchased at the entrance station at the first park you visit. It allows a full car in and has 2 signature lines, so you can share it with someone else. The nps.gov site will tell you how much the non-pass admission fee is for each park.

[carissanboys]

That is awesome! Thank you so much for all of your help and info. I really appreciate it.