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  1. #1
    Jeff Ryan Guest

    Default How long will this trip take?

    Hey everybody! I'm planning my first ever road trip for next spring sometime. I'm not going anywhere in particular, just mainly doing a big loop. My original intinerary was to leave my home in Rhode Island and head west. Drive down to Philadelphia and take the PA turnpike to Pittsburgh. After that, take I-70 west to St. Louis. From there, I-29 north to Lincoln, NE and south on I-35 to Dallas. From there, east I-20 to South Carolina and then I-95 north back to Rhode Island. I had budgeted 10 days for this trip.

    From talking to a few people, I'm getting the idea that taking the US highways would be more fun. Particularly jumping on US-50 west bound in West Virginia after getting off the turnpike in the Pittsburgh area, and taking that all the way to Kansas City, still trek north on I-29, south on maybe US-75, take the old route 66 from Tulsa to OKC, and then once I get to Dallas, taking US-80 eastbound and perhaps a US highway northbound up the east coast.

    Like I mentioned, I'm budgeting 10 days. I think I can stretch it to 12. Can anyone approximate with some certainty how long a trip like this may take (Interstate vs. US highways)? Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1998
    Location
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Posts
    12,932

    Default 4500 miles

    Jeff,

    Sounds like a great road trip. I didn't really pencil it out completely, but the trip would be approximately 4475 miles which means that you would have to average at least 450 miles per day for ten-day trip. While it is true that traveling on county roads or the older US Hwys can be more interesting -- they are also considerably slower. Your actual crusing speed will be similar to the Interstates, but you will hit more towns and cities and will have to slow down for traffic and lights.

    A RTA rule of thumb would suggest that traveling on the lower rated (speed) highways would lower your average rate per day at 15 to 30 mph. You can do the math. On the other hand, you will see more stuff to stop and explore, which in turn will lower the amount of miles you can travel each day.

    You might consider, shortening the trip parameters some, so you could spend more time in the areas you drive through. On the other hand, sometimes it is very cool to just keep on a' rollin'!

    Mark

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