Going round the country, need advice

[imported_Danny]

Planning a road trip for November, leaving from LA, and going to:

Phoenix - El Paso - Austin (3 days) - New Orleans (3 days) - Memphis (2 days) - Nashville (3 days) - cincinati - New York (4 days) - buffalo - Chicago (4 days) - sioux falls - rapid city - Cody WY (2 days) - spokane - Seattle - Portland/Eugne - Volcano CA - Oakland

Thus far I am planning a little over a month, and about 1500$ for gas (I have a 91 Toyota Camry Station Wagon that gets about 17 MPG).

Curious if anybody could give me any tips they might have, or things to look out for. I'm pretty new at this, so any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Danny

[Mark Sedenquist]

Danny,

There are some serious mileage legs in there. Are those time periods critical? Winter weather could affect the timetable somewhat.

Be sure and check out the new natural history museum wing in Cody -- thought by many to be the finest in the world. Do you have familiy in Cody?

[imported_Danny]

No, no family in Cody. More just curious to check out the area, as I want to see as much of this country that doesn't look like LA as possible.

As for the time periods, they aren't particularly critical, although I would like to try and maintain something close to that schedule, just to make sure I don't run out of money. Am I being unrealistic? I figure the longest I'll have to drive in 1 day is 10 hours. Granted that's a fairly long time, but I think it's do-able.

My other option would be to postpone the trip until early next year some time, possibly February or March, however, I'd like to avoid this if at all possible.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Danny,

Roadtripping in winter can be really great -- less crowds, different weather, etc. But some of those driving days seem to be assuming that you will be able to drive 70 mph+. If you hit winter storms, your average speed may approach 30 mph and may require stopping and waiting for roads to re-open. That can be fun too, so just be prepared.

Almost any place in USA is different than LA. What kinds of things are you seeking?

[imported_Danny]

Really a little bit of everything and anything - Just want to see the rest of America. I just got laid off from a horrific 2 year stint as an office drone, and I just need to get out and explore the open road. Of course the winter thing will certainly be an issue.

One option is to reverse my route, and go up through oregon first, as I may be able to miss some of the winterish climate. That having been said, snow doesn't really bother me that much, so as long as my car is able to handle it, I think it'd be kinda cool to see all of that stuff in the winter.

Do you think I will encounter many problems with a '91 station wagon? Specfically I mean snow/terrain issues - the car runs great, and will probably outlive me, but I'm not sure how well equipped it'll be to handle snowy roads.

[S]

Car Talk has a good article on winter driving, and what you need:

http://cartalk.cars.com/Info/WinterDriving/

I don't see much of a problem using a Camry. Make sure you have AAA or towing coverage through your rental car company "just in case."

I like the idea of going through Oregon first; it won't be long before snow starts falling in the passes up here in the Pacific NW, so if it's all the same to you, start west and head east.