Help! driving from Los Angeles, CA to Green Bay, WI

[Fabby]

Hi! my sister and I will be driving to Green Bay the first week of February. We are both L.A. girls and all we know is California. Can someone please give us suggestions on some nice routes? This will be our first road trip so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Fabby & Jackie

[Boston Wrangler]

Hey Fabby & Jackie,

First you should decide what your timetable is. I'll assume you have a week to do the drive, so that'll keep you on the interstates for most of the way. With my limited experience driving in the west, I would recommend that you take I-15 through Las Vegas (you've probably been there before). Follow, I-15 up into the northwestern corner of Arizona and into Utah. You might like to take a detour or two to see any or all of the following national parks: Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Natural Bridges, and Arches.

From I-15 and I-70, you can easily access Zion, Bryce, and Arches for a nice day-trip. If you camp, you'll find accomodations cheap, but in February, you'll probably be more comfortable in a motel.

Another national park that I recommend is Dinosaur northwestern Colorado. I think you can grab Route 139 off of I-70 and head north to Dinosaur. From Dinosaur, take Route 40 east to Denver, then to I-76 northeast into Nebraska and I-80 through Iowa to I-88 or Route 151 to Madison, Wisconsin. I'm partial to Madison, but I think it's a great city. I think Route 151 goes up to Appleton and on towards Green Bay, but you'd have to check on that.

Of course, if the weather anywhere east of Las Vegas for the week of your trips looks at all snowy, which it will be in the mountains I'm sure, you'll probably opt for a more southern route that will keep you below Colorado, or at least on I-70 the whole way, then cut up north on or between I-35, I-45, or I-55.

Are you going to be making a return trip? If so, when will that be? That might be a better chance to do some more outdoor stuff at the national parks I mentioned, plus the weather will be better in the spring and summer for traveling the beautiful mountain roads.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Fabby]

Hi, thank you so much for the information, that is very helpful. We don't actually have an exact time limit, we are actually going to spend a couple of months with family in Appleton. So at this point it is only a one way trip. Because we are traveling in winter we are a bit scared of the snowy roads. So we were thinking of taking southern route, do you know what would be a nice way?

Thanks for your help!!

The southern route is I-10, I-20, I-30, I-55 and I-43. In my opinion, you could likely find even worse weather on THAT route, especially in the central states, than on a northern one. My own choice would be to follow the route already suggested, except that I'd continue northeast through Wyoming and pick up I-90 near Rapid City, SD, and go east from there across MN and WI. If the weather is decent, that's as good a route as any, and a very beautiful drive as well.

If you want to see classic western scenery, be sure to visit the southern Utah parks. Especially if they DO have a dusting of snow on them, the red rocks contrasted against western blue skies are unforgettable.

[Fabby]

Thank you for your help, I think we are going to opt for the northern route as suggested. We are very excited about this trip!

Thanks again,

[theboywonder]

How did you like the Northern route?