West Coast Blitz, Chicago to San Diego and back in 7 days

[Nick89TA]

So, I will have 7 days of break coming up around June 15th, and I decided I want to take a road trip out west. Granted, 7 days is not that much, but I've never really seen the west, I just want to go take a peek, fly by as much as possible, and take in what i can. I've come up with a tentative plan, but I am simply using the times that Mapquest spits out. I'm not sure how accurate these are. I'm also not accounting for traffic. I'd appreciate it if some of you who have a little more experience with this take a look and tell me if I'm crazy to try and do this. It's either gonna be a Jeep Cherokee V8 or a 2001 Trans Am T-Top M6 :) I'd love to hit more local roads, but for the sake of time I'm prolly gonna want to stick to the highways. There will be 2 or 3 drivers. Thanks!!

Day 1, leave Chicago 4 AM, get to Denver at 10 PM or so
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...nver&2s=co&2z=

Day 2, after some good sleep, because we’ll be exhausted, leave Denver around 9, we can get to Las Vegas around 9-10PM
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...egas&2s=NV&2z=

Day 3, we leave Vegas in the morning around 9, get to San Diego around 2 (Will LA traffic kill me here?), kill the day at the beach, see the Zoo, Sea World, go to Mexico, whatever.
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...iego&2s=ca&2z=

Day 4, leave San Diego like 8 AM, get to the Grand Canyon about 5PM, sunsets around 7:50, we can find a place to stay there
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...nyon&2s=az&2z=

Day 5, Sun rises at like 5:11 AM. Get up, take pics, get out of there by 7 AM, get to Albuquerque, NM around 2, look around get some food, there is lots of old route 66 there
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...a+fe&2s=nm&2z=

Leave Albuquerque around 5, get to Santa Fe at 6, get some dinner, look around, get a room.
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...a+fe&2s=nm&2z=

Day 6, look around Santa Fe some more if we want, leave around 8, get to Oklahoma City around 4, get some food
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...city&2s=OK&2z=

Continue on to Kansas City and spend the night there.
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...City&2s=MO&2z=

Day 7, Get some of that famous Kansas City Barbecue around 11, head out, be home at 8PM!!
http://www.mapquest.com/directions/m...&2z=60462-3454

[Mark Sedenquist]

Day 1, leave Chicago 4 AM, get to Denver at 10 PM or so

This is probably a doable leg in this time period.

Day 2, after some good sleep, because we’ll be exhausted, leave Denver around 9, we can get to Las Vegas around 9-10PM

Uh no. This leg is a minium of 14 hours.

Day 3, we leave Vegas in the morning around 9, get to San Diego around 2 (Will LA traffic kill me here?), kill the day at the beach, see the Zoo, Sea World, go to Mexico, whatever.

The most direct route is I-15 to I-5 (you really won't be in LA traffic). But there is no way you can make this drive in less than seven hours.

Day 4, leave San Diego like 8 AM, get to the Grand Canyon about 5PM, sunsets around 7:50, we can find a place to stay there

On a speed run, this might be about right.

Day 5, Sun rises at like 5:11 AM. Get up, take pics, get out of there by 7 AM, get to Albuquerque, NM around 2, look around get some food, there is lots of old route 66 there. Leave Albuquerque around 5, get to Santa Fe at 6, get some dinner, look around, get a room.

Better allow for a couple more hours on the road. The rest of the trip looks a little thin on hours, but with three drivers you can probably make those destinations,

[JaceMouse]

Greetings from a fellow Chicagoan.

Lodging at the Grand Canyon might require some advance planning. If memory serves, there are only about six hotels on the road outside the park.

If you like Route 66, consider the National Route 66 Museum in my old home town in Oklahoma. Elk City is along I-40, half-way between Amarillo and OKC.
http://www.elkcitychamber.com/route66.asp

[Nick89TA]

Thanks for the quick responses. It did seem to me like some of the mapquest times might be a little skewed, especially through the mountains.

Jacemouse, that museum looks like it will be a good idea. It looks like I might be able to squeeze that one in. As for the Grand Canyon, (and most of the other cities I will overnight in) I am probably going to be booking hotels/motels in advance.

I just hope I can get the third driver, a trip like this is really gonna hurt in terms of driving if there is just two of us!

-Nick

[Mark Sedenquist]

It did seem to me like some of the mapquest times might be a little skewed, especially through the mountains.

All of the mapping programs use algorithms the incorporate the speed limits, known construction area speeds and an iffy character -- however, all of them are overly generous in the expected highest speed. In our experience, over an 8-hour period of driving it is rare for anyone to exceed 54 mph on average. For example, if one were to expect to average 65 mph and they stop at least once for fuel, twice to change drivers and maybe get something to eat -- they would have to maintain an actual on-the-road speed in excess of 80 mph -- which can be hard to do.

For Route 66 tips, be sure to look at our Route 66 page. Also there are ample posts on this board about tips for finding motels at the Grand Canyon. Use the search function (green nav bar above) and search by Grand Canyon or Grand Canyon lodging.