Boston to San Francisco (moving)

[nichofas]

Hi,

I'm moving from Boston to San Francisco, leaving Saturday Sept 10th. We're taking I-90 East to I-80 East (connecting in Ohio), directly to SF. We're estimating approximately 10 hours of driving a day, and would like to be in SF by Thursday Sept 15th or Friday Sept 16th (if delayed).

Can anyone offer suggestions as to stop-over cities that will fall within this type of schedule? I do not have MS Streets & Maps and am finding it rather difficult to estimate the distances correctly. Additionally, if anyone has any suggestions regarding our trip route to make it faster/smoother/more enjoyable, I'm open to any ideas.

Thanks!

[PNW Judy]

I can help you with part of your question. If you plus into MS Streets & Trips driving 10 hours/day, it calculates your stops for the night as follows:
* Concord, OH - a bit east of Cleveland
* Malcolm, IA - about 1/2 between Iowa City & Des Moines)
* Pine Bluffs, WY - just after crossing into WY from Nebraska
* A spot in the road about 1/2 way between Oasis and Wells in Nevada
* San Francisco

This supposes you are driving 10 hours per day. This does not take into account gas, bathroom, stretch, and meal breaks. Nor does it take into account traffic problems. You will likely be on the road at least 13 hours, if not more, to actually drive 10 hours. This is quite ambitious for a 5 day stretch. I hope that you have more than 1 driver because most people couldn't drive like this for 5 days straight without a degradation of good defensive driving/safety.

YOu might want to read "The Art of the Blitz Drive" thread for some ideas on keeping safe and alert on this type of drive.

[Robert Schaller]

Hmmm. Faster, smoother AND more enjoyable? I'm not sure these things quite go together! Well, then again, maybe they do.

I figure this journey is about 3100 miles (3112, according to MS Streets and Trips). I interpreted your 10 hour day as being the total time you wish to spend on the road (say 8:00a to 6:00p), so driving time will be somewhat less.

Assuming you eat breakfast before your start time, and supper after you stop for the day, I figured short rest breaks every 1.5 hours (that's about how they work out for me) and a 1 hour lunch included in your ten hours. On that schedule, you can get the distance covered in just a little over 5 days, so it falls within your target range. And those aren't bad days (not overly ambitious, in other words).

If you'll read my thoughts about staying rested on a road trip, I think that's the key to keeping it enjoyable and "smooth." If you're rested and not overdoing it, you'll definitely enjoy it more. For me, that's also the way I make the best time.

Plus, be sure to read all of Judy's comments and the thread she suggests for the rest of the picture! Bob