Maybe a little too long...what do you think?

[Andy&Elena]

Hello everyone, my name is Andy and I am a new member to RTA. A little about me, I am 32 and married for two years to Elena. We live in montreal and love to travel. I have driven across Canada from shore to shore before I was married and drove twice to Florida so far with my wife.

Now we are trying to decide whether or not to do a last "Mother of all road trips" before we consider having our first child.

So here is what we would LIKE to do leaving December 19th 2010 within approximately 22 days.

Quick itinerary... Montreal --- Chicago ---- Denver ----- Las vegas ----- Los Angeles ----- Dallas ----- New orleans ------ Fort Lauderdale ------ New York ------ Montreal

Wow, exactly..... so before I get any deeper into it, I would love some feedback.

Hoping most of you won't think we're crazy, let's here it!!!!

Thanks, Andy & Elena.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

My first reaction is that this will be the mother of all long drives, but I don't think I'd call it the mother of all roadtrips - for a simple reason: to cover all of those miles in 21 days you're going to have to be driving nearly all day, every day. You can probably work it out so you can spend one full day in a few of the places you've mentioned, but not all of them.

I'd think if anything, you'd take advantage of this kid-free time to explore more in depth places that small children might get bored with after a day or two, and do things (like say hike down into the Grand Canyon) that you wouldn't be able to do at least until your kids get a little older.

[travelingman]

You are contemplating a 1200km/7300 mile trip that will take a minimum of 120 hours to drive over 22 days. That's 530km/330mi 5 1/2 hours per day. Assuming you'd like to actually see something over this time, lets say you might want to drive one day and explore the next. Now, its 11 hours driving 1200km/675mi per day.

You've been to Florida, so cutting that out would give you more time.

One suggestion, if you could afford it, would be to fly into Denver and rent a car for three weeks. You could go from Denver to Salt Lake City, to San Francisco, along the Pacific Coast Highway, to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, to the Utah National Parks (Zion, Bryce, etc), to both the North and South rim of the Grand Canyon, Back to Denver. Just a sample; lots of alternatives.

This suggestion is 5100km/3200 miles in 22 days at 231km/145mi 2 1/2 hours per day. Taking every other day off sightseeing would leave you with 11 days of a 5 hour 460km/290 mile drive.

Of course, reality would add at least 25% to the above assumptions.

I think this would give you a much more enjoyable vacation full of memories.

Just a suggestion.

[glc]

to both the North and South rim of the Grand Canyon,

Not in December, the North Rim will be closed!

[travelingman]

Not in December, the North Rim will be closed!

Yikes! Somehow I missed that.

OK, DOUBLE all my figures for weather and winter driving.

Be aware that some roads may be closed due to snow.

I was caught in a snowstorm in Jellowstone in June! Not a pleasant experience in the mountains.