Doing a trip From CA to Albany, NY this coming Sunday (29th)....

[russkayy1974]

Hi all,
Any advice on doing this trip? I am a solo driver and giving myself till the 6th to get into Albany, NY, Was thinking of going Up to MT through ND to MN, South.
It's a trip a little over 3700 miles.
What is the ideal traveling distance for a solo driver. Sunday will be in Elko, NV; Monday was thinking of heading to ID to MT for the night, then heading east.
Any other ideas out there?
Thanks
Russ

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

The route you've proposed would be ok, and you could do it in the time you've got available, but it does add a lot of miles and it really won't give you much time to make stops along the way.

As a solo traveler, 500 miles per day is a good number to shoot for, which is about 8-9 hours on the road before you do any sightseeing. You could certainly have a day or two where you shoot up into the 600 mile range, but that's probably not a pace you'd want to do as a solo driver real frequently.

Where in California are you starting from? If I were you, I might consider spending time going through Utah and Colorado instead of going all the way to North Dakota, although the difference in miles will depend if your starting in southern or northern CA.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

You've got plenty of time for this trip. Although every driver is a little bit different, around 500-550 miles a day is a pace that most can keep up day after day and allows some time each day to take an occasional short time out to rest your eyes and brain and exercise your body at parks near the highway. So with Monday, the 30th through Monday, the 6th available to you, you could easily cover 4,000 miles. Since it's only 2,500 or so by the direct route from Elko to Albany (basically I-80) you have considerable time to wander. Certainly a drive up through Idaho to Yellowstone and then across Wyoming and South Dakota (Devils Tower, Badlands, etc) could be rewarding, but so could a number of other choices: I-80 across southern Wyoming and along the Platte River/Oregon Trail; I-70 over the Rockies to Denver and St. Louis. There are no bad choices - enjoy.

AZBuck