Eight day road trip from New York to Los Angeles with a 1 year old and a 4 year old.

[Southwest Dave]

Although you can find original sections of route 66 and 66 towns a lot [most] of it has been replaced by Interstate or are now business routes. Other sections can be difficult to follow but you can get a taste in other areas. It really comes down to which one appeals to you the most, but west of Denver, I70 has some wonderful scenery to enjoy.

Here is an RTA page dedicated to all things Route 66.

[John259]

Back again. How about the Historic Route 66 vs I-70 which seems to be an excellent choice. Any preferences? Major differences in the experience, and drive-ability? Thanks!

I-70 has the scenery: the road itself through the Rockies west of Denver (no problem in summer, can be subject to delays and closures in winter), then past Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point in Utah, then I-15 goes past Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion in southwestern Utah.

I-40 runs south of the Rockies so there's very little scenery other than views of mountains in the distance, but it does go through Flagstaff for the south rim of the Grand Canyon and there are several national monuments in the Flagstaff area. There are two longer remaining sections of US66 in Arizona, Az66 from Seligman to Kingman via Peach Springs (good road), and Kingman to Needles via Oatman (slow mountain road).

[Lifemagician]

Time permitting, you could have the best of both worlds. I-70 through CO and into UT, 128 to Moab and then 191/163 down to the Grand Canyon via the east entrance. Exit to Williams and drive Historic Route 66 between Seligman and Kingman (or better still, continue on to Oatman, picking up I-40 at Topok - where the Mother Road meets the Colorado.)

Lifey

[RahRah]

I've done lots of road trips with my kids (now 3 and 9) and prefer driving after dinner for the longer haul parts than mornings. Reason - the kids tend to fall asleep and if I plan the drive out right, we'll wake somewhere that we can either start the day or a quick drive and we're somewhere. Afternoons, after lunch, when naps are more likely to happen are also a great time to catch a couple of hours before stopping again.

Eight days is really leaving little time - a couple of hours a day - to explore and see things, so I'd look to plot the trip out and then look at what is around that "off-the-beaten-path" for the area you're planning to make stops. Most places have things that are not touristy - it's finding them! Also using TripAdvisor for restaurant recommendations in areas you'll be stopping can really help - you'll also find great ice cream shops that have homemade ice cream, or specialty food shops listed there too that have local flavor.

Maybe pick a theme of sorts to work around for the trip? We've done National Park trips, children's museum stops, state parks, national trail drives, etc. - but I usually plot things to keep the driving to be tolerable for the kids and usually look to bang out the harder parts (for the kids) after dinner. Just a suggestion!