San Francisco to N. Carolina roundtrip whirlwind w/ dog-34 days:recommended?

[thegoose]

Hello! I have been reading for some time and decided to officially join! My boyfriend, our dog and I are heading on a cross country road trip next week. We are in the San Francisco East Bay and were going to venture to North Carolina and drop down to Florida and basically come back another route. We didn’t know if this seemed to be too much in about 34 days and would love any input!

San Francisco East Bay to Los Angeles (1 night at family's house).
Then to:
-Grand Canyon-South Rim (1, maybe 2 nights?)
-Santa Fe, NM (2 nights)
-Amarillo, TX (1 night or might just push through if not recommended to be a good place?)
-Dallas, TX (1 night)- eh.
-Memphis, TN (1 night)
-Nashville, TN (2 nights)-super excited!
-Winston-Salem, NC (1 night at friend's house)
-Outer Banks, NC (2 nights)-suppose to see?
-Wilmington, NC (1 night..maybe? or might skip if not recommended?)
-Charleston, SC (1 night)
-Savannah, GA (2 nights)-excited to see!
-Miami, FL (2 nights)
-Florida keys (3-4 days in Key west and 2-3 days in Big Pine Key)-excited to relax on the beach!
-Miami, FL (1 night)
-Orlando, FL (maybe 1 night but might be too hot/humid in late july to see/enjoy Universal Orlando? if not, we'll keep on moving)
-Pensacola or Panama City or Tallahassee (1 night --(beach would be nice but Tallahassee would also be nice to break up the drive between Miami and New Orleans if we don’t go to Orlando?)
-New Orleans, LA (2 nights)-excited to be there!
-Austin, TX (2 nights)-excited to see!
-Las Cruces, NM (1 night-not sure where else to stay to break up the drive between Austin and Los Angeles?)-eh
-Phoenix, AZ (1 night- again to just break up the drive?)-eh
-LA (1 night at family's house)
-San Francisco Bay Area (home!)

Does it seem feasible? We are in our late 20s and up for a fun trip but it is our first road trip and not sure if this seems too much or a good amount? We have done whirlwind tours of Europe and are used to only 1 or 2 nights at a place and just pack as much as we can and basically to taste the city if we want to come back for more. But that is when we were driven around on a coach bus so I feel this will be quite different! Haha. We are excited to have a few days (preferably a week) to relax in the Florida keys (around Bahia honda state park and Key West) in the middle of the trip to catch our breath. I want us to have fun and enjoy it and am nervous I am biting off more than I can chew. haha.


If anyone has any suggestions if this is too much or just right, or suggestions for great activities, hotels, places to see at any or all of these stops-we would LOVE them! We have been knee-deep in travel guide books trying to plan but personal recommendations are the best! Thank you! :)

[Southwest Dave]

Quite the trip ! Hello and welcome to the RTA forums.

Each roadtrip is unique and although this would be too much for some, perhaps not enough for others, it is certainly doable. If you are happy with the balance of driving and attractions then it will work out great imo. I would certainly plan for 2 nights around the Grand canyon as it will be a full day getting there from LA and a lot of the next day will be taken getting to Santa Fe. You could stay out of the east entrance on night 2 at the Cameron Trading post or further [Kayenta] and drive through Monument valley and Four corners to Santa Fe. It's a bit of a detour, but will help adjust the balnce of City v natural wonders.

On the way back, Las Cruces is a long day on the road from Austin. You could consider Carlsbad or nearby and visit the Caverns. It would add a couple of hours but is worthy of consideration. If you search around the forums you will find more ideas and in the green tool bar above lots of roadtrip planning tips, as well as the RTA Map centre where you can look for attractions along your route that have come from the personal experiences of RTA's contributing writers.

[Lifemagician]

Sounds like a great trip. I like the flexibility of it. However, you may look into making your dates a little more firm, so you can book your accommodation for when you are in high tourist areas, where in summer things can easily book up, and also for the period around 4th July. Otherwise you could find yourself having to travel many miles to find a bed. This also applies if you are camping.

Lifey