Thank you for posting the list. I, too, had trouble reading the linked list in the original post. That said...

This trip screams for a loop, because you have a lot of zig-zagging which eats up miles. Another issue that I see involves the last section -- San Francisco, Santa Barbara to be exact. A major bridge is out on the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) at Big Sur, rendering that section of the trip closed for all practical purposes. They hope to have a new bridge installed by September, but as a long-time California resident, I will believe that when I see it. When it's open, that's a 2 day drive because the PCH is slow-going and you do a lot of scenic stops.

One thing to keep in mind when you "want the driving to be kept reasonably low": a maximum amount of miles is 500-550, which will keep you on the road for 10 hours. So "reasonably low" will look different to each of us.

Do you have a road atlas or paper maps of the US? There is so much to be seen besides the many cities you have mentioned. To me, all cities start to look alike except for a few attractions that intrigue me. You may have different thoughts, but nature's beauty is different everywhere. You have the Grand Canyon and Yosemite on your list, but you could see the plantations and antebellum of the Southeast, Carlsbad Caverns National Park just northwest of El Paso, Saguaro National Park near Tucson, to name just a few. If you have an atlas or paper map, you'll find these things. Unfortunately, electronic mapping programs do not always show these on their maps.


Donna