Fly/Drive - East to West and return

[RJSTACK]

Planning to join a family reunion in SF mid-sep, either ship my vehicle to or rent a car for a return trip via Route 66 to Chicago (on bucket list & my Hometown). Will continue trip to home: Smithfield VA, Need advice on best plan and How-to recommendations. Thanks

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You haven't told us enough to be able to offer meaningful advice, things such as your interests and how much time you have for the trip. Presumably you haven't enough time to drive out and back as that would likely be the most economical option and you could take a different route each way . The best place to start would be comparing the costs of shipping your car against a one way rental and weighing up the pros and cons such as the age of your own vehicle and gas consumption compared to a rental and what you would prefer to drive. Keep in mind that a lot of Route 66 has been replaced by Interstates and some sections are hard to follow so personally I would look for places that appeal to me and build a route around them rather than just following a route number but I do understand the route 66 'thing'.

[RJSTACK]

Have the time to drive out, concerned about the burn out (4-5 day trip). My goal is to hit every car collection/museum we can. Will follow advice regarding the disembled condition of 66. Really need some insight on shipping our vehicle -reliable carrier(s). Also recommendations on alternate drive routes (out & return), if we opt that approach. Appreciate all the ideas - thanks.

[DonnaR57]

I would start to research a few things locally, now, if this were me. First, I'd get some prices and time estimates for shipping my car one way. Then I would research the price of renting the vehicle between the two points, because there will probably be a hefty drop off fee for a one-way trip. Compare the two, in terms of money and time used, with the cost of driving back and forth (about 5 days each way, plus sightseeing stops).

As far as two routes to avoid boredom, we always recommend loop trips if at all possible. More bang for the buck, you might say. In one direction (I'll go east to west on it), you could go I-64 up to St Louis, catch I-70 there, and take that to US-6 in Utah (some gorgeous territory through CO and UT), then catch I-15 up to Salt Lake City then west on I-80 into SF. That route is about 3000 miles, or 6 days.

A slight variation on the above route is to take I-64/I-70/I-29/I-80. That's about 50 miles less, but CO and UT are far more beautiful than I-80 through Nebraska.

Going back west, you can drop down I-5 to CA-46 to CA-99 south, where you pick up CA-58. Staying on that will take you out to I-15 and I-40 in Barstow, AKA one of the major cities along the old Rt.66. Sections of old 66 still exist, some of them labeled "Historic US 66", others labeled "Busn. Rt. 66". This route would be about 2990 miles, plus the extras you might add in order to see some old 66.

One section of old 66 is between Ludlow, CA and Essex, CA. Another section takes you through Oatman, AZ, and someone here will chime in on the particulars. A third section will take you from Kingman, AZ, up to Peach Springs, AZ and back down to I-40 in Seligman, AZ. Driving on to Flagstaff, get off at the exit for "Busn. Route 40", and follow the signs to the train station. That will put you on Old Route 66 through that little city, and right back to I-40. Holbrook, AZ and Tucumcari NM both have places that were up at the time of Rt. 66. Really, there are whole books written on the subject.


Donna

[Midwest Michael]

Really need some insight on shipping our vehicle -reliable carrier(s).

I doubt that shipping your vehicle out will be a particularly viable option. It's likely to be quite expensive, and likely would take your car out of commission for at least a week before you depart on your trip, and the timing might not line up very well with the rest of your plans.

While you can investigate it, I'd really focus on trying to find a good rate for a one-way car rental. Even that is likely to be expensive, but still cheaper and much, much easier than trying to ship your car and drive it back.