nyc to san fran via rte 80 - need advice

[ahlienert]

we're traveling with our puppy from nyc to san fran may 7 - may 14, going via rte. 80 would love any advice - ie: good stops (for parks, puppy play, scenic nature etc), what is generally halfway point? one person will be driving first three days, someone else joining to drive next three days, and then we'll arrive below san fran on 7th day. where's best place to switch drivers and have them fly in and out of? cheyenne? any good "local" food places, good pet friendly lodging? any help would be appreciated!!!!

[Mark Sedenquist]

we're traveling with our puppy from nyc to san fran may 7 - may 14, going via rte. 80

A very lucky puppy! Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum -- for starters read this week's article about traveling with pets --

where's best place to switch drivers and have them fly in and out of? cheyenne?

Seems reasonable to me.

Mark

[AZBuck]

Yes, Cheyenne is roughly halfway, 1740 miles form New York and 1175 miles from San Francisco. Another possibility, depending on who's taking the first shift, is Kansas City at 1200 miles from New York and 1800 from San Francisco. Personally, I'd add a seventh day to this journey. The other thing to keep in mind is the cost of plane tickets. The cost of two one-way tickets using Cheyenne as your changeover point will be around $440, while using Kansas City reduces that cost to $265. It would be nice if there were a major hub airport with lots of competing airlines exactly halfway along your route, but alas, there isn't. Perhaps a better compromise might be Omaha, NE. It's on your route, 1240 miles from New York and 1670 from San Francisco, and the plane tickets could be had for $315.

AZBuck

[Midwest Michael]

I agree that Cheyenne might not offer the best deals for flights, and Omaha might be a better option.

Omaha is big enough that you get some competition, and its served by Southwest, which generally brings the cost of airfare down a bit. Its also a relatively small airport that you can get in and out of quite easily, and there have been several cases where I've seen tickets cheaper out of Omaha than Kansas City.

Of course if money is a big concern, and KC is cheaper, its is a relatively short detour for your trip, and you should consider it.

[ahlienert]

thanks for the thoughts - also trying to figure out if calculating strictly by miles is most beneficial. ie: what if going thru one area of trip is super slow and other states you just fly through? we want to be more than halfway at our driver switch. what are other good stops along the way? (ie: parks and what not to let puppy run around and us getting to see good sites) thanks!

[AZBuck]

And I'll say it again. There are great, underutilized resources available pretty much everywhere throughout America. These include National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests and state parks in addition to the more well known National Parks. Just a few of the many options available to you as you drive along I-80 are:

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Bald Eagle State Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Resthaven Wildlife Area
Pokagon State Park
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Goose Lake Prairie State Park
Matthiessen State Park and Starved Rock State Park
Lake Macbride State Park
Rock Creek State Park
Lake Anita State Park
Eugene T. Mahoney State Park
Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area
Medicine Bow National Forest
Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
Wasatch National Forest
Timpie Springs Waterfowl Management Area
Humboldt National Forest
Rye Patch State Recreation Area
Lake Tahoe State Park
Tahoe National Forest
Folsom Lake State Recreation Area

All of the above are within 10 miles of I-80, in most cases within just a few miles of an exit. I would expect you can just watch for the signs but they should, for the most part, be marked on your maps.

AZBuck

[Editor's Note: Wow! That must have been a time-consuming excercise to gather all of those links! Excellent!]

[Midwest Michael]

what if going thru one area of trip is super slow and other states you just fly through?

Generally speaking, it will take a little longer to get across the eastern half of the US, because of more traffic and lower speed limits. Once you get west of the Mississippi, almost every state has a speed limit of 70 or 75, and there are far fewer urban areas to slow you down.

That said, the difference over a full day of travel typically works out to only about 3 or 4 miles per hour.