Need Quick Advice Please

[Eric M.]

Hi all,

Great forum, I wish I would have found it earlier beause i am running out of time now. Basically, I am driving my mother out to San Diego (leaving from Philadelphia, PA) and we are leaving Friday morning (8/17).

She wants to get out there in 4 days but I am thinking 5 (she is trying to save on the rental). Even though we are going to be pressed for time, we would like to be able to stop here and there and see something to remember the trip if that makes sense. Looking for unique tourist stops, or maybe state specific landmarks, something lke that.

We are traveling I76 across PA, then I-70 (Ohio, Indiana,West VA, Illinos)
then I-55 (Missouri)
then I-44 (Oklahoma)
then I-40 (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona)

Any thoughts on stops and sightseeing using these parameters? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

You're looking at driving nearly 2,750 miles. To do that in 4 days would require that you cover nearly 700 miles a day. That's too much, even with two drivers, and even if you managed to pull it off would leave absolutely no time for stops or sights other than those scenic roadside convenience store - gas station combinations. With 5 days, your minimum daily requirement drops to 550 miles which is much more realistic, relaxing, and does allow the occasional off highway stop and non drive-through meal. Still you're going to be limited in how many stops you can make and how far off the highway they can be, but if I were going to plan on one a day, not too far off the beaten path, I think I'd aim for taking sight-seeing breaks on a covered bridge tour in southwestern Pennsylvania; at the Lincoln Log Cabin outside Charleston, IL; the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum; Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque; and maybe a scenic drive south from Flagstaff through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona on AZ-89/AZ-179. Those assume I'm spacing our my days with overnight stops in Dayton (OH), Springfield (MO), Amarillo (TX), and Winslow (AZ).

AZBuck