July Road Trip From NJ to LA

[charlest48]

Any help ideas would be very helpful.Routes places to see places to stay.I am taking my 3 sons 21 19 16 and one of their friends with me and we will fly back from LA.
Thanks

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA forum!

Right now, we've got nothing to go on at all to provide any help. We know nothing about how much time you have, what you are interested in, what places you are thinking of going, and without at least some basics, we just don't have a starting point. When you're talking about a trip that covers the entire United States with millions of possible routes and millions more possible stops, you've got to at least give us some of the basics that you've already figured out for yourself before we can even start to answer your questions.

[charlest48]

Sorry
I have 10 days to go from Nutley NJ near the medowlands to LA where we will fly back to NJ.I am interested in showing my boys some of Americas history along with the desert and grand cayon.Hope that helps.

[glc]

Please start by helping yourself, then we can help you fill in the details. Go buy a US road atlas such as a Rand McNally, open it up, and start looking for attractions you want to see. Put some dots on the map and start connecting them. To give you an idea of how much time you have to play with, a drive from NYC to LA via fastest route and no sightseeing stops would be 5 full days of driving - 10+ hours each day with minimal food, fuel, and restroom stops.

[charlest48]

I will be going from NYC to LA and back in July with my 3 sons 16 19 22.I only have 15 days to travel.I will be renting a minivan and money is not an issue but i do not know if i have enough time to go round trip and still be able to see some sights.Any help would be great.

[Southwest Dave]

Hi,

Have you done a little research ? What places of interest are you hoping to see ?

Well you have 10 to 12 solid day's of driving out and back, so it's doable but you won't have much time to hang around in any one place too long. I think the one way trip of your original plan, plus the 15 day's from your latest would be a good combination. It will mean a hefty one way drop off fee, but if money isn't the issue it would be a lot more relaxed.

[Midwest Michael]

With 15 days you won't have much time for any sightseeing. You need a good 5 days to make the trip each way, and that's full 10 hour days on the road, which leaves very little time for sightseeing.

That leaves you 5 days to play with, but presumably, you'll be spending some of that in LA, so your time to enjoy extra things on the road will be very limited.

[AZBuck]

As others have pointed out, you'll really need 5-6 days each way for the drive, so even if you have 15 days for the trip, trying to visit historic or scenic sights while doing two complete cross continent drives in two weeks will prove too much. Better is a one way drive where you take some time to see the sights. New York to Los Angeles is a common enough one-way rental (in both directions) that you might even be able to find a rental car agency that is willing to forego the drop-off fee if they have too many California cars on the east coast. It's certainly worth asking around. As for a route and sites to visit.

If you take 8 days more or less for the one-way drive, then you have time to wander from the straightest route and to stop at several places for a few hours each. Obviously you should concentrate on the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Civil War Periods in the East, and follow the history of westward migration as you follow in the footsteps of the pioneers. You can start easily enough by showing your boys the historic sites of Philadelphia and Washington if they haven't already been then one of the great Civil War Battlefields in that area, Manasas, Antietam, or Gettysburg. You can work west through Maryland following the old National Road (It generally follows US-40) with stops at Fort Frederick and/or Fort Necessity. Your next big stop would be St. Louis, so I think I might consider heading down through Kentucky at this point for a natural wonder, Mammoth Cave. As you near St. Louis, take the opportunity on the Illinois side of the river to visit Lewis and Clark's jumping off point just south of Hartford, and then visit the Arch and Museum of Westward Expansion in St. Louis.

Now, you're starting to get into the Wild West as you head down I-44 to I-40 in Oklahoma City and traverse the Ozarks into Oklahoma, which even into the early 1900s was known as Indian Territory and is currently home to several museums celebrating both Native American and Cowboy cultures, as well as recent, more tragic, history at the Oklahoma City Memorial. Note, also, that from St.Louis westward, this route generally parallels the old but now defunct Route 66. Continuing west brings you to New Mexico and its rich cultural history form when it was under Spanish rule, especially notable in its capital city, Santa Fe. I would say that Santa Fe and Taos are worth a side trip to visit the Taos Pueblo in Taos and the Palace of the Governors and other historic buildings in Santa Fe. Outside Albuquerque is Petroglyph National Monument with messages left engraved in the rocks hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Continuing in I-40 next would be the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, Meteor Crater from some 50.000 years ago, a very accessible cliff dwelling of the Sinagua Culture at Walnut Canyon, and of course one of the wonders of the world at Grand Canyon. From there, you're just about a day's drive from L.A.

But of course, that's just one possibility out of literally hundreds of route/site combinations.

AZBuck

[charlest48]

If i can push it out to 17 days would that be enough. I would love to drive out and fly back but one way car rental is crazy plus the airfare and one of the kids is scard to fly.Things i would like to see are some old time america grand cayon vagas and maybe the cali coast.What da ya think?

[Southwest Dave]

As above really, you have enough time for the journey and some time to do some exploring, but only you can decide what "enough" is to suit your style of travel and the pace you wish to go at.

If you were to turn around at the Grand canyon, you would save a couple of day's travel, plus any time spent in LA, and make it a more relaxed trip, but these are the things that should be discussed by sitting down with your Son's and making a group decision. Getting them involved in the planning now, will make a far more rewarding and involved adventure for all of you.

Figure that 9 or 10 hours on Interstate and highway with time for short breaks for food and gas and to stretch your legs will let you cover between 500 and 600 miles. Once you get into City's or off the beaten track to attractions, that average will drop significantly.