Planning Cross-Country Roadtrip - Suggestions Wanted

In My Humble Opinion
21

Thanks for the replies so far.

Based upon suggestions, we may rethink the route (I-80 vs I-70 or US-50), or possibly take the southern route out, and the northern route home for weather reasons. We have no set itinerary, so we can change things up on the fly if need be. I figure we’ll check the weather forecast just before we leave to see if Wyoming is going to be a problem. Part of the idea of taking I-80 is simply because we’ve already driven I-70 into Colorado, so this would be something different…as well as an opportunity so see a ‘new’ state.

I hadn’t really considered taking US-50 (though one day I do want to drive it all the way from one end (West Sacramento) to the other (Ocean City, MD). But it might be a nice drive at least as far as Utah where it meets up with I-70. My main concern with taking a ‘smaller’ highway over the Rockies is simply how much time it will take. Driving over the Sierras from Sacramento is a 2 hour drive on I-80, but can be significantly longer on US-50 due simply to traffic on the 2-lane road, construction delays, etc. I’m concerned about losing half a day just due to ‘road conditions’, considering the amount of ground we need to cover.

Yep, I figure it’s 8-10 hours of driving per day, depending on whether we average 60 mph or 70. Which leaves 6-8 hours of ‘not driving’ plus a full 8 hour night’s sleep. we’ve done similar trips multiple times in the past; it’s really not bad as long as you stop every few hours. We’ve already experienced the beautiful desolation of the Great Basin, and from what I’ve read here the Great Plains are nearly as interesting (from a ‘things to stop and do’ perspective). Together, that’s practically a third of the trip where ‘looking out the windows’ is pretty much all there is to do. So we’re hoping we can time the potty stops to coincide with places of local interest, both to relieve the stress/boredom of driving, and to see some of the less well-known but still interesting sights along the way.

And if 4 days of driving turns into 5 days, it wouldn’t be the first time that a road-trip wound up running long for us. Especially on the return drive; we do have an ‘expected date’ to arrive at my brother-in-law’s, but our arrival date back at home could slip 3 or 4 days before we need to return to work/school.

22

There’s certainly not a lot to do on the road (I’ve only been as far east on I- 80 as Salt Lake City), but I wouldn’t call it ‘boring’. There is some jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery along that drive. Of course, I guess you need to be into that sort of thing (just driving along staring out the window), but fortunately, I am :slight_smile:

23

So you didn’t experience Nebraska. I agree Wyoming, especially western Wyoming, is a lot more interesting.

We stopped at SLC not to stay but just to look around, since I had been there for a conference not long before and was comfortable with downtown. We toured the Temple, before we saw Book of Mormon. There is also the Olympic Park not far away, in a shopping center.

24

I’ve made these trips a few times, both 80 and 40.

If the weather cooperates, counter-clockwise may tie in with what to see along the way.

I-80 more or less follows the Donner Party route. They went from Independence, MO, northwest to the Platt River, followed it to central WY, down to the Great Salt Lake, across NV, to Donner Pass.

I-80 goes thru Kearney, NE, where they picked up the Platt, but on the north side of the river, and the Donners were on the south side (it’s flat and close, you can see where they walked). If you take NE92 at Ogallala, it will follow the Platt past Courthouse Rock and Chimney Rock, a coupla major landmarks along the way. There’s a museum at Chimney Rock. At Scotts Bluff, you can turn south back to I-80.

In WY, stop at Ft. Bridger. The Donners spent a few days here. It’s just a few miles off I-80.

Then down to SLC, where they walked across the salt flats (they were tough in those days).

Several of the rest stops in NV have signs pointing out where the Donners were and you are.

Cap it off with a stop at Donner Lake, and the Emigrant Trail Museum if you’ve never been there.

I’d read Desperate Passage by Ethan Rarick, and I’d recommend it. If you can find the audio book, you could follow along while you drive.

As noted, I-40 mostly follows Route 66 as far as Oklahoma City, but other that Meteor Crater and a pass thru Winslow AZ just to say you did, it’s mostly desolate. If you want to get off the Interstate and onto the old 66, I’d suggest the stretch from Kingman to Seligman, AZ. It’s well maintained, and not too far out of your way.

600 miles a day is what I use for my estimator when planning a several day trip. West of the Mississippi, speed limits are higher (mostly 75), and you can probably make 650 or so without beating yourself to death.

25

Well, there’s a stretch from Ogden, UT to the Wyoming border that’s nice, but it’s only 60 miles or so, and the ridge between Laramie and Cheyenne, but that’s even shorter. The rest of it is a flat, treeless, dismal landscape, especially in March.

26

Minefield in Brownsville, Tennessee is worth a look. There’s this local artist Billy Tripp who bought a lot in the middle of town. And he began to erect a steel sculpture on his lot. A really large steel sculpture.

27

I drove the opposite direction several years ago, and took US 50 through Kansas instead of the interstate. It’s a good road, and not nearly as boring.

28

Just thought I’d pop in and say thanks for all the information and advice. I’m really excited about this trip. :slight_smile:

29

It’s a major (all day) detour from Reno, butt Bodie CA (US 395) is a wonderful ghost town. I shot 4 rolls in 3 hours in 1991.

If you want to “make up time” drive in the wee smalls - don’t be near a major town at 2:00 - 3:00 if you can avoid it - that’s when the bars close and you get a drunk to liven things up.
I went out 80, went to the Everglades, and came back 10. If you have lots of time to kill (and if this proves to be once-in-a-lifetime, you will wish you had taken more), you might look into 10.

Happy trails

30

Well then, by all means do that. Wyoming is so open and lightly populated (and can be very windy!), its beautiful expanse is a reminder of the vastness of this great country of ours. Nebraska and Iowa, too, each offers its own uniqueness.

I recommend watching out for the Continental Divide signs as you cross the Rockies, and snap a picture. There’ll be one and only one on each of your eastbound and westbound legs. IIRC, on I-80 eastbound it’s in a clear and safe area, and if it’s safe enough and with little to no traffic, then you might consider pulling over for a very quick photo. If you do this, however, don’t linger, and pull as far over as you can - off the shoulder and onto the dirt if the ground is good enough, so you’re far from the lanes of travel. Also prep the camera and yourselves beforehand so you limit the amount of time you’re stopped. If done right, you’ll only be stopped for a minute, maybe 90 seconds, and then promptly move on. The key is to be safe, and if there’s too much traffic then don’t even consider stopping, just snap the picture while driving by.

Another fun thing is to snap pictures of all the state welcome signs as you go.

Right, and I wouldn’t suggest it for this trip, especially since 50 and the Sierras are right in your backyard. If you haven’t done 50 to Carson City before and want to, save that for a later weekend excursion from Sacramento. I live in the Bay Area and for 2 of the 3 times I did 50 across NV, I took I-80 across the Sierra and then got off at Fernley and headed to Fallon. You’ll get plenty of the Loneliest Road experience that way.

The same applies to the Bodie suggestion upthread. It’s definitely worth seeing, but again since it’s so close, and it is a several-hour detour off of 395, that I’d save that for another time. Save your time for sights and exploring further away from your home. But yes, Bodie is great, and I recommend going. Also the Mono Lake Visitors Center, and the lake too of course, but same suggestion, not necessarily for this trip.

Besides, after driving back from TN, once you hit CA you’ll likely just want to go home and not spend time on those nearby places. Another great thing about finishing a long road trip is that first night back in your own bed! At least for me and the missus, that’s true.

Enjoy your trip! And when you’re back please share with us where you went, what you saw, and how you liked it. The rest of us who love road tripping can live vicariously through yours.

31

If you’re looking to time potty stops with a little sightseeing, along I-80 at the Nevada-Utah state border is historic Wendover air field, which was very active during WWII. It’s 5 minutes off the interstate, and you can spend 30 minutes to several hours there. There’s a nice, small museum there (30mins can be enough), or you can spend more time and also tour the airfield. Admission is either free, or very reasonable, can’t remember.

Also, I haven’t done this but a friend has: you can take your car out onto the Bonneville Salt Flats. and drive a bit. That’s a unique experience.

32

Great suggestion! My dad used to race his dragster out there during Speed Week, but I’ve never driven out there myself.

33

I will add my voice to those warning of spring weather trends in Wyoming. March is a windy month in most places. Wyoming is a windy place in most months.

34

If you’ll pass through Wyoming, I thought I’d share two recent trivia posts from the SDMB game “Trivia Dominoes” —
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17154621#post17154621

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17154653#post17154653

Cheers,
Bullitt

35

If you go through Amarillo, you should stop at The Big Texan for a steak dinner. I’d recommend you pass on the “free 72 oz steak dinner if you can finish it in 1 hour”. And you might want to stop at the Cadillac ranch for some photos. Bring some cans of spray paint. The owner likes visitors to leave their mark there.

36

With the recent weather, it looks like we may be taking the southern route on or way east, which will take us through Amarillo (I’m sure we’ll arrive before morning). A stop at the Cadillac Ranch would help create a ‘musical’ theme for the trip; we already plan to stop long enough to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona…any other musical cliches we need to put on the agenda?

37

You can…

Viva, Las Vegas
*Get Your Kicks On Route 66 *
make it to… Flagstaff by Morning
All Aboard for Oklahoma
(Don’t Let the Sun Set on You in) Tulsa
From Tulsa to North Carolina

38

By the time you get to Phoenix, you’ll be tired of all those songs.

39

Well, we made it to Tennessee, following the northern route. We spent 4 days visiting family before heading back, and are currently spending the night in Oklahoma City. A few observations:

[ul]
[li]The entire stretch of country between Utah and Kentucky is permanently windy.[/li][li]We saw not a single stalk of corn in Nebraska. But when we cut across a corner of Iowa for 10 minutes, it was literally strewn across the roadway.[/li][li]In a similar vein, there was not a single blade of blue grass in Kentucky.[/li][li]I prefer Kansas City barbecue to Memphis barbecue (though I’m not inclined to refuse any slow-cooked pork product).[/li][/ul]
The weather has turned out so far to be a non-issue. As noted, it’s been windy (particularly Wyoming and Nebraska), but other than that the weather was just fine.

Saw the Arch, but we were there in the morning and needed to get moving to meet some friends in Kentucky, so we didn’t get a chance to have BBQ there. But **Rhiannon8404 **did have the burnt ends at Jack’s Stack in Kansas City.

We did see some pretty impressively large flocks of birds as we were driving through Nebraska. I couldn’t identify them from the road at the time, but I said “Oh! Those must be the birds that somebody on the Straight Dope told us to look out for!”

Unfortunately, our schedule on this trip pretty much mandates that we take the interstate most of the time. But some day when we can spend 4 or 6 weeks instead of 2, I’d love to do that. We did take ‘back roads’ through much of Tennessee, and it was way more interesting than what we would have seen from I-40.

I think the biggest thing I’ve taken from this trip so far is a great appreciation for how big, and mostly empty, this country is. I’ve driven across a good part of ‘The West’ in the past, so I thought I had a pretty good idea what ‘barren wilderness’ looked like, but driving across Wyoming where the only sign of human existence in any direction was the ribbon of roadway we were driving on, was something else…I think that everyone in this country should make such a trip at least once, just to see what a vast and wonderful country they live in.

40

Cool, am glad weather was a non-factor. Some parts are getting hit now, but not near you or along your way. A good thing.

In KC, Jack Stack is pretty good but we preferred Gates. A good thing about the midwest, there’s different types of BBQ to try.

On the way back are you planning to see the Grand Canyon? Meteor Crater in AZ? Amboy Crater in CA?

Glad you made it there safely. Yes, there’s a whole lot of nuthin’ out there, especially in the western states.

Enjoy!