Seeking ideas for my summer travels

In My Humble Opinion
1

So my wife is abandoning me for the summer.

OK, not really. But she’s going to be overseas for a while for school. And I’ve decided that, in order to maintain my sanity in her absence, I’m going to do some traveling of my own.

Here’s the deal. I’m going to leave on a Wednesday or Thursday to drive up to northern Nevada to visit relatives, and I’ll stay until Sunday or Monday. The following Saturday, I need to be in San Francisco because I have tickets to a baseball game. I have taken the entire week in between off of work, so I’m free to do as I please. In an ideal world, I would simply drive all the way across the country, just because. But the five or six days I have isn’t enough time to get from Nevada to the East Coast and then back to the West Coast with enough time to enjoy the sites in between. So here are the options I’m considering:

OPTION #1
Drive to northern Nevada, and then to Salt Lake City. Obtain a one-way rental for a car and drive from SLC to the East Coast, then catch a plane back to SLC. Drive my car from SLC to San Francisco and then back home.

Pros: Allows me to take my time getting across the country and enjoy the sites. I can hit Boston, New York and D.C. (I’ve never been to the first two) pretty easily before flying back. Also, the one-way flights are affordable.

Cons: One-way car rentals cost a decent chunk of change, and I’m trying to do this as cheaply as I possibly can.

OPTION #2
Drive to northern Nevada, and then to Salt Lake City. Fly round-trip from SLC to whatever East Coast destination. Get back to SLC and then drive to San Francisco and then back home.

Pros: Cheaper than option #1. And I can still take the train to go between D.C./New York/Boston before flying back to SLC.

Cons: I don’t get the pleasure of the drive, which is really the part I’d enjoy most. Sure, it would be great to visit the two cities I hadn’t been to before, but it’s the road trip that really excites me. But I’d still do this.

OPTION #3
Drive to northern Nevada, and then use my own car to road trip to less distant destinations that allow me enough time to get back to San Francisco by the weekend.

Pros: Cheapest option of the three by far because I don’t pay airfare AND my car gets fantastic mileage, which wouldn’t be the case with a car rental.

Cons: I’d really like to go places I haven’t been before. From northern Nevada, the most viable option involves driving up to the northwest. Driving across the border into Canada would be nice, but everything south of the border involves places I’ve already been.

So what I’d really like and appreciate is your feedback on what I’ve come up with so far, as well as any additional suggestions you might have. The first option is by far my favorite, but I haven’t seen any one-way rentals for that trip for less than $350-$400, and that, of course, doesn’t include the cost of gas for the trip, as well as the flight back.

Thanks in advance!

2

I dunno.

I’ve driven coast-to-coast dozens of times.

It doesn’t seem to me like you have much time to really take the time to stop and enjoy anything.

In my opinion, a hurried vacation is no vacation. Your run to the East coast would most likely consist of a myriad of Comfort Inns and Denny’s, and maybe some short detours off of the interstate to look at grain elevators.

I would skip the airlines, (ugh!) keep the car, and tool around the desert southwest. There’s plenty to see there. Go to Vegas if all else fails.

3

Point taken, but this doesn’t sound nearly as unattractive to me as it apparently does to you.

I’ve done the portion of the southwest that interests me, and I travel to Vegas twice a year (and I’ll be passing through it on the way up to northern Nevada anyway). But again, I get where you’re coming from.

4

Five or six days driving from the East Coast to SLC really won’t give you much time to sight-see in NYC or anywhere else.

Driving from SLC to east coast and back in the same time period will barely give you time to pull over and sleep, IMO

5

That is definitely not an option. If I make it to the east coast, it’s either fly round-trip or drive one-way and fly back. There is no driving both ways, for exactly the reason you mention.

6

Oh, I’m not saying it’s unattractive. It all depends on what type of experience you are looking for.

There’s plenty to be said in favor of the “Twilight Zone” of long-distance interstate travel. The isolation, the “Americana”. (Such as can be observed from the super slab). The anonymous layovers in sterile motel rooms in the middle of nowhere. Out of contact. Watching Action News of Ozona. Bring booze, or weed. No, not really. :wink:

Covering hundreds of miles a day in a daze listening to AM radio or NPR. (Anything else spoils the effect). It also helps if you have read the bloody history of the places you blow through. You should also make an effort to be out in the middle of nowhere at 2:00 am on a clear night.

Sure, it can be very cool.

7

There’s nothing here I don’t like. :slight_smile:

I’ve also started to think that if I get stuck with the west coast route, perhaps I’ll drive up to Edmonton, cut over to Vancouver, and then head back down the coast. I’ve only spent, quite literally, an hour in Canada in my life, and that was last year, in Windsor. So the idea of taking a scenic drive through western Canada doesn’t sound bad.

Any other thoughts?

8

Do you have a US passport to get back in? Or have they delayed that requirement past your travel time?

9

I’d suggest you look at taking Canadian 93 to Jasper then turn around and cross the border at 93-95 Eastport Idaho or 93 to Kalispell. The road to Jasper has some of the most spectaclar mountain views, and the view northbound is different (in my opinion) from the view southbound.

I would take about $100-$200 Canadian to avoid hassels. The Canadian dollar is worth slightly less that US. The fuel is higher.

I would suggest if you take I90 west, you switch to 395 at Ritzville and take I82 to I84 in Oregon and I 84 to 205 Bypass at Portland. I90 at Snoqualmie Pass is pretty, but the rush our traffic from about Issaquah to Seattle and Seattle all the way to Olympia is a real hassle. (Rush hour 7-9AM, 3-7PM) not as bad as the Bay area, but bad enough. Similarly, Vancouver to Salem is a pain. The 405 bypass around Seattle is actually worse than I90 to I5.

You can go from Portland to SF in 12-15 hours. If you have a half a day or more, I’d recommend State 96 or 299 to Arcada, 101 to Legget and 1 to 101.

If you have 3-4 hours more, you might consider a side trip, 211 to Fernadle off 101 and at the end of the mian street there is a wooden archway that says ‘Petrolia’ Make sure you have a full tank of gas and follow the road back to 101. The road goes throgh a little ranch then down the bluffs to the Pacific then back through the open countryside.

Have a nice trip.