Surviving a cross-country drive

In My Humble Opinion
1

We’re about to take a road trip from the San Francisco area to North Carolina and I was wondering if there are any must-see (or must-miss) things along the way, as well as if there are any local traffic oddities to be aware of.

Our general route will be to head south through California on 5, then go east towards Dallas on 40. From the Dallas area, we will then be going east on 20, then around Atlanta, we go up on 85 to North Carolina.

I can at least say that we will not be stopping at every “Historic Route 66” sign along the way. For the most part, we just want to get from Point A to Point B with a minimum of fuss and time, but if there’s a particularly scenic spot along the way, we can stop and have a look.

2

There’s a definite difference between trying to get to a destination quickly and having time to stop and meander. However long you thing it will take you, I recommend you add a few days to that. See, everybody starts out all excited, because, “woohoo it’s a road trip”, but midway through the second day they realize what a road trip actually means. I’ve done some 2 and 3 day trips and we really pushed through, but it was rough. Not being super pressed for time, where you can take an afternoon or a day off for something other than driving, that can really help. That, or Ripped Fuel, Hydroxycut, No Doz, Monster & Red Bull and cigarettes.

Burn lots of CDs. If you have an MP3 player hookup, work on adding lots more music and playlists, and bring a car charger. And burn lots of CDs too.

Spare tire, jack, at least one (maybe even 4 if you’re high speed) Fix-A-Flats, roadside emergency kit, some random clothes, and a sleeping bag. Because you never know.

I’ve done 40 and 20. 20, I think, is preferable to I-10 at least going through Louisiana. Watch out for troopers tho; I always see a lot of them at night and they won’t take no guff. Mississippi’s a fine state and very pretty. I don’t care too much for Jackson but I found the highway layout around there to be sensible enough. Meridian is a nice enough little town. It may be a little bit out of the way but I (almost) recommend the Natchez Trace Parkway. It’s a nice scenic route, and fun to drive if your car’s a 5star on handling. But I once got (inadvertently) stuck on it and drive all 400+ damn miles of it, which spat us out somewhere in Tennessee.

There’s always traffic and construction in Atlanta. Columbia, South Carolina isn’t as great as they advertise. North Carolina is pretty, and they used to have some of the best roads in the country, but after enough hurricanes they have some of the worst, so watch out for that.
Which reminds me. I-40 doesn’t go through Dallas; it New Mexico, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Little Rock (Arkansas is very flat, it is quite a change from Tennessee), and into North Carolina through the Great Smokey Mountains. GoogleMaps sez that is shorter than going through Dallas. Tennessee, by the way, is a real morale buster, because you are going through it the long, horizontal ways, and it best it will take up most of your day, but can easily last two.

3

If you haven’t been to see the Grand Canyon, it’s only about an hour out of your way off of I-40 (you’d get off at Williams, AZ if memory serves). Well worth it. There are numerous other sites around northern AZ that are worth seeing (the GC is the only one we’ve visited however). Unless you plan on doing hiking, the GC won’t take up more than a day. It is one of those places that I firmly believe everyone should visit.

We did nearly the identical trip, back in 1985 (we stopped in Chapel Hill however, as that’s where we lived). Didn’t do much touristy stuff on that leg of the trip, as it was the last leg of a month-long driving trip and we were eager to be home. I regretted that we didn’t do the Grand Canyon stop then (didn’t make it there until 2005).

(on reread - we didn’t do the identical trip as we just stayed on I-40)

4

No worries about Tennessee as we won’t be going through it. We’re driving a truck, so we will do everything we can to stay on reasonably flat and boring highways.

I know 40 doesn’t go to or through Dallas. We’ll be breaking off onto 287 at Amarillo and sloping downward to Dallas, which certainly seems a better route than staying on 40 to Okalhoma City and dropping straight down on 35. (At least Mapquest says it’s a faster route.)

I’ve got the route divvied up into 8-9 hour days, based on driving 65 mph. Should be relatively easy for the two of us, and certainly better than the old family trips with my father. That man was not comfortable unless a carburetor was attached to his right foot, and he’d drive from dawn to past dark. It wasn’t uncommon for us to arrive at some city at 9 PM and hope that there rooms available at the motel.

5

287 between Amarillo and Dallas might be shorter, but not faster. It is not an interstate highway, and it goes through every - single - town. You will have to slow down at each little town, including stop lights and local traffic. I am not sure how much extra time this adds on to the trip, but it feels like forever.

But, there is a Diary Queen in every one of those towns. Count on it.

6

Aha! That’s exactly the kind of info we need. You make it sound like staying on 40 to OKC, then dropping south on 35 might be preferable, even though it’s about 80 miles and one hour longer, according to Mapquest.

Either way, it will be December, so we won’t be in much mood for ice cream.

Thought about visiting the GC, but there are two things against us on that - the Park Service warns that weather in December is likely to be snowy, messy, cold and generally typical of mountain elevations in winter. Also, we’re traveling with animals, which adds another dimension of problems, regardless of the weather.

7

Bring a couple books on tape/cd. They really do help the time pass.

8

Pull off of 40 near Kingman, AZ and take Route 66 East till it meets back up with 40.

9

Why go through Dallas at all? Isn’t it easier just to stay on I-40 the whole way?

10

I was also going to recommend 287 if you were going to go from 40 to dallas. It looks sort of like a country road, and it technically is since there are many at-grade crossings, but it’s also a four lane divided highway with rest stops with a high speed limit.

If you’re gonna be staying in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, check out the Fort Worth Water Gardens. It’s right off the interstate. If you like water gardens and are going through there by day it’s even worth a side trip.

Unfortunately, between New Mexico and the Carolinas proper, there is literally nothing else I would consider worth stopping by and seeing, besides this. (Others might not be so cynical)

11

Ahhh, I hadn’t seen that there was a 40 to Oklahoma city to 35 to dallas option. I can see how that might be faster than 287. I just reflexively thought the alternative would be heading due south from Amarillo to Lubbock since I am so used to looking at atlases that only show 1 state at a time. But if you don’t see many honest-to-god small towns these days 287 might be worth the extra half hour or so, since there are many small towns to pass through, but a lot of open stretches of road between them.

12

It probably is, but we’re visiting family in Dallas along the way, so while the two ends may be California to North Carolina, it’s really California to Dallas and Dallas to North Carolina.

13

There’s a recent thread on Dallas/Fort Worth things to check out which may interest you. Link.

14

Who the heck ever advertised Columbia was great?? Charleston,SC is great, Columbia is the waiting room to Hades.

15

Ludovic is correct about 287, at least as I remember it. I have not been that way in a long time. But I can’t imagine it changed that much. If you are driving at night, you can make better time, daytime is much slower. You would think those small towns would slow you down, but they do.

If 40 to OKC and then down is only 80 more miles, I would do that. Probably a coin flip. I would suggest, if you have a little extra time, look for a highway just a little south of 40 through New Mexico. That might take a little extra time, but it can be very pretty. Although, if there is winter weather in the area, stick to the interstate.

That is about all I can provide on your route. Enjoy the trip.