Thinking about a cross country road trip.. Discuss

[silver04v]

Been thinking about taking some time off this fall and going on a cross country road trip. I've never been lower than DC when I went with school. Basically remember none of that really.
Also never been west. Would like to see the sights, and other places in the country. I've got some friends in California which could be my destination I suppose. Looking like it's basically 2 days worth of driving time alone.
My wife and I have never done something like this. It's a little bit intimidating.
Would like to get some folks opinions on things, places to stop, things to be sure to see, states to stay away from. We'd be traveling from NH. So let the discussion begin.

 

[Asteezy88]

I live in SoCal and if you end up coming to Cali you definitly have to stop by disneyland. The vibe there is amazing, lots of fun friendly people. Or magic mountain if you're looking for good rides beaches are also always nice to stop by over here.

 

[TattooedJp75]

I live in North Carolina. Have a childhood friend that lives in Colorado Springs where I used to live. Drove once to go back and visit. Basically took 2 days to make the drive but it was awesome! Got to drive through the smokey mountains, saw the arch in St. Louis, the severely boring flatlands of kansas was the absolute worst, but then the rockies in colorado come into view and its beautiful!! Did this all before there was such a thing as gps. Good ole road maps....just take lots of pics and enjoy the sights!! If you make it to Cali ( where my wife and I are from originally) you'll be so surprised on how different things are on the west coast compared to the east. Just take lots of pics & enjoy!

 

[silver04v]

I like the idea of road maps. I'm a big fan of finding my way. The wife, not so much. Definitely would be utilizing maps more than gps.
We definitely want to see the Grand Canyon if we go that far. And if we go that far, we definitely would want to see the Pacific.

California people, where is a good place that's not hella people infested to get to the beach and have some things to see.

 

[Asteezy88]

La jolla in San Diego is gorgeous, has some beautiful cliffs right on the ocean. Carpenteria is a good place to stay overnight on the beach. Anywhere in Malibu is nice too. Paradise cove in Malibu is a really nice private beach but you have to pay to park. Some beaches are nasty, dirty and people infested in Southern California so careful where ya go!

 

[Monk]

Just enjoy the ride, don't turn it into a race. Take breaks, pic's to look back on.
Never leave your car unlocked, keep stuff out of sight. park in the open.
I've taken so many cross-country trips I can't count them, don't think of it as any more than going to a town near by, that you've never gone to before........ it's just one more town one day at a time.
Buy lots of memory cards for the camera.

Do not miss the Colorado Mountains............

 

[Nix]

Come to the Dragon! Hahaha it's a long drive but California is totally worth it. I can't wait to move out there. Florida is a nice place to go if you don't want to spend a week in the car. You can hit up some nice spots in Orlando and its probably 24-30 hours of driving for you guys. It's about half the distance so you can see if you guys can stand being in the car for that long together!

My only real advice is drive the speed limit when you hit NY. The state troopers are not friendly. Especially if you cross near Albany.

 

[Monk]

Just my out look on the Grand Canyon. If you are going to just look from the top into the canyon try the NW rim(late afternoon).... Big hole........ If you want to see some good stuff ride up from the canyon into Monument park, Utah....... That's worth the trip........ Don't miss Colorado Mts. (get off the interstate).

 

[webby]

How long can you make the trip last? Depends on what you want to see, or what interests you, but here are some suggestions for stops:

About 30 min west of denver colorado on rt 70 (going west) is where the magic starts. Western CO on rt 70 is beautiful. Scenery like this for hours. If you're driving from NH, you're going to deal with a good deal of driving through kansas/nebraska etc that will be super flat. You're going to be staring at basically nothing but corn/farmland for what will feel like endless hours. Once you get through that, and get west of denver, the landscape changes drastically.

Yellowstone in WY is insane

lake tahoe on the Cali/Nevada border

glacier national park - montana (glaciers are melting, so what you see today...will not be there tomorrow)

yosemite park - cali (like 3.5hrs east of san fran)

redwood forest - cali (just outside San fran)

sedona red rocks - AZ

grand canyon - az

grand tetons - wy (about an hr from yellowstone)

Vegas, hollywood, san fran are all tourist stops you may like? Mount rushmore in south dakota... the badlands are like an hour from there. I guess it depends on if you want to see cities, or more "nature" stuff.