I know variations of this have been asked in the past but here goes:We are in the initial stages of planning a cross country trip from NC to CA and back. Something we've always wanted to do. We have a few points on the list thus far : Nashville, (we may pick up a family member in Tampa), Tempe (to visit family), Grand Canyon, Redwood forest CA, Yosemite, etc. I know that's pretty generic and light itinerary but like I said we are in the initial stages and we plan to add a few more stops. Son is 13 so most of this is for his benefit. Although we seek out more natural landmarks than entertainment ones. In generic terms, how long should we give ourselves for a trip of this nature? I have a job so I can't more than 2 - maybe 3 weeks. Some have said you need that and more, but was thinking on the lines of 2 weeks. I'd rather not travel more than 6 hrs a day, and at least a day rest at destinations. Is this feasible? 6 hours a day at 60 mph = 360 miles. The 2800 coast to coast would take 7 days each way. So the drive alone would take 2 weeks. I originally thought planning a trip like this would be easy , but it's not. Balancing length of travel days, places you want to see and enough time to see them while on a tighter schedule is not as easy as I thought. Likewise we don't have much freedom on time of year either as we would need to take advantage of the summer school break. Any advise on overall planning or must have sites to see would be helpful.

Personally, I'd skip California. That state is an entire 3 week vacation itself. We go from Ohio to Texas, Arizona, Colorado and everything in between in about 3 weeks. Try to stay off the interstates, stick to the state highways. You'll have no problems with fuel and rest areas plus you'll see so much more of the country this way. Small and mid sized American towns are worth the detour. Depending on your route I'd say you should find the four corners, drive across Colorado on route 160, see the Iowa Freedom Rock, while your in Iowa stop at the I-80 truck stop in Walcott IA, supposed to be the largest truck stop in the US. Plus there are many road side attractions to see along the way. Have a safe and fun trip

Effy,Just to help you plan, I have found that we average about 50 mph when travelling. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. But with construction, traffic, fuel stops, etc., the 50 mph is usually a good guide (for Interstate & Highway travel). You only want to travel 6 hours per day, so that's about 300 miles per day. Using those numbers, you have about a 9 day trip to get to California directly, and then another 9 days back. In other words, 2 1/2 weeks just traveling, and that doesn't include a detour to Tampa, which would probably add another 2 days or so. Two or three months...sure. Two or three weeks? I think you need to reassess your goals and travel plans. I understand about planning around the summer school vacation schedule. Is this because you or your spouse is a teacher, or because you will be travelling with children? (On edit: Oops, just reread that your 13 y.o. son wil be with you. If he's a video game fiend, than he'll be happy as long as he has games. :) ) With younger children, you'll probably want to take even more frequent breaks along the way, and I'd plan a "down day" every two days to get them out of the RV for a spell. It just makes the entire trip more enjoyable. I've been trying to plan a similar trip with our family within a 6 week window and it's tough, and we're not including Florida or any East Coast points in the trip. We are a bit further north & east, of course. Recently wifey has been getting time driving the rig and the kids are old enough to be navigators, so we're hoping to be able to spend 12-18 or more hours on the road on some days. That will probably make it doable. But limiting yourself to about 300 miles per day won't even get you through of some states in a day! Not like up north here were we can see 6 states in a 300 mile round trip...almost! LOL :)Good Luck,~Rick

2 week is 14 days.On an average, you (Might) travel 50 miles an hour (really! I'm not kidding).6 hours a day driving time??? well, here's the math:6 hours a day (times) 50 miles a day (times) 14 days equals 4200 miles.So from Winston-Salem, NC to Los Angeles, CA (According to Bing Maps) is 2440.1 miles. Actual driving time: 36.15 hours. You could drive the distance round trip in 12 days averaging 50 mph. BUT ... you'll be exhausted and when you get to the points of interest, you won't be able to spend time there. Oh you can buzz by at 50 mph and say that you saw it. But what do you want ... to just see it, or to "experience" it. Get out, meet the local people, learn the local culture, customs, history. If you really want to make this an experience, you need more time, or a shorter distance. If you could travel one day, park and visit the next day, and third day travel to the next spot, park the 4th day to explore again, you will find the trip much more enjoyable and meaningful.So the question is, are go going for the drive, just so say you did it, or are you going so you can actually enjoy it and really get something out of it. If the second choice, you need more time!

So maybe we make drive time variable in order to meet the next destination. maybe it's 8-10 hrs, one day at destination etc. The last thing I want to do is rush and not see what we want to see, but at the same time I don't want to spend 12 hours in the saddle every day either.

As an example for us next year we're leaving western New York going to Mass, and then down to Tampa Fl. It'll take us 2 1/2 months to do this trip. IF you hammer it hard straight to Ca. you might have 3-4 days to spend out there and then HAMMER IT HARD to get back home on a 2 week vacation. Realistic on a 2 week vacation at most I might consider exploring New England, or other places EAST of the Mississippi.

Planning Cross country trip | Good Sam Community

32 Replies

Rick_Jay
Explorer II
Jan 30, 2017
Effy,

Just to help you plan, I have found that we average about 50 mph when travelling. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. But with construction, traffic, fuel stops, etc., the 50 mph is usually a good guide (for Interstate & Highway travel). You only want to travel 6 hours per day, so that's about 300 miles per day.

Using those numbers, you have about a 9 day trip to get to California directly, and then another 9 days back. In other words, 2 1/2 weeks just traveling, and that doesn't include a detour to Tampa, which would probably add another 2 days or so.

Two or three months...sure. Two or three weeks? I think you need to reassess your goals and travel plans.

I understand about planning around the summer school vacation schedule. Is this because you or your spouse is a teacher, or because you will be travelling with children? (On edit: Oops, just reread that your 13 y.o. son wil be with you. If he's a video game fiend, than he'll be happy as long as he has games. :) ) With younger children, you'll probably want to take even more frequent breaks along the way, and I'd plan a "down day" every two days to get them out of the RV for a spell. It just makes the entire trip more enjoyable.

I've been trying to plan a similar trip with our family within a 6 week window and it's tough, and we're not including Florida or any East Coast points in the trip. We are a bit further north & east, of course. Recently wifey has been getting time driving the rig and the kids are old enough to be navigators, so we're hoping to be able to spend 12-18 or more hours on the road on some days. That will probably make it doable. But limiting yourself to about 300 miles per day won't even get you through of some states in a day! Not like up north here were we can see 6 states in a 300 mile round trip...almost! LOL :)

Good Luck,

~Rick
schwartzworld
Explorer
Jan 30, 2017
Personally, I'd skip California. That state is an entire 3 week vacation itself. We go from Ohio to Texas, Arizona, Colorado and everything in between in about 3 weeks. Try to stay off the interstates, stick to the state highways. You'll have no problems with fuel and rest areas plus you'll see so much more of the country this way. Small and mid sized American towns are worth the detour. Depending on your route I'd say you should find the four corners, drive across Colorado on route 160, see the Iowa Freedom Rock, while your in Iowa stop at the I-80 truck stop in Walcott IA, supposed to be the largest truck stop in the US. Plus there are many road side attractions to see along the way.

Have a safe and fun trip

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Planning Cross country trip

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