Around the Country in 14 Days

[AshleeH]

We're planning a trip to California for 2013, but we don't just want to do a straight-shot there and straight-shot back so we're making a circular drive of the U.S. ETA: We're now making it a California/southwest trip and saving the northern states for another time. I'd love to know of the sights to stop and see! Especially the ones that might not be as obvious (we've got the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the San Diego Zoo, and of course: Disneyland).

Any suggestions are appreciated! I was three years old last time I made this trip, so that is less than useless as far as memories go.

The major cities we'll be passing through: Dallas, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and St. Louis (although we live near St. Louis, so no tourist destinations are necessary for that location). Thanks!

 

[usnuzuloose]

If you like food, there is a little town called Solvang near Santa Barbara which has alot of food places for danishes, sandwiches and shopping. It is fun.

 

[skiingfast]

I'm very familiar with this drive. I'd consider doing a couple things.

There is little to see if you just go down to I-80 and go across, a few things but nothing great. So by adding less than a couple hours to the drive there are a couple options.

Stay north on I-90. Or cut across Wyoming.

Staying North. Devils Tower, you can see this from I90 but it's tiny and worth the drive to take a closer look, Sheridan Wy, nothing but a beartiful town, Lewis and Clark St Park, has a cool cavern. , Butte MT. old mining/western town. Drop down into Idaho on I-15.

At Sage Junction go west on Idaho 33 to Arco, then US 20 to Craters of the Moon National Monument. You can visit this park in about 4 hours, bring flashlights to explore the caverns on your own. Craters of the Moon is just a weird place with scenic land scapes and vistas. Then take US 20 to US 93 and South to Twin Falls. You can work your way through Twin Falls Idaho and leave it on US 93 which goes to Wells, NV and put you on I-80.

Going through Wyoming. While the quick way is to go on US 95 south to Lusk WY, and then west on US 20 to I-25. Go west(north) to Casper and south on US 287 back to I-80 in Rawlins. Unforunately this puts you on I-80 just west of Sinclair WY. Legend has it that at the refinery in Sinclair is the cheapest gas station in the US (though I have not been there since gas was under $1 and don't know if it still exists or is open to the public).

Going through Wyoming the still quick but slightly longer way. Go from the Black Hills into Wyoming on Us 16 to Newcastle. Then west on WY 450, seeing absolutely nothing, no fence, telephone poles just open spaces, you also pass through a giant coal mine. The make a right at the stop sign, and in Wright a left on WY 387. You pass by the historical Tea Pot Dome(nothing great to see), and onto I-25 which you take south to Casper, WY.

In either case of going through Wyoming you can leave Casper going west on US 26. This will take you over a pass that may have snow along the road well into June and possibly some off the shoulder into July. The pass drops down into Jackson Hole. You can go inside or outside Grand Teton National park, outside is shorter and has a handful os scenic pullouts, inside has incredible views, pullouts, short hikes, long hikes. Lots of chances to see wildlife, including, elk, deer, moose, bison and possibly bears. In the town of Jackson go west on WY 22 which turns into ID 33. In Victor In make a left at the light on ID 31, and right at Swan Valley onto US 26. Go west on US 26 into Idaho Falls.

From Idaho Falls, you can take I15 south to Pocatello, take I84 west to Twin Falls and exit onto US 95 south to Well NV, and I-80.
Or
Take US 20 west to Craters of the Moon.


Everything above just adds upto a few hours of drive time.

In Nevada you could exit I-80 and go to Lake Tahoe. I prefer exiting 80 in Fernley onto US 95 south. Then make a right onto US50 to Carson City. You can visit the historical silver mining town of Virginia City a few miles north of US 50. In Carson City I like taking US 50 up the Sierra's and long the shores of Lake Tahoe, then out of South Lake through the historical gold mining town of Placerville. Continue on US 50 to Sacremento, train museum, and I80 to the Bay Area.

Along these routes are many small historical sites, museums and parks.

 

[skiingfast]

From SF down to LA, if you can take a day plus.

Go to Santa Cruz on CA 17 from San Jose and then Hyw 1. Or take US 101 south past San Jose and CA 156 to Hwy 1. Montery Bay Aquarium. Hyw 1 south along the coast, through Big Sur, some short hikes lots of views along the way. In San Simeon you can visit Hearst Castle, make reservation well ahead of time. Shortly after you will get back to US 101 which is great the rest of the way to LA and will pass by Solvang as suggested above.

 

[AshleeH]

Thank you, to both of you! I can't wait to start playing around with itineraries! My dad (who has traveled all over the U.S. quite a bit) told me I had to take HWY 1 when in CA, so that and a few other stops (like Mt. Rushmore) are the only things planned so far. This is going to be a long 15 months waiting to start this trip! At least we'll be going to WDW in between, so the anticipation won't kill me .

 

[sasywtch]

I agree with between Sacramento and Salt Lake City. South Lake Tahoe and then to Virginia City (or reverse as not sure which way you are going). I love going to Virginia City. There is a cemetry there from the 1800's (sounds morbid but it is interesting). My best friend is getting married up there next year.

 

[Katems]

If you can manage to drive through the Badlands in South Dakota they are AMAZING. Nothing to DO, just drive through the park and LOOK at the amazing topography. You can pull over and get out and walk on the fascinating land, too. We drove through it and our girls, ages 8 and 12 loved it. It's just so unreal.

If you're into Laura Ingalls Wilder you can visit one of her childhood homesites in De Smet, South Dakota. If you manage to hit Missouri on the trip you can then visit her adult homesite in Mansfield.

 

[EPCOT66bye]

Ashlee:

We're considering a similar trip but from the East Coast...and probably a bit longer than 14 days! But our boys are REALLY into LEGOs, so in addition to a probable stop in San Diego, there is also a LEGO Discovery Center outside Dallas in Grapevine. Sounds like it's in an outlet mall, because there are several hotels near by. I know it's an indoor thing, but we wanted to be sure to add stops totally devoted to their interests so they could bear the "boredom" of some of the National Parks.

Rob H.

 

[AshleeH]

Thanks, Rob! We'll be stopping in Dallas to see the stadium and book depository (for my husband's two obsessions - Cowboys and JFK) so we'll have to look into that.

We're hoping to do the same thing and stop at interesting places for them so the more "boring days" that the parents want will be tolerable.

I think our current plan has us making the trip in 17 days (and that's a lot of 9 hour driving days!) but I'm already looking forward to it .

 

[mybestieismickey]

Just some thoughts on the Salt Lake area. There is a fun children's museum downtown that your boys might like and the Clark planetarium is across the street. Might be some good places to let the boys blow off steam.

http://www.childmuseum.org/

http://clarkplanetarium.org/

Also, on the other side of town, This is the Place heritage park is fun place to visit. It's like a pioneer village place that has lots of fun things to see and do, varying by season.

Temple Square downtown is beautiful and there are free tours.

If you happen to head south into Southern Utah, or decide to take the 70 across from Utah to St Louis, I cannot recommend Zion enough. It's incredible, and there are quite a few hikes that young kids can do like Weeping Rock, and the Riverside walk.

What a fun trip! Have fun planning!

 

[eduk8r26]

If you take I-40 through Texas and Oklahoma, there is the Cadillac Ranch (graveyard) in Amarillo and the Oklahoma City Memorial to the victims of the Federal Building bombing. Quite a sobering sight, especially seeing the chairs of all the children.

 

[Bete]

If you take I-40 through Texas and Oklahoma, there is the Cadillac Ranch (graveyard) in Amarillo and the Oklahoma City Memorial to the victims of the Federal Building bombing. Quite a sobering sight, especially seeing the chairs of all the children.

We are doing the same route as the OP, but we leave Monday for 24 days out west and making a loop, too.

 

[yoyo93]

If you're willing to drive through Nevada, there's a great place right near the border of Nevada and Utah at the Great Basin National Park. We went camping there for a week last summer and completely fell in love with the place. Even if you don't want to camp there, (if you go) check out the Lehman Caves. It's something I think everyone should see in their lifetime! However if you do this I think the best route would be to go from San Francisco, up to Tahoe (so you can see the lake and sites there as well) then down to Reno and through Sparks. It's a pretty long drive through the middle of Nevada, with not much to see except ghost towns, petroglyphs and sand dunes. But the drive is definitely worth it.

 

[rtfelt]

A tour of CA should include Yosemite and Sequoia National parks, but you need to book as soon as they open up reservations.

Taking Hwy 1 is a beautiful drive--and very Californian--but it will take a lot longer than the I5. The speed is slower, there are stop lights, and tourist areas that slow you down along the way. I think it's worth it, but you have to look at how much time you have versus what you want to see.

 

[dshimel]

Interesting project... if it We me.

I put in St Louis to San Fran and Google maps recommends I40, I17, I10. San Fran to st louis says I80 up through Wyoming.


Let's do a clockwise loop. I have never lived in OK or NM, so not sure what there is to do thre. I'd say


Day 1: 16 hour straight drive to Albuquerque.

Day 2: 4 hour drive to Painted Desert. Couple hours there. Another 2 hour drive down through Petrified Forest to US180, then back to I40 at Holbrook and on to Meteor Crater. The crater is only 6 miles off the road and you will not need very long there. You have done the desert.

Then continue on up into the forests to Flagstaff for dinner. There are some cute restaurants, shopping across Route 66 from the Train Station. Then a couple more hour drive to Grand Canyon Village top stay for the night.

http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm
http://www.meteorcrater.com/Admission-Prices
http://www.flagstaffarizona.org/


Day 3: Grand Canyon then 6 hour drive to Tucson.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g143028-Activities-Grand_Canyon_National_Park_Arizona.html

Day 4: Tombstone and Karchner Cavern. 7 hour drive to San Diego
http://www.cityoftombstone.com/
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html

Day 5: Seaworld
Day 6: San Diego Zoo, then Uss Midway, then Seaport Village
http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-sandiego/
http://www.midway.org/
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
http://www.seaportvillage.com/
Drive to DL area hotel

Days 7, 8, 9 Disneyland.
After Disneyland on day 9, 4 hour drive to Visalia or somewhere around there.


Day 10
2-3 hour drive up into Sequoia National Park, through the Giant Forest, up to Lodgepole campground. 3.5 mile round trip hike to Tokopah fall and back. 5-6 hour drive up through the farmland of the central valley upto San Fran.

Day 11, 12 San Fran

Day 13, 14 = 2, 16 hour days of driving home.


Ohs nos. I didn't see you had listed Dallas. Yikes. I am not sure what you wanted to do in Dallas.


I guess you'd have to give up the Tombstone/Karchner caverns day, and maybe a Seaworld or Disneyland day. You could probably squeeze San Fran down to one day. Hmmm.



Let's say that your 14 days is really 2 weeks from end of work on Friday until... say the Saturday evening, giving you sunday to recover before returning to work... Let me rework it, putting in Dallas.


Friday, leave after work as say 6PM, drive 6 hours to Tulsa to get in about midnigh.
Saturday, 4-5 hour drive into Dallas and rest of the day doing whatever it was you planned to do there
Sunday, half day in Dallas and 11 hour drive to Albuquerque.
Monday = Painted Desert, Flag, drive to grand Canyon
Tuesday = Grand Canyon, drive to Tucson
Wednesday = Tombstone, Karchner, drive to San Diego
Thur, Fri San Diego
Sat, Sun, Mon DL
Tues Sequoia, San Fran
Wed, Thur San Fran
Friday, Sat 2 LONG days driving home.


If you could leave out Dallas, and have 15 vs 14 days it really eases up the drive home letting you do 3 10-11 hour days instead of 2 16-hour.

 

[dshimel]

We are doing the same route as the OP, but we leave Monday for 24 days out west and making a loop, too.

24 days... nice. That is a schedule you can work with....

the 14 day is tight when you effectively have 5 FULL days of driving in there.

 

[dshimel]

wait, mount Rushmore AND Dallas and san fran and Diseneyland and San Diego and grand canyon and...

You are building about 6-7 full days of driving into a 14 day trip.

So, 1 day in San Fran, 1 day at Disneyland , 1 day in San Diego?

I think that you are going to find that you are trying to build too much into this trip for 14, or even 16 days.

 

[jstbcuz]

Monument Valley in Arizona is very pretty too.

We are going to California for 11 days and having a hard time fitting everything in just in that one state. We range in age from 6-42 and I dont want it to seem like get in the car, ok check it out, now get in the car so we can get to the next destination.

I think the PP is right........there is a lot to see for 14 days. You know your family best and what they can tolerate. Its hard to pick and choose tho......I know!!

 

[hamellr]

Ashlee:

We're considering a similar trip but from the East Coast...and probably a bit longer than 14 days! But our boys are REALLY into LEGOs, so in addition to a probable stop in San Diego, there is also a LEGO Discovery Center outside Dallas in Grapevine. Sounds like it's in an outlet mall, because there are several hotels near by.

It's actually a regular mall. It's got a lot of hotels nearby as the Dallas Airport is right there. I was there about two years ago only a few weeks before LEGO opened.