Orlando to San Jose

[arlenesp]

My son is relocating to San Jose. This is a last minute trip. I have been delegated to be the co driver. We plan to take 4 days getting us there on a Sunday as I have to fly back on Monday. Has anyone done this before? Added insult on this trip is he is taking his cat in the car with us. So this will be an interesting trip. Is there a route that is better than others? Most of the routes look like they are taking us on 10.

 

[barkley]

that's a long trip-you're looking at at least 10 hours minimum strictly driving time (not on the road time with gas/break/meal stops) every day to make it that fast (and god help you if your son's cat is like ours-dh was ready to go insane when we moved and he had a 2 full day car trip with it, the cat still hisses when it sees the carrier in the laundry room).

not sure what route would be the best, but i'de suggest allowing more time than you think you need-those mapping programs that estimate travel time don't take into consideration what traffic will be like in a particular area depending on the day/time you'll be traveling there (in the san jose area it can be a nightmare crawl on the freeway or it can be fairly good, same with other urban areas).

if kitty is traveling with you i'de suggest looking into (ahead of time) pet friendly lodging-you'll be traveling through parts of the country that could get awfuly cold and not the kind of place you'de want (if you were thinking of it) to leave your pet in the car. also look to travel conditions and take that into consideration when planning your route (i'de be much more willing to go 2 hours out of my way when traveling vs. driving through terrible visability).

if he does'nt have one-consider buying a gps system. it's a godsend for areas like ours (not that you'll travel near us but there are other regions the same) where mapquest and the triple a type maps don't show all the roads, and are no help when it comes to navigating around road closures and detours. a gps is also great when it comes to finding restaurants, service stations and the odd specialty store you might find yourself in need of on the road.

happy traveling!

 

[jlmarr]

That's a heckuva drive. I once drove from Dallas to LA and it got old pretty quick - took the entire first day just to get out of Texas.

Anyway, I think you do need to start out on I-10 (Jacksonville, FL to Santa Monica, CA), but I'd suggest connecting with the I-40 at some point. That highway parallels the old Route 66 and might be some more interesting scenery for the passenger and the cat. I think you'd take US 287 from Dallas to Amarillo to do that. You'd pass through (or near) Barstow, CA, and swing north from there. That avoids the hills getting into and out of the Los Angeles basin.

 

[wmah]

4 days sounds like plenty of time to me, I'd keep the 4 planned days. With 2 drivers and if you can sleep in the car while the other drives you could pull it off in 2 days or 3 days. It all depends on if you can handle 12 plus hours driving straight per person. I personally don't like to stop until I have to refill the tank so it is a stop every 450 to 500 miles for me.

I10 looks like the quickest by only a couple hours compared to the alternate that "streets and trips" pulled up. But that doesn't take into consideration of road construction.

Alternate I pulled up brings you from Mobile AL to Jackson MS on smaller highway. And then another smaller highway leaving Dallas TX and going through Lubbock TX towards I40