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Driving from San Francisco to Boston

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San Fran -> Salt Lake
Salt Lake -> Nebraska
Nebraska -> Chicago
Chicago -> Buffalo
Buffalo -> Boston

Best planning
 
find a route with better road conditions and weather and go with a friend. If you take your time it can be fun enough, I mean, you get to see the landscape, and driving 6 hours a day per person is fine.
 
My dad drove from San Francisco to Ottawa, definitely possible if you pace yourself according to weather, your abilities, sleep patterns, city accomodations etc
I say 5 days is a safe estimate
 
Depending upon where your friends are staying, zipcar may be the better option.

Is there free off street parking available? If not, bringing a car may be just another headache they do not need right now.
 
CanOWorms said:
You should go on the I-40 route if you're worried about the weather.
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No one paid attention to the OK weather last week?

And you are suggesting that they take an extra 400-600 miles haul south and then north.

right now, the plains are basking in 50-70 degree weather for this week.
 
BoomerD said:
With the "modern" interstates, it's a fairly easy drive nowadays. Plan your trip for no more than 10 hours of driving, stay in decent motels along the way, and enjoy the scenery.
Allow a week for the trip.
This really isn't the time to make that drive though. Winter weather often makes the drive much longer and more hazardous.
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This, unless you want to head south and add several days to the trip, but snow is bad almost everywhere right now. The northern route is probably a "do not attempt" right now.
 
GagHalfrunt said:
Alone you better figure 6-7 days. That's driving 10 hours a day. If you can do 12 hours knock one day off the trip. It's not something I'd do alone, that sort of trip really needs a 2nd driver.
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I did NYC to Denver in 2 days.
I've done Denver to SF in 1 day.

Unless you drive like grandma.... then it might take 7 days to go cross country... and need a 2nd granny with ya.
 
Unless you take more than a week you're not really going to have much of a vacation. 10 hours a day driving doesn't leave much chance to look around. Also, just the cost of driving (gas, food, motel, etc) will probably make it similar in cost to shipping the car.

I've driven cross country twice, both times were not experiences I would classify as "fun".
 
Bignate603 said:
Unless you take more than a week you're not really going to have much of a vacation. 10 hours a day driving doesn't leave much chance to look around. Also, just the cost of driving (gas, food, motel, etc) will probably make it similar in cost to shipping the car.

I've driven cross country twice, both times were not experiences I would classify as "fun".
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In '08, I was thinking about send a spare car from the Bay area over to Annapolis.

Quotes were coming in around $800+.

Figure fuel at $100/day, lodging at $40/night and food at $35/day; you come out ahead driving if your time does not count.

You have 3200 miles between the two points.
If you average 70mph, that is 45 hours drive.
And in the Bay area you will not average 70mph, nor in the Sierras, Chicago and probably not the 120 miles in Mass.
While one person can do 12-14 hrs at a time; to attempt it for 3-4 days straight is not advisable. Best is 10-12 hours to ensure plenty of rest and alertness.
 
A few words about I-80:

I've driven I-80 San Francisco to NY by one-way rental car a few summers ago. (And no, I don't work for a car company. Whoever was disrespectful in another thread would have lost their money if they had bet.) While there are no snow storms in the summer, there can be tornadoes. Still beats snowstorms.

911 coverage is sometimes spotty, especially in the mountainous areas in the west and again in PA. Long stretches have no cell phone coverage with major national companies. But think about it: Locals have cell phones that will work. Asking politely works wonders.

There are gates where the road is closed in winter snowstorms, along with tiny towns you probably would have to spend several days in such a case. There are chain up and chain removal areas before and after mountains.

There are plenty of Motel 6s, but check the prices and make a list ahead of time. The prices can vary widely, even relatively close by.

Ethanol gas is high octane and cheaper. The gas mileage will make up for that. Also get a travel book that has a list of gas stations. Distances between them can be very long. Flying J is good and cheap, but the small gas station in a tiny town between mountain ridges won't be.
 
I'd say crazy. Having been all over that route when I was young (parents loved vacations but were terrified of flying), I wouldn't choose to do it again. Sure, some of your trip will be beautiful (the first and last day roughly). But there will be a 2-3 day strech with nothing but boredom as you cross through the midwest.

For the same cost of moving a car back and forth across the country (not even counting the cost of your flight), your friend could just rent a car for 2-3 months. Or even better, buy a used car and resell it (possibly even at a profit if he is lucky).

I say you fly to visit your friend in Boston, tour the northeast for fun, and if you want to spend that money, rent him or buy him a used car.
 
I would plan for 12-14 days and use it as a vacation to see America. Can you sleep in the car for a couple days? Do your friends have camping equipment you can use for the grand canyon?
 
dullard said:
I'd say crazy. Having been all over that route when I was young (parents loved vacations but were terrified of flying), I wouldn't choose to do it again. Sure, some of your trip will be beautiful (the first and last day roughly). But there will be a 2-3 day strech with nothing but boredom as you cross through the midwest.

For the same cost of moving a car back and forth across the country (not even counting the cost of your flight), your friend could just rent a car for 2-3 months. Or even better, buy a used car and resell it (possibly even at a profit if he is lucky).

I say you fly to visit your friend in Boston, tour the northeast for fun, and if you want to spend that money, rent him or buy him a used car.
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If they're staying near enough to the Longwood Medical Center to walk or take the T over there and only need the car for random errands or a night out, their best bet is a Zip Car. $50 to join and then hourly rates charged, they take care of everything else. The cars are plentiful in the city and surrounding towns, so finding one won't be a problem.

If they're commuting to Longwood, just do a long-term rental from Avis or something. Both are much less of a hassle than buying a used car.

OP, just fly to Boston and hang out with them. Take them out somewhere nice, do some sight-seeing with them. There are loads of things to do around here, and they'll appreciate it. Shoot me a PM if you need ideas.
 
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