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Road trip! NY to LA: What are the MUST see / do things?

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deadken

Diamond Member
My 23 YO daughter is going to be attending USC Law school later this year. We are planning on driving her car from Long Island, NY to the school (Los Angeles). We will be starting somewhere between Friday July 29th and Monday August 1st and need to be there to move her in by Monday August 15th. I'm expecting to fly back to NY on Tuesday August 16th (but, I haven't bought my ticket yet).

As it stands right now, we are planning to visit:
Sullivan, OH (family)
Boulder, CO (family)
Moab and Arches National Park, UT (sight see)
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ (sight see)
Las Vegas, NV (sight see)

As a car guy, I always imagined cruising parts of RT66 if I ever drove across the US. I did a quick google search and came up with some ideas. I heard that one of the best stretches of RT66 was from Seligman, AZ to Topac, AZ. It doesn't quite match up with our plans, so I tweaked the route to put us on RT66 at Winona and stay on until Hilltop.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
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So you're literally driving across the country and you're asking for things to see? Well that all depends on what route you're taking.
 
If you're a car guy and will be driving a fun car, the Tail of the Dragon is a worthwhile detour. Twisted Sisters in TX has a great reputation, and 191 in AZ is fun (between Alpine and Three Way).

deadken said:
My 23 YO daughter is going to be attending USC Law school later this year. We are planning on driving her car from Long Island, NY to the school (Los Angeles). We will be starting somewhere between Friday July 29th and Monday August 1st and need to be there to move her in by Monday June 15th. I'm expecting to fly back to NY on Tuesday June 16th (but, I haven't bought my ticket yet).
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If you're starting in July or August and need to get there by June, you may have a problem. 😉
 
deadken said:
We will be starting somewhere between Friday July 29th and Monday August 1st and need to be there to move her in by Monday June 15th. I'm expecting to fly back to NY on Tuesday June 16th (but, I haven't bought my ticket yet).
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You won't have time to see anything as you're planning on driving so fast you're going backward in time. Everything will be a blur... or maybe plaid.
 
I assume you mean July 29 to August 15. Roughly 16 or 17 days max.

Not a great time of year to be doing much outdoors in the desert southwest, so besides visiting Las Vegas, doing a little sight seeing in the Grand Canyon and driving down that bit of Rte 66, I wouldn't plan on doing much else down there.

It's going to depend on how much time you'll be spending with relatives, and you still have to fit in at least 2800 miles of driving in that 16 days.

I'd hit the southwest part of South Dakota - Mount Rushmore, Custer and the Needles, Devil's Tower (in nearby Wyoming), then spend some time in the mountains of Colorado, maybe with the relatives from Boulder. Probably out of the way, but San Francisco, redwoods and Big Sur would be high on my list to visit if headed to California. Never driven down the left coast, but it's on my bucket list.
 
Carson Dyle said:
I assume you mean July 29 to August 15. Roughly 16 or 17 days max.

Not a great time of year to be doing much outdoors in the desert southwest, so besides visiting Las Vegas, doing a little sight seeing in the Grand Canyon and driving down that bit of Rte 66, I wouldn't plan on doing much else down there.

It's going to depend on how much time you'll be spending with relatives, and you still have to fit in at least 2800 miles of driving in that 16 days.

I'd hit the southwest part of South Dakota - Mount Rushmore, Custer and the Needles, Devil's Tower (in nearby Wyoming), then spend some time in the mountains of Colorado, maybe with the relatives from Boulder. Probably out of the way, but San Francisco, redwoods and Big Sur would be high on my list to visit if headed to California. Never driven down the left coast, but it's on my bucket list.
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:thumbsup:

Yes! I was surprised how much I enjoyed South Dakota and how much there is to see (easily in my Top 3 best vacations; certainly beats out my Oahu vacation). :awe:
 
Thanks for pointing out the errors I made in the dates. Yes, it'll be around a 2 week trip.

I've added Moab and Arches National Park upon the suggestion of my cousin who lives in that area.

Thanks so very much for the suggestions! I'm going to check them out and see how I can fit them into the itinerary.
 
Carson Dyle said:
And your description of the area was much better than mine:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2471123#post38184903
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Awww. Thanks! 🙂

I definitely think that area of South Dakota is underrated (and shouldn't be). 😉



deadken said:
Thanks for pointing out the errors I made in the dates. Yes, it'll be around a 2 week trip.

I've added Moab and Arches National Park upon the suggestion of my cousin who lives in that area.

Thanks so very much for the suggestions! I'm going to check them out and see how I can fit them into the itinerary.
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That's on my bucket list! I've been to Zion National Park, but Utah has a few more places I have yet to see.


Carson Dyle said:
Also in that area... Check out Hoover Dam, if that sort of thing interests you.
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Indeed! OP, if you're going to this, the hour-long Hoover Dam Tour is worth doing. :awe:
 
I was thinking about including the Hoover Dam. I heard that since September 11, 2001 nobody is allowed to drive across it anymore. I do wonder how that will impact the time / tour / experience. I'll look into it some more. I think you guys are right, since we will be reasonably close, why not?
 
Four Corners Monument - you can stand in four states at one time!

19809-5283.jpg
 
2800 miles, 16 days? That's 175 miles per day average - very easily doable. However, what's the most you want to drive in one day?

I would imagine that you would prefer to take I-80 across Pennsylvania. It's scenic through the Poconos, but after a while, it starts to get boring. If you wanted to divert to a slightly northward route on your way to Ohio (That's in the Cleveland area, right?) You could hit Rt 17/6, it's 4 lanes for majority of the ride from the NYC area to Binghamton NY, then pick up I-86 that runs across the southern tier of NY. Along the way, (short side trip on the order of 20-25 miles off I-86), you have Watkins Glen - voted reader's choice #3 state park in the US, and a little further down the road you have Letchworth State Park, voted #1 state park in the US. http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-state-park/ Maybe Anubis or other ATOT members in that area would meet you at someplace like Club 57 in Hornell for a burger and a beer. Pre-requisite (This is ATOT after all, and I can't believe we made it this far without it... ) pics of 23 year old daughter? 😛 Such a route would put you comfortably into Ohio on the next day; about 4.5 hours from Hornell to Cleveland.

NYC to Letchworth - 320 miles. Letchworth to Sullivan, OH, 285 miles. But, that adds about 100 miles to the length of the trip from NYC to Sullivan.
 
deadken said:
I was thinking about including the Hoover Dam. I heard that since September 11, 2001 nobody is allowed to drive across it anymore. I do wonder how that will impact the time / tour / experience. I'll look into it some more. I think you guys are right, since we will be reasonably close, why not?
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The Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge was opened over 5 years ago, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_O'Callaghan–Pat_Tillman_Memorial_Bridge. There's a pedestrian section where you can take pics of Hoover Dam :thumbsup: (hubby and I parked at a nearby parking lot then walked to bridge).

If you're touring Hoover Dam, you'll have to park in the parking garage ($10 fee).
 
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