Cross country road trip
It's happening. I finished working on my Florida condo and am packing up and moving to Silicon Valley (I have a few appealing job offers out there). It costs $1400 to transport my car and fly myself there. On the other hand, I can drive out there for less, and also check out some states that I've never been through. I want to do the trip is less than five days, preferably four or less.
Any suggestions, comments, and additions are welcome. If I didn't indeed want them, I wouldn't have told you bums!
Here's the current intinerary. (whip out your google earth)
--- Day one (Marathon) ---
1. Start in Melbourne, FL
28° 4'37.51"N - 80°36'32.99"W
That's the 'ol condo. My car is the white one in the SE of the lot (a Subie WRX).
2. Leaving Florida: this takes me north and east across the pan-handle
North on I-95 to 528, which goes through Orlando
Connect to I-75 N
Connect to I-10 W
3. I-10 takes me through Mobile, Alabama. I'm not sure if it's worth stopping or not.
4. I-10 changes to I-110 and goes through Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Again, I'm not sure if it's worth stopping.
5. I-10 goes through Texas. Don't mess with Texas.
6. I-10 takes me through a pretty empty part of New Mexico and to Tuscon, Arizona. If I have been driving straight, which as of now is the plan, it will have been a little under 30 hours of road time. I'm stopping in Tucson to sleep.
-- Day 2 (Hill Climb) ---
6b. Check out the Pima Air Museum in Tuscon. I have a thing for military aircraft.
6c. Drive up Mt. Lemmon.
7. Take I-10 through Phoenix, switch to I-17 and then old route 180 to the Grand Canyon.
8. Take small roads along the canyon to old route 89 into southern Utah and through Zion national park on Utah state route 9. I'll probably spend the night near Zion.
-- Day 3 (Across the Desert) --
9. Take I-15 to Las Vegas. I'm not terribly interested in Vegas, but am up for suggestions.
10. Take old route 95 through Nevada, connect to old route 6 and then to California state route 120, which goes through Yosemite. Spend the night in Yosemite.
-- Day 4 (The homestretch) --
11. Continue on 120 to I-205/I-580, drive through Oakland, across the bay, south on state road 1 across the Golden Gate, and to SF to meet my friend who I'll be staying with until I get a place in the valley. I should be reasonably well rested since it will probably be saturday the 14th, might we decide to hit the bottle.
Any suggestions, comments, and additions are welcome. If I didn't indeed want them, I wouldn't have told you bums!
Here's the current intinerary. (whip out your google earth)
--- Day one (Marathon) ---
1. Start in Melbourne, FL
28° 4'37.51"N - 80°36'32.99"W
That's the 'ol condo. My car is the white one in the SE of the lot (a Subie WRX).
2. Leaving Florida: this takes me north and east across the pan-handle
North on I-95 to 528, which goes through Orlando
Connect to I-75 N
Connect to I-10 W
3. I-10 takes me through Mobile, Alabama. I'm not sure if it's worth stopping or not.
4. I-10 changes to I-110 and goes through Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Again, I'm not sure if it's worth stopping.
5. I-10 goes through Texas. Don't mess with Texas.
6. I-10 takes me through a pretty empty part of New Mexico and to Tuscon, Arizona. If I have been driving straight, which as of now is the plan, it will have been a little under 30 hours of road time. I'm stopping in Tucson to sleep.
-- Day 2 (Hill Climb) ---
6b. Check out the Pima Air Museum in Tuscon. I have a thing for military aircraft.
6c. Drive up Mt. Lemmon.
7. Take I-10 through Phoenix, switch to I-17 and then old route 180 to the Grand Canyon.
8. Take small roads along the canyon to old route 89 into southern Utah and through Zion national park on Utah state route 9. I'll probably spend the night near Zion.
-- Day 3 (Across the Desert) --
9. Take I-15 to Las Vegas. I'm not terribly interested in Vegas, but am up for suggestions.
10. Take old route 95 through Nevada, connect to old route 6 and then to California state route 120, which goes through Yosemite. Spend the night in Yosemite.
-- Day 4 (The homestretch) --
11. Continue on 120 to I-205/I-580, drive through Oakland, across the bay, south on state road 1 across the Golden Gate, and to SF to meet my friend who I'll be staying with until I get a place in the valley. I should be reasonably well rested since it will probably be saturday the 14th, might we decide to hit the bottle.
Comments
I'm sure you can do it, but those could be some long days. I drove from Sacramento to Ft. Worth in two days [noon Sunday to noon Tuesday] once, but I wouldn't do it again.
Also, think about cutting across Death Valley and then up through Bishop and then to Yosemite. (and use low gear going down)
Four days, across country might not leave much time for sight seeing.
Yeah, that's the unfortunate truth. That's why I'm trying to stick to sites where I can stay in the car. I need to be there for the week starting monday 16th April to conduct a few interviews, etc, (I haven't committed yet to any offers), but I want to hit SF with my friend on saturday. If I left now I could hit all sorts of places, but there's still some unfinished business here. I'd estimate that it would take two days to sort out the business, but I've learned over the years that I'm exuberant, and that in all likelihood I'll be here until the tenth.
If you like this sort of thing, spending a night sampling the night-life along Bourbon St in New Orleans is worth it. If you're gonna bypass stopping in New Oleans or Red Stick, then take the I-12 bypass around the north side of lake Ponchetrain (it reconnects with I-10 in Baton Rouge)... much quicker than staying on I-10.
Galveston (an hour each way off I-10) has a pretty decent Air Museum.
If you need a break in San Antonio... take a walk along the RiverWalk downtown (and check out the Alamo)... get a meal there. No really... a beautiful place... worth it.
The speed limit on I-10 west of San Antonio is 80
Zion and Monument Valley are AWESOME ... definitely take your time through there.
I have the same opinion of Vegas... but if you stop, watch the water fountains in front of the Belagio... they do a choreographed show every 30 minutes. It's the best show in Vegas (IMHO).
I've already been to most of the places between FL and Tuscon, which is why I'm skipping them. I haven't been to some of the second towns like Baton Rouge, etc, which is why they're listed. But, yeah, New Orleans and San Antonio are definitely good places to stop. No doubt about that.
As for Mel to Tuscon, Mapquest says 30 hours, and I can usually beat them. Radar detector, check. I'm also putting together an implement that I won't go into further detail about which should help speed things (let your imagination run wild). Plus, it's good training for the gumball 3000, which I have vowed to myself that I will partake in at some point. Once I make a few, cool mil.
While you're in San Francisco, go to the Giants game this weekend. We play the Dodgers...
If you don't go, I'll still require you to go to one game this season now that you are so close.
While you're in San Francisco, go to the Giants game this weekend. We play the Dodgers...
If by play you mean get your asses handed to you by, then you are correct.
It's happening. I finished working on my Florida condo and am packing up and moving to Silicon Valley (I have a few appealing job offers out there).
So jealous, BTW.
Spline, it's about time you made the right decision!
While you're in San Francisco, go to the Giants game this weekend. We play the Dodgers...
If you don't go, I'll still require you to go to one game this season now that you are so close.
I'll still be in Florida this weekend. I'll be in San Francisco next weekend. I'm definitely game for watching baseball at some point, though, so just send email. If Slewis wants to come too, I'll even buy him a soda and souvenir bat.
On a similar note, I am very upset that the San Jose soccer team left town. A few years ago a group of friends and I began a grassroots movement to spread soccer-related rowdiness and gambling to America. I would have snapped up some season tickets in a heartbeat, even despite the relative lack of quality of the league.
You might even consider whether or not you need a car where you're going to live. If I was moving such a long distance, I'd be considering selling it. It depends on if you have a good car though and whether it will still be a good car when you arrive.
Good luck on the move whichever you decide to do.
If by play you mean get your asses handed to you by, then you are correct.
You would poke your little greasy nose in this conversation.
I was wondering when you'd throw the first stone of the season.
Go crawl back in your little blue hole...
Apparently no one here is from California or Nevada. Hopefully you learn that 120 is not accessible before you drive 6 hours out of the way only to have to either turn around or go up north to Tahoe and then back down on the west side of the sierra nevada. (Sonora Pass is also closed at this time of the year)
Your best bet is to do what I did a few weeks ago and take I-15 to to CA-58 through the Tehachapi Pass and then take Highway 99 North and decide whether you want to go to Yosemite 9Highway 41) or just go to SF (205/580)
Four days, across country might not leave much time for sight seeing.
I'm sure you can do it, but those could be some long days. I drove from Sacramento to Ft. Worth in two days [noon Sunday to noon Tuesday] once, but I wouldn't do it again.
Also, think about cutting across Death Valley and then up through Bishop and then to Yosemite. (and use low gear going down)
I drove from California to Colorado in one day. By myself. No radio or tape player. No one else in the car to talk to. No cell phone. And my car almost died off the highway leaving Vegas... in the dead of winter... late at night. That was one scary trip.
Texas is really, really, really big.
Take I-10/20 to DFW, then I-35 North to I-70 to Selina, KS and hang a left. I-70 into Denver. I-25 from Denver up to I-80. Then I-80 to CA.
That? That's scenic. You drive I-10 across and you get an introduction to beige.
I also got the chance to drive over CA-152 in the night. It's a road that goes over some mountains between the valley (I-5) and the northern californian "coast" (CA-101). I was following a guy who was going way too fast, but I couldn't resist the urge to keep up. Those 20 minutes or so of driving were worth all of the scenery I may have missed. Turbochargers are fantastic. Thanks to the CHP for not being around.
What ended up happening was kind of a let down. A front came through the southwest and I had to fight to keep the car on the road. It coincided with final third of the 28-hour trek to Tucson, and when I woke up the next day, my arms were actually a little sore. I didn't think it would be a good idea to drive around the mountains much more, but I did instead get a decent look at Tucson.
I also got the chance to drive over CA-152 in the night. It's a road that goes over some mountains between the valley (I-5) and the northern californian "coast" (CA-101). I was following a guy who was going way too fast, but I couldn't resist the urge to keep up. Those 20 minutes or so of driving were worth all of the scenery I may have missed. Turbochargers are fantastic. Thanks to the CHP for not being around.
You just missed desert and a massive detour so I think you probably lucked out.
Regards,
Sean
I don't know even where to start.
As a matter of fact, I'm not going to say a damn thing...
Regards,
Sean
Regards,
Sean
P.S. I MEANT A MONTH OFF OF WORK