Cross Country Road Trip

[ridinhome]

<p>Hello everyone,<br>

I need to move some stuff from New York to San Francisco and so I'm planning a road trip. I've never done a trip of this magnitude, and I've never done a road trip by myself so I was hoping to get some advice from here. Since the primary purpose of this trip is to haul stuff, I will be driving a standard UHaul truck and might also be draggin a motorcycle on a trailer behind me. Naturally this limits my ability to take small country roads so I expect to be sticking to the highways mostly. That said, I was hoping to combine this trip with some photography. Equipment wise I expect to primarily use film (Canon A1 and a Canon T90). I'm budgeting roughly two weeks for this trip, and expect to be traveling through NY, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and of course CA.<br>

Although any advice is welcome, if you could highlight particular places of interest I should look at I'd be grateful. Also, if there are particular places to avoid etc. please let me know - for example, I saw on an earlier thread that South Texas is hostile to non-locals.<br>

Thanks everyone!<br>

Kayam</p>

[hfd4177]

<p>A lot depends on when you are planning your trip. Fall foliage, winter scenes or spring landscapes. But me personally I would stay north. I would also spend most of the two weeks in the West. I would hit Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, and Redwood National parks. Bu thats just me I love the National Parks. </p>

[bob_sunley]

<p>When is this trip? I wouldn't consider a northern route in winter, driving a uhaul on icy interstates doesn't sound like much fun to me, esp with a trailer. :( </p>

[ridinhome]

<p>Thanks both. My timing is a little up in the air right now, but I'm thinking first two weeks of November.</p>

[mizore]

<p>Tall Grass Prairie near Cottonwood Falls, Kansas; Boulder in Colorado, and since the snows come early in the north, take the middle route across. The Sierras are pretty amazing. I did a road trip to Denver about this time last year, but not to move.</p>

[jwallphoto]

<p>Two weeks is a lot of time for the trip. You could make numerous stops. Get out a map and pick the places you want to see. Maybe pick a southern route and a northern, then let the weather help you decide. You haven't even mentioned what kinds of things you'd like to see -- Yellowstone (Wyoming), or the Mall of America (Minnesota)? </p>

[ridinhome]

<p>John - fair point, sorry, should've mentioned. At this point, I'm more interested in seeing some of the Great American Outdoors, so thinking more Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore etc. But am always interested in interesting sights, particularly given that this is a photography trip (secretly the real reason why I'm doing this).</p>

[jwallphoto]

<p>I've made the cross-country trip a few times, but was always in a bit of a rush, yet I still saw lots of stuff. Two weeks is tons of time. I've gone the northern route and a southern route, and they're both excellent. Besides the weather in the northern route, you might also consider where in California you want to end up -- northern or southern? It basically takes all day to drive from San Diego to San Francisco, for instance.</p>

<p>I still say there's nothing like spreading out a map and picking your own stops. Driving a U-Haul, even without a trailer, will suck gas, so you want your route to be efficient. If it were me driving that beast, I'd tend to go to fewer places and stay longer in each one. Weather-permitting, your bike could come in very handy in that scenario. Even a bicycle bike could come in handy.</p>

<p>If you're camping at all, you'll be able to camp pretty much anywhere without a reservation in November, assuming a campground is still open. If you take a northern route, I'd definitely hit Yellowstone. From there you could head up past the Tetons to Washington State (Mt. Ranier) and over to the Olympic Peninsula, then make the excellent drive all the way down the coast. Actually, if you figured out your basic route, people could probably suggest things to see along that route. Otherwise your suggestions could make your route look like one of those maps of flight corridors you see in the back of airline magazines.</p>

<p>The big "if" in your November plans is going to be the weather.</p>

[michael j hoffman]

<p>Get off the interstates as frequently as possible. Steinbeck wrote back in 1960 that the interstate highway system makes it "possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing". Its still true today. Have fun and be safe! </p>

<p>Michael J Hoffman</p>

[stemked]

<p>Kayam,<br>

I don't know what you read about Texas, but it is nonsence. If you have NY plates you might get some ribbing, but you won't get any open hostility. I lived in Texas and while they love to make fun of New Yorkers, its nothing serious. Now I might warn you not to have Texas A&M plates in Austin, or UT plates in College Station...<br>

South Texas is a great place to go, especially for birding opportunities, but that would be WAY off your path.<br>

Currently I'm in Indiana (no offense taken that it wasn't noted in your trip but it IS between Ohio and Illinois). The colors are wonderful right now, but I suspect will pass soon. In W Indiana is Parke County which is loaded with lovely Covered bridges (they call themselves the Covered bridge capital of the world). There also a nice large waterfall nearby.<br>

Indy has some pretty good architecture; we also have a little race track here too I guess is worth a couple of shots. To the south of us in Columbus is one of the true small town architecture/art cities wonders of America. And the county to the west of that, Brown county is well know for its great fall shows.<br>

Northern Indiana (close to Chicago) has the Indiana Dunes with some great landscapes, Jasper Pulaski park (NW) at this time will have 9,000 Sandhill Cranes. The southern part of the state has a lot of nice waterfalls. Yup, all smushed between Ohio and Illinois.<br>

This summer I drove all the way to BC from here and likely followed much of your trip to at least central Nebraska where I turned north, which was very pretty. In Nebraska along the Platte River there should be close to 250,000 cranes this time of year, must be something to see and photograph (as noted the cranes here in Indiana are great too, but 250,000!). I can't say I saw a lot of interesting landscapes other than maybe the Mississippi between Indiana and Nebraska, but then I did take the Interstate.</p>

[tom_yin]

<p>If you take the southern route the string of national and state parks in southern Colorado (Mesa Verde) and southern Utah (Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon are beyond spectacular and probably will be less of a problem for snow at that time of year, though they can get a blizzard if your timing is bad (or good)! My favorite is Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab.</p>