Driving across country, route/must see area?
 

I will be driving from CT to SF with my two dogs. I have 7 days to do this trip on a rental. I have to decide on what route to take. DO you guys have any suggestions? The fastest route is I-80 all the way through, but that's a boring drive. I am thinking about driving through CO and head into Bryce Canyon and Yosemites. Yellowstone might be too far. Keep in mind I have to do mostly driving trips as I have the two dogs and valuable items with me in the car. What do you guys think?

Sorry, wish I could help. Sounds fun. Take some pics

Early on, Route 6 in northern PA is a sweet ride on my motorcycle. You hook into it around Scranton.

Once you get to the midwest, the old Route 66 has some cool stuff here and there.

Is that a Hartford Whalers logo? Did you just wake up from a coma? :ugh:

Hop on 70 and take it to 24 through southern colorado--you can hit pike's peak and then Vail & Breck on the way back up.

You could also take 50 through San Isabel.

SLC is worth a stop as well IMO. Moab is neat as well.


If you hop on 70 early, you can hit Pitt, Indianapolis, STL, and Kansas City.

There's a lot to do in denver as well, but if you're going for outdoors stuff it's better to detour around.

I will give it a look, thanks.

Yes it is, I am stuck in 1997.

I will give it a look, going up Pikes Peak might be tough in a rental van

There's a trolley you can take as well

Wait, are you driving a van or the Z?

Yosemite is a great detour and also has some killer roads if traffic doesn't suck.

If you do travel the easy I-80 route though Utah, then a high speed run on the salt flats would be a fun stop (in the Z that is). Other spots on my future list in UT are Zion and Bryce but those maybe too out of the way when going to SF.

You also mentioned Yellowstone which is great. If you do detour more North then you can swing by Mount Rushmore outside of Rapid City in South Dakota.

I would go this approximate route (the outdoor sites should be more dog friendly):

CT > Chicago, IL > Rapid City, SD > Yellowstone National Park, WY > Salt Lake City, UT (salt flats ;)) > Yosemite National Park, CA > San Fran

I will be driving a mid sized SUV, I changed it from the van as the Grand Caravans are horrible to drive. They are not comfortable. Hopefully they give me a GL350 :)

there's a mc'ds on your left-hand side about 3hrs past grand island in nebraska where a pretty girl works.

but that was 15yrs ago so may not be very pretty any more... :ugh2:

have a safe trip, cossie! :tup:

Have a great trip friend! :tup:

In my 3x cross country trips, I took the same route: VA to KY to TX to So Cal then to WA. It was UBER boring, so by all means stick to 80 West. You get to see South Cleveland, Shy Town, Des Moines and Omaha.

I'm up here in Fargo, and I'll tell ya, the Northern Plains just dont have that much to offer past Lincoln, Nebraska. If you're looking for more grasslands, we've got what you need.

But if desert is more your style (mine personally), take 81 South to Knoxville, then to Nashville and through Little Rock and I-40 onward to Dallas. You can see alot of old school broke down cars in people's yards, ranches, "world's biggest" things, etc.

:rolleyes: