Anyone done a cross country trip

[Minnie-Mickey]

Looking to plan a summer vacation. Something not the norm. Wondering if anyone ever rented a car and drove ma to ca or something similar. I have two weeks vacation to use in summer. Would be two adults and two teens traveling. Any other thoughts for vacation ideas. My budget is no more than 5k.

 

[Dawnlight]

I did a cross country trip about 20 years ago. BF, now DH, and I rented a car for a month and drove 10,000+ miles around the country. We started in CT, drove south, with stops along the way, to FL, then up to MO, down to NM, NV, AZ, CA, then back up along the northern part of the country. I think there were only a handful of states that we missed.

It was an amazing trip that I hope one day to repeat!

 

[Happy Snowman]

It would be hard to do much in just 2 weeks driving across country but maybe you could plan a route to see a lot of places. It's 44 hours straight driving from MA to CA (Boston to LA). That's pretty much 6 days of just driving assuming you want to stop and sleep on driving days. Maybe pick a destination closer and hit sites along the way?

 

[mom2boys]

We done several trips from MD to West Coast. Two weeks is no where near enough time unless all you plan to do is ride in the car. I would attempt it in less than a month - six weeks is optimal in our book.
Have you considered flying to a point out wet and then driving. If you want to se the Rockies and SW USA - consider Denver or Albuquerque. Vegas is a good starting point too.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

Thank you for the quick replies. I was wondering if two weeks was just not enough time. I was checking camper rentals for driving trips and was surprised at just how expensive it was to rent and then .34 per mile. Back to the drawing board. Any favorite vacations? We have done WDW many times as well as Ohio, NJ, Penn (but the kids were in a stroller near the liberty bell), DC, NH, ME. How about driving to Quebec City? Anyone been there? Is there enough things to do for almost college age kids? Thoughts on Nova Scotia?

 

[Lunchlady]

In June 2012 my husband daughter and I made a cross country trip. We live in NC and we went for 2 1/2 weeks. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We even took our dog with us so our overnight stays were a bit of a challenge but we did it. We stopped in Las Vegas for 3 nights and saw a lot of things along the way. Our main stay was in California to visit Disneyland and California Adventure. We also went to Universal Studios Hollywood. Visiting Hollywood was great and on the way home we visited White Sands National Monument. I say go for it!!!! It was a once in a lifetime experience.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

Dear Lunchlady,
Did you drive out and back or drive just one way? Were were some of your stops? Maybe you could give me some advice.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We made a 7,500 mile loop in 1977 - we took 6 weeks.

 

[pammypooh]

In the summer of 2004, my family did a cross country trip in our motorhome from PA to CA and back in about 4.5 weeks. Our major stops were Colorado Springs, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Disneyland (our only hotel stay - should have seen the valet as we pulled up with the motorhome!), Laguna Beach, Giant? Sequoia, Yosemite, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Door County (Relatives) and then family in Pittsburgh. Lots of amazing memories.

 

[Skippy918]

DH, me and a friend did a 3 week road trip of the mountain states.. Drove from Texas and went west to NM, then north to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Colorado. We visited 8 national parks and drove 5000 miles. It was fun.

 

[leebee]

York Beach, ME to San Francisco, CA, in a Hyundai Excel hatchback with everything we could possible fit jammed inside, the bikes strapped to the back! It was a long drive- around 50 hours driving time, 3400 miles, and we visited friends along the way. Basic breakdown was 6½ hours from York to Syracuse, NY, then another 7 hours to Sandusky, Ohio. Another 6½ hours to Louisville, KY. Two days from KY to Denver, then 2 more days to San Francisco. There are slightly shorter routes but that's how we went.

We visited relatives in Syracuse and Sundusky, going to Cedar Point while in Ohio. We stayed outside of Louisville with family and toured the area for a day. We hauled it to Denver for a visit, then over to Gunnison, CO to see my FIL. From there we did a loop down to the Silverton/Durango area, Mesa Verde, Telluride, and back to Gunnison (this loop isn't included in the driving time- this was vacation!).

I am seeing 6 or 7 driving days in each direction, so two weeks is not really enough time for this trip.

How about Canada? You could drive out through Buffalo to Niagara Falls, up through Toronto, over to Quebec, then back to MA through either VT or ME. Yahoomaps puts it at about 1450 miles/24 hours of driving time. You'd have plenty of time to hit amusement parks (Six Flags in western MA, can't think of the name of the one just south of Rochester, NY), investigate Niagara Falls, explore Canada, see Vermont (Stowe, Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Creamery). You'd even have time to make a loop down through the Finger Lakes towards Ithaca and check out the gorges and wineries. Just remember- everyone needs a passport to go to Canada!

 

[wishesuponastar]

In June 2012 my husband daughter and I made a cross country trip. We live in NC and we went for 2 1/2 weeks. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We even took our dog with us so our overnight stays were a bit of a challenge but we did it. We stopped in Las Vegas for 3 nights and saw a lot of things along the way. Our main stay was in California to visit Disneyland and California Adventure. We also went to Universal Studios Hollywood. Visiting Hollywood was great and on the way home we visited White Sands National Monument. I say go for it!!!! It was a once in a lifetime experience.

I'm so curious how did you manage to take your dog? Did you pre-book hotels that allow dogs or did you go in an RV and keep your dog in there?

 

[aprilgail2]

Looking to plan a summer vacation. Something not the norm. Wondering if anyone ever rented a car and drove ma to ca or something similar. I have two weeks vacation to use in summer. Would be two adults and two teens traveling. Any other thoughts for vacation ideas. My budget is no more than 5k.

My daughter and I are doing that this summer from NY-WA then down through Ca and back across- but we are taking 6-7 weeks. Just the car rental alone is close to 3k. but I am buying a new car and don't want to put 8-10 thousand miles on it in 2 months so its worth it to me.

 

[mom2rtk]

I absolutely champion the idea of getting out and seeing the country! I just caution you to find a way to do it so you don't feel like you are speed touring, needing to leave every attraction seemingly as soon as you arrived.

We did our first big driving trip in 2 weeks, but we started from the middle of the country so didn't have as much ground to cover.

If you plan right, there is enough along the way to break things up so the driving part itself isn't as bad as it seems.

I probably would not drive MA to CA and back in 2 weeks. I'm skeptical whether that leaves enough time to make the stops along the way. I would look at some alternatives. Maybe find a way to add some more time or perhaps
fly one way, drive the other (not cheap but saves miles on your own car).

And I'll add what I tell everyone heading to the southwest. If you pop in to see the Grand Canyon and leave, you are doing yourself a big disservice. Arches, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands.......... are amazing places as well. If you can find time to add one or two of these you won't be disappointed.

 

[Lunchlady]

We drove the entire trip. We stayed at Motel 6 while traveling and La Quinta. She was a good traveler. We just spent 2 weeks in Florida during Christmas. My furbaby has traveled a lot!

 

[wishesuponastar]

Lunchlady, thank you for that info.

 

[minniecarousel]

We live in Northern California and drove a western US National Parks vacation. We did Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon. We finished up with a few days in Las Vegas. You would want to add Yosemite (we had been already). Totally doable in 2 weeks if you fly into the Bay Area & then rent a car.