[1LRM3]

personally I would be picking up collectible old automobilia / advertising along the way too... memoirs of the trip and if you can fire up any more cash to take with you, you can purchase things of interest.... assuming you did not make mention of cc usage.

also, are all of the parks non pay to enter? I sure thought I paid to enter some when I did the trip... though could be wrong.

[3s4u2]

This makes me want to take off a week and hit the road!

Hope you have a trouble free trip and wish you the best.

[natedog7700]

Originally Posted by jtodd_fl

I will let others comment on places to see, as I have never driven this southern route. I will say that your budget seems low. If you plan the maximum budget and the minimum stay overs, you need to be under $100 a night. Without anal rape or giving handy' son the side for money, I'm not thinking that is going to cut it. I assume gas is not part of that budget belts say you eat utter crap and average $20 a day in food. That is $240 (minimum). That leaves you at like $80 for hotel per night. I would look at some planned hotel stops. This may need adjustment. Again, I used best case numbers.

Edit: sounds like fun though! Enjoy. Lots of cool stuff: plains, mountains, desert...

Lolol i agree though, thats a low budget and to be fair, sounds a bit depressing. Whats the point if you have to live off of anal rape and transporting drugs to fund it? To each his own i guess! Have fun out there, the grand Canyon is an awesome sight!

Like everyone else said, camping could save you tons of money and every other night sounds like a good idea. Also, load up the trunk with tons of dry food for snacks/replacement meals!

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Lups

Wyoming. Take a day and go nuts.

I'm going to Montana in a few months!

[natedog7700]

Originally Posted by Lucky John

Smoosh, if I am understanding you...This is a one way drive out after you graduate and you will then be living in San Diego? So you have landed the job in SD and have two weeks between the end of grad school and your first day? What part of the year are you doing this during? June? Weather could affect things.

If that is the case I would focus on seeing more of the Northern side of the US, like Chicago, The Dakotas, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and then down the West Coast, Seattle, Mount Rainier, Portland, Crater Lake, San Fran, old 99 down the California Coast. Once you are living in SD you can spend a long weekend and head out to the Grand Canyon and AZ. You will be a reasonable drive from Vegas and a lot of the spots you are lining up. Just my two cents.

+1

[natedog7700]

Driving out in a 2014 5.0 mustang is it manual?? Good idea IMO but i hope it doesn't have loud exhaust or you will want ear plugs lol

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by smoosh

Great advice in here guys, thanks! Please keep it coming, can't have too much info on a trip like this.

Will continue revising my route and plan. Definitely will up my budget to $1,500, hit the spots you all suggested [Utah and Sedona], and pick up an air mattress as well. No speeding, got it

I originally planned to travel a bit more south, through Tennessee. Here are the POI I had in that route, not in any order:

• The Parthenon – Nashville, TN
• Blue Hole of Santa Rosa – Santa Rosa, NM
• Foamhenge – Natural Bridge, VA
• Grand Canyon National Park – AZ
• Meteor Crater – Winslow, AZ
• Petrified Forest National Park – AZ
• Slide Rock State Park – Sedona, AZ
• Great Smoky Mountains – Gatlinburg, TN
• Lost Sea Adventure – Sweetwater, TN
• Palo Duro Canyon – Canyon, TX
• Petit Jean Park – Morrilton, AK
• Petroglyph Monument – Albuquerque, NM
• Mojave National Preserve – Barstow, CA
• Forbidden Caverns – Sevierville, TN
• Burgess Falls State Park – Baxter, TN
• Luray Caverns – Luray, VA
• Natural Bridge Park – Natural Bridge, VA
• Shenandoah Caverns – Mount Jackson, VA
• Grand Caverns – Grottoes, VA
• Shelby Farms Park – Memphis, TN
• Appalachian Caverns – Blountville, TN
• Red Rock Canyon State Park – Hinton, OK
• Groom Cross – Groom, TX

Edit: Well, I guess as stated above, Rte 40 and 66 are recommended. TN would be a different route.

Good list - if I still lived near Gatlinburg/Sevierville, I'd offer a room for the night.

I will say - you are missing the Lynn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway....and I know the budget is tight, but a day trip to the Biltmore Estate is high on the 'to see' list.

From Asheville, Gatlinburg/Sevierville is 1.5 hours on I40 West. The drive is full of nice twisty roads and tunnels through the Mtn

[Needbmwpartzz]

Awe man....I'm jelly....haven't done cross country road trip in ages....it should be a blast that 5.0 pony.
Vegas(may need to budget more or less depending on luck)
I would definitely check out the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.
I kinda like driving in Nevada....such a beautiful place like no other.
Watch out for tornadoes going through mid-west.

[smoosh]

Originally Posted by Lucky John

Smoosh, if I am understanding you...This is a one way drive out after you graduate and you will then be living in San Diego? So you have landed the job in SD and have two weeks between the end of grad school and your first day? What part of the year are you doing this during? June? Weather could affect things.

If that is the case I would focus on seeing more of the Northern side of the US, like Chicago, The Dakotas, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and then down the West Coast, Seattle, Mount Rainier, Portland, Crater Lake, San Fran, old 99 down the California Coast. Once you are living in SD you can spend a long weekend and head out to the Grand Canyon and AZ. You will be a reasonable drive from Vegas and a lot of the spots you are lining up. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice

I still have a year left in grad school, but this job is more of a paid internship which will lead to a job after I graduate (internship was designed to give students hands-on experience before they begin the job). I actually have three weeks between end of grad year and before the internship starts, but I figured I should limit the road trip to two weeks, for financial reasons. The planned start date is May 19, arrival date being June 2. I start the internship June 6, so I have four days leeway in case of unforeseen circumstances arising.

Hopefully it isn't unbearably warm late May. But I will be carrying plenty of water. I expect some traffic from traveling tourists.

Edit: Oh...and I might be able to wing a road trip back to DC at the end of summer, since I'd have to come back with my car anyways. If I do, that one would only be 3-4 days, I will need to save as much cash as possible from the internship.

Originally Posted by 1LRM3

personally I would be picking up collectible old automobilia / advertising along the way too... memoirs of the trip and if you can fire up any more cash to take with you, you can purchase things of interest.... assuming you did not make mention of cc usage.

also, are all of the parks non pay to enter? I sure thought I paid to enter some when I did the trip... though could be wrong.

Great question, as far as my research revealed, the parks should be free to enter, or very cheap at the least. I was worried about tolls, but someone mentioned the only tolls I should come across are in OK, which aren't too bad.

Maybe I can find a quick and dirty job for a couple of weeks to fund my trip a bit more? An extra $500 would be great. Will search around

Originally Posted by natedog7700

Lolol i agree though, thats a low budget and to be fair, sounds a bit depressing. Whats the point if you have to live off of anal rape and transporting drugs to fund it? To each his own i guess! Have fun out there, the grand Canyon is an awesome sight!

Like everyone else said, camping could save you tons of money and every other night sounds like a good idea. Also, load up the trunk with tons of dry food for snacks/replacement meals!

Haha money is an issue though! I did find some pretty awesome boxes of snacks on eBay [protein bars, grain bars, etc.] for cheap, so I will pick that up

Originally Posted by natedog7700

Driving out in a 2014 5.0 mustang is it manual?? Good idea IMO but i hope it doesn't have loud exhaust or you will want ear plugs lol

Unfortunately not manual

It does have a Roush exhaust which sounds orgasmic

Well...as orgasmic as it can sound on an automatic haha

[Alfisti]

I cannot get past the budget, it's preposterous. If you have the time just find the money to do it right, for god's sake just find the funds, i don't care how.

You need four times as much, easily.

[smoosh]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I cannot get past the budget, it's preposterous. If you have the time just find the money to do it right, for god's sake just find the funds, i don't care how.

You need four times as much, easily.

Well, I am open to accepting donations

[natedog7700]

Ahhhh its automatic..... lolol

[08njSTEP]

Rte 40 was called the national road, then national highway. I think it starts in Hagerstown, MD goes through Cumberland, MD and parallels I-68 into WV. In Lavale, MD there's an old toll booth from horse and buggy days.
I advise avoiding Nebraska and Iowa like the plague. Pig farms, flat land, and CORN.

[jaco]

If you like bourbon, make some stops on the trail in Kentucky.

[paradoxical3]

If you pass through the northern kentucky/Cincinnati area, I'll treat you to Eli's BBQ. If you are passing through Kentucky you NEED to hit the Red River Gorge. It is stunningly beautiful.

[Nkc]

Sounds awesome.

Came across this thing last year about the best routes across 48 states and visit 50 places. Hope it helps.

http://rhiever.github.io/optimal-roa...landmarks.html

You should find one member in every stop you plan and have them treat you to a meal. Come to Vancouver BC and bimmette will feed you.

[bimmette]

Originally Posted by Nkc

Sounds awesome.

Came across this thing last year about the best routes across 48 states and visit 50 places. Hope it helps.

http://rhiever.github.io/optimal-roa...landmarks.html

You should find one member in every stop you plan and have them treat you to a meal. Come to Vancouver BC and bimmette will feed you.

Uhhh if you're paying, sure.

[duky]

I'm doing something similar in June but heading to SF from Boston. Interned out there last summer (had never been west of Chicago) and now we're going back full-time but driving the whole way. We're taking the Northern route and seeing Niagara, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Salt Flats on the way over.

My only suggestion would be to spend some more time on the road if you want to lower cost. Not sure how often you've road-tripped but I find 10+ hours a day to be completely doable especially with other people in the car and in a car I like. If you're doing it alone you can just break the time up with meal stops, scenic overlooks etc. I drove from NC to Boston overnight in a UHAUL and only stopped for Starbucks so you can do better than 5 hrs for sure.

Be safe, have fun and report back with any tips when it's all done! I'll be hitting the road a few weeks after you.

[powerhouse_b]

Haha, nice. I'm doing the same trip this summer. Also starting from DC, but I'll make a trip to Ocean City, MD before I begin. Gotta dip my toes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific on this road trip. Roadtrippers is a great tool, btw. Good luck and have fun!

[MrSteak]

I've done the northern and southern routes on separate trips.

Here's some helpful sites for planning.

- http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ Not the best layout for a site, but if you dig deeper, there are maps & descriptions of all sorts of roadside attractions & oddities that wouldn't normally be listed anywhere else (some worth checking out).

- https://www.flavortownusa.com/ Website mapping out the spots from 'Diner's Drive-Ins & Dives'. (I made my road trip a pure burger trip, but there were a few other good suggestions on this site.)

[08njSTEP]

There's a cook book called "manifold destiny" about cooking locally sourced ingredients on your engine. Yup that's right, your engine as oven. A great road trip experience.

[cays]

Originally Posted by 08njSTEP

There's a cook book called "manifold destiny" about cooking locally sourced ingredients on your engine. Yup that's right, your engine as oven. A great road trip experience.

I've seen that book, but I think you're better off employing that technique with leftovers. Before a long road trip I sometimes take leftover pizza (deep dish preferred for this purpose), double-wrap it in foil and nestle it above the exhaust manifold. Perfect in 3 hours. Works great with BBQ ribs too. A little extra sauce, foil and 4 hours in the engine compartment, stop in at the grocery deli wherever you end up to get a few sides like potato salad and voila, a feast!