Road Trip USA, Summer 2008

[Phinn]

Thought I'd better amalgamate my various US road trip threads into one. Briefly, my girlfriend and I will be visiting the US next summer. Although we've both travelled elsewhere in the world, it'll be the first time in the US for both of us (barring a couple of hours in Atlanta airport). We've decided that a classic American road trip (a la Top Gear minus the stoning) will be the best way to go. We've got 28 days and intend to cover as much of the US as we can.

Edit: I should add that we land at JFK on Thu 19th June and catch our flight home from JFK on Wed 16th July. Aiming to be somewhere in California for July 4th, probably San Francisco.

Check out the route here. Admittedly, we had a little over five weeks when I planned that and I thought I was being pretty ambitious even then. Now we only have 28 days thanks to a graduation ball and a wedding. I'm in the process of shaving off a few places (bye bye Niagara!), but hopefully the general route will remain the same.

I'll add photos and updates to this thread when we're actually on the trip itself. Thank you to all the helpful contributions from people so far!!

My current questions are these:

- Motel rooms. How much should I be spending on a motel room for a night? I think we'll be camping in a tent as much as possible since we'll be visiting a lot of National Parks and it's dirt cheap between two of us. This won't always be possible though, so how much would a motel room for two set you back? Does it vary in price location by location? Mom and Pop vs. chain? I really know nothing about these.

- Choice of rental car. Fuel economy is important when going such a distance (nearly 10000 miles), but so is comfort. I would love a Ford Mustang, but I don't think we could afford it! I'll be 24, she'll be 23 so the age surcharge for renting a car is huge. Currently thinking of opting for a Pontiac G6 from National as a compromise. What do you American chaps think?

[No Boss]

Originally Posted by Phinn

Thought I'd better amalgamate my various US road trip threads into one. Briefly, my girlfriend and I will be visiting the US next summer. Although we've both travelled elsewhere in the world, it'll be the first time in the US for both of us (barring a couple of hours in Atlanta airport). We've decided that a classic American road trip (a la Top Gear minus the stoning) will be the best way to go. We've got 28 days and intend to cover as much of the US as we can.

Check out the route here. Admittedly, we had a little over five weeks when I planned that and I thought I was being pretty ambitious even then. Now we only have 28 days thanks to a graduation ball and a wedding. I'm in the process of shaving off a few places (bye bye Niagara!), but hopefully the general route will remain the same.

I'll add photos and updates to this thread when we're actually on the trip itself. Thank you to all the helpful contributions from people so far!!

My current questions are these:

- Motel rooms. How much should I be spending on a motel room for a night? I think we'll be camping in a tent as much as possible since we'll be visiting a lot of National Parks and it's dirt cheap between two of us. This won't always be possible though, so how much would a motel room for two set you back? Does it vary in price location by location? Mom and Pop vs. chain? I really know nothing about these.

- Choice of rental car. Fuel economy is important when going such a distance (nearly 10000 miles), but so is comfort. I would love a Ford Mustang, but I don't think we could afford it! I'll be 24, she'll be 23 so the age surcharge for renting a car is huge. Currently thinking of opting for a Pontiac G6 from National as a compromise. What do you American chaps think?

Kudos to you my friend for undergoing such an adventure. I'd love to do this in Europe or Australia but just don't have the funds. I did a road trip to Georgia for work last winter and we have a Hyundai Sonata or Elantra I think... I dunno if was awful and I hated it. But I can't recommend rental cars cause I'm not too familiar with rates and stuff.

As far as motels go, in the midwest especially there are some very cheap roadside ones. They might not be the nicest places, but it's a roof and has running water. And if you plan on camping out, that will certainly save you a lot of coin... and make any shitty roadside motel look like the Ritz.

[ESPNSTI]

If you want a scenic drive while in the midwest, I suggest you take the Great River Road, adjacent to the Mississippi river when you hit the Iowa border.

That will take you from interstate 80 north to interstate 90, and will give you something other that farm land to look at.
It should be a welcome change before the boring drive to the Badlands.
Plus if you need a free place to stay, it'll take you near my neck of the woods.

Also, in between Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone is the Devils Tower (seen in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind), which may be interesting to see.

You can find pricing on motels on-line. Google "Decorah motel" for example and you get a list of links, then just fill out the reservation forms.
I checked for July 2008 for example and 1 room for 2 people seems to be in the neighborhood of $75 to $115.
This is for a rather small town though, I imagine you could find cheaper motels in bigger cities.

[nist7]

How about a minivan?

It's not the most fuel efficient car....but it has plenty of space for cargo and driving/riding comfort AND you can sleep in the back.

[Phinn]

Originally Posted by ESPNSTI

If you want a scenic drive while in the midwest, I suggest you take the Great River Road, adjacent to the Mississippi river when you hit the Iowa border.

That will take you from interstate 80 north to interstate 90, and will give you something other that farm land to look at.
It should be a welcome change before the boring drive to the Badlands.
Plus if you need a free place to stay, it'll take you near my neck of the woods.

Also, in between Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone is the Devils Tower (seen in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind), which may be interesting to see.

You can find pricing on motels on-line. Google "Decorah motel" for example and you get a list of links, then just fill out the reservation forms.
I checked for July 2008 for example and 1 room for 2 people seems to be in the neighborhood of $75 to $115.
This is for a rather small town though, I imagine you could find cheaper motels in bigger cities.

Devils Tower isn't on the route map I listed, but it is on my updated one I've been working on. The Great River Road sounds excellent! Yahoo! Maps just gives you the quickest way to get there, but since we'll be driving *a lot*, scenic routes are definitively preferable. I'll definitively add that, thank you.

[Phinn]

Originally Posted by nist7

How about a minivan?

It's not the most fuel efficient car....but it has plenty of space for cargo and driving/riding comfort AND you can sleep in the back.

Hmm, probably have to nix that idea, sorry. They're a lot more expensive to hire and refuel and there's only two of us. We're used to pootling around in my girlfriend's Peugeot 106 so an American 'mid-size' car is plenty big enough! As for sleeping in it, we'll have a tent for camp sites and I wouldn't feel particularly safe sleeping in it elsewhere. Advice from the Foreign Office:

Crime

You should bear in mind the following:

* Do not leave your door open at any time.
* Avoid wearing expensive jewellery and carrying valuable items in run down areas.
* Do not sleep in your car by the roadside or in rest areas.
* Avoid leaving items on display in cars.
* Try to stay on main roads and use well-lit car parks.
* If hit from behind while driving, indicate to the other driver to follow you to a public place and call 911 for Police help.

Cheers for the suggestion though!

[jayhawk]

I see you are passing through the Chicago area...I live near Interstate 88; drop me a line and I can take you out to dinner possibly.

[Slycer]

Damn.


Me and my cuz are going on vacation to the states next summer too! For a month to a month and a half. We will probably just buy a car then sell
it at the end. We don't yet have a route planned, but seeing how you took a lot of time into figuring everything out, we just might take yours. ;P

Jay, you gonna take us out too? Might start getting expensive, this.

[Cobol74]

^ Go Dutch give the bloke a break.

[British_Rover]

Ahh my wife and I are planning a similar trip next summer as well.

Ours is only going to be about 6,000 or so miles instead of 10,000 but still a lot planning involved.

Go to the Hertz website and sign up for the Gold club thing. It will get you discounts on car rentals and hertz is international so you might be able to use the club in Europe.

Secondly go to all the major hotel chain websites and sign up for their email offers.

I am currently getting emails from best western, Holiday Inn, Super 8, Motel 6, Hyatt, Comfort inn and affiliates, Hilton etc.

I keep an eye out for deals that might work out for us this summer.

[Whappeh]

The Mustang and the G6 are roughly in the same class, aren't they? Other then the Mustang's crazy popularity, there is no reason why they shouldn't be roughly around the same price to rent (Assuming you're renting a V6 Mustang).

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by Whappeh

The Mustang and the G6 are roughly in the same class, aren't they? Other then the Mustang's crazy popularity, there is no reason why they shouldn't be roughly around the same price to rent (Assuming you're renting a V6 Mustang).

They charge more for the mustang as it is considered a FUN car.

[Phinn]

Hey, I'm on this trip now. First time I've got net access since we got here. It was all a bit rushed and last minute. Started in Chicago on Thursday and we're now just leaving Sioux Falls. Rented a Mustang from Hertz in the end

I'll do a Google map of the route so far when I get a chance. Gotta hit the road now, heading for Badlands.

Here are some photos in the meantime.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...94&id=61108206

(I grew up in Wallingford, England, hence the slight obsession with Wallingford, Iowa)

[TomCat]

Cool pics. Looking forward to more.

[Whappeh]

Thats awesome. Sounds like a fun trip.

[Nabster]

Not to be a kill joy, but are you going to be able to rent a car as you're under 25?

Anyway, definitely hit Devil's Tower between Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. It's close (you could even make a stop at Crazy Horse as well, it's just a short drive from Rushmore). Devils Tower is really fascinating, it's huge, and you can climb the rocks and go right up to the base. Just remember to be respectful to the offerings left there by the Native Americans.

[Whappeh]

Originally Posted by Nabster

Not to be a kill joy, but are you going to be able to rent a car as you're under 25?

He's already here and driving, lol

But yes, you can rent a car if you're under 25. It just costs more money.

[Quiky]

So was Jeremy correct about how terrible this country is?

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by Quiky

So was Jeremy correct about how terrible this country is?

I'm just waiting for him to get shot. You know, your first gun shot wound is always your fondest. Good times, good times.

[Susurrate]

Great photos man, I'm looking forward to seeing more. I have a bit of a route suggestion If you plan on coming through the South I'd hit Destin Florida and consider the state done, driving through Florida is worse than driving through the plains states and I don't believe Miami itself is worth that kind of torture. You should also hit up Savannah there is so much history there it is just incredible.