Made that drive in 3 days. Man, it SUCKED! A buddy and I took turns driving to Ft. Ord. Make sure you drive up PCH when ya get there!
Def. recommend Vegas on the return trip!
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ODT Gun Show this Saturday! - Click here for info and tickets!
planning a roadtrip from GA to CA this christmas...
- Thread starter gh00747
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Def. recommend Vegas on the return trip!
Eat in old Stockyards in Ft Worth. Sedona AZ, San Diego and La Jolla. Coast of Monterrey. Yosemite, then stop in Saratoga WY and stay at the Saratoga Inn. Visit Cabelas in Nebraska. Take rt 36 thru Kansas....see the old pony express stops. Haul ass home thru Missouri...maybe stop at casino in Land of Lakes Kentucky. Spend last night in Nashville.
Buy tire chains and learn how to put them on BEFORE the trip. What kind of vehicle are you taking?
4x4 will get you going, but it will not help you stop, it will send off the side of the mountain or in the ditch faster than 2x4.
Make sure you have GOOD snow and ice rated tires. Look for a snowflake in the mountain symbol on the tires. Nokian tires are the best all-season tires you can buy that are just as good on snow and ice as dedicated studded/stud-less winter tires ( I drove in Alaska for 20 years and that's what you'll see on 3/4 of the vehicles up there).
Listen to advice about food, blankets and snow shovels. Your life might well depend on it, when you drive thru the Rockies and Sierra Nevada.
Check your antifreeze, make sure it is a 60/40 mix, it can handle lower and higher temperatures than 50/50 mix.
Replace windshield washer fluid with winter weight. Summer fluid WILL freeze and crack you washer reservoir.
If you do not have a block heater, replace oil with synthetic oil with good cold flow numbers, such as Valvoline Synpower or Pennzoil Platinum. 5w-30 or 0w-30 grades.
Have fun on the trip. If you like architecture and museum, go to Getty Villa and Getty Center in LA. You can spend 2 days there alone.
Venice is a fun place to visit, with canals and boats, so is Venice Beach. Dining out is pricy.
Salt Lake City is a good place, but access to alcohol is limited.
4x4 will get you going, but it will not help you stop, it will send off the side of the mountain or in the ditch faster than 2x4.
Make sure you have GOOD snow and ice rated tires. Look for a snowflake in the mountain symbol on the tires. Nokian tires are the best all-season tires you can buy that are just as good on snow and ice as dedicated studded/stud-less winter tires ( I drove in Alaska for 20 years and that's what you'll see on 3/4 of the vehicles up there).
Listen to advice about food, blankets and snow shovels. Your life might well depend on it, when you drive thru the Rockies and Sierra Nevada.
Check your antifreeze, make sure it is a 60/40 mix, it can handle lower and higher temperatures than 50/50 mix.
Replace windshield washer fluid with winter weight. Summer fluid WILL freeze and crack you washer reservoir.
If you do not have a block heater, replace oil with synthetic oil with good cold flow numbers, such as Valvoline Synpower or Pennzoil Platinum. 5w-30 or 0w-30 grades.
Have fun on the trip. If you like architecture and museum, go to Getty Villa and Getty Center in LA. You can spend 2 days there alone.
Venice is a fun place to visit, with canals and boats, so is Venice Beach. Dining out is pricy.
Salt Lake City is a good place, but access to alcohol is limited.
carlsbad caverns, painted desert, petrified forest, hoover dam
Best way to do it is rent a car you can turn in, in a different state spend your whole two weeks zig zagging see everything you want to see then pull into an airport turn your car in 4 hours later your back home. Road trips are the best I have been to all states but 10.
Made this trip last year in reverse with my father who has Parkinsons and Dimentia. We left on Friday at 0930 and we arrived here in Kingsland GA on Monday at 1730 after driving 2550 miles. I did all of the driving even though he offered except we would have ended up in Canada most likely. Between AZ, NM and TX there is nothing on I10! It is hours of flat nothing and not many trees. We arrived 50 miles across the TX border and there was an immigration stop on I10. Two white guys and the Mexican border agent is asking me if we are American? If you are starting in Atlanta I would take I40 across and I80 back or vice versa. There is not much to see on I10 and I only did it to save time driving with my dad which wasn't easy.
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Been on I-10 from Florida to LA, I-20 from S. Carolina to Texas, I-40 from Little Rock to Flagstaff, I-70 from St. Louis to I-15 in Utah, I-15 from there to Santa Monica/Malibu, and I-17 from Flagstaff to Phoenix. I love out west and plan to travel it much more in retirement. I think I-40 west from Oklahoma City west to Flagstaff was great, I-70 thru Denver west across the Rockies to I-15 was beautiful, loved Las Vegas and plan to go back, Malibu and LA were disappointing, and had no idea that Colorado looks just like Kansas (boring) all the way to east Denver. Arizona was awesome, and EVERYONE should see the Grand Canyon before they die. Tons of stuff to see out there. Saw a large desert valley on I-20 in Texas that had dust devils everywhere. Going to drive the California Coast Highway north to south before I die, too, I hope.
Oh, and had to avoid I-70 in APRIL one time because of blizzard conditions in Colorado once, too.
Favorite highway sign was on I-40 in Oklahoma - "You are now entering the Nations" and named off all the indian tribes.....made me think of Chief Dan George and Clint.
Oh, and had to avoid I-70 in APRIL one time because of blizzard conditions in Colorado once, too.
Favorite highway sign was on I-40 in Oklahoma - "You are now entering the Nations" and named off all the indian tribes.....made me think of Chief Dan George and Clint.
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Roswell, NM stop in and see the International UFO museum and... Research Center. It was a fun stop.
Arches National Park in Utah.
Arches National Park in Utah.
There is soooo much to see on a trip like this. I am going to mention some I as he done this trip numerous times.
Flagstaff, AZ nice in the summer. Snow in winter. Area between there and Phoenix (Sedona) is nice.
Do West Texas at night. Boring.
In Southern California San Diego is nice. San Clemente, Laguna Beach (if you like art), Anaheim for Disneyland (like it better than Disney World) because it is compact and Knott's Berry Farm. Nixon Library in Yorba Linda and Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Take Pacific Coast Hwy through Santa Barbara up the coast to Monterey and San Francisco. Weather can be tricky in Sierra Nevada Mtns. Be prepared.
Colorado Springs with Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and Garden of the Gods is nice. Western Colorado is beautiful; eastern CO and Kansas are boring. Enough from me. (College days, drove Greenville, SC to LA with a guy in 43 hours on I-10 and I-20.) smokin'
Flagstaff, AZ nice in the summer. Snow in winter. Area between there and Phoenix (Sedona) is nice.
Do West Texas at night. Boring.
In Southern California San Diego is nice. San Clemente, Laguna Beach (if you like art), Anaheim for Disneyland (like it better than Disney World) because it is compact and Knott's Berry Farm. Nixon Library in Yorba Linda and Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Take Pacific Coast Hwy through Santa Barbara up the coast to Monterey and San Francisco. Weather can be tricky in Sierra Nevada Mtns. Be prepared.
Colorado Springs with Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and Garden of the Gods is nice. Western Colorado is beautiful; eastern CO and Kansas are boring. Enough from me. (College days, drove Greenville, SC to LA with a guy in 43 hours on I-10 and I-20.) smokin'
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Do yourself a favor and avoid as much of Kansas and East Colorado as you can, even if it adds days to your trip. Spend as little time as possible in Central and West Texas.
