Driving from San Diego to Connecticut

Jack, Why not go to triple A and get them to help you map out the route, number of stops for rest and sleep, and total number of days to safely reach your destination?

we'll be staying at a marriot hotel in about ten days and i noticed that one of the features on their website is a route-planner. so just pick a marriot hotel near your destination, key in your home address and... presto ! they'll provide a complete route-planner. hbg

I would plan on a minimum of six days, more if you take the "scenic" routs.

I'd suggest seven days - minimum. Driving over 800 miles/day seems too strenuous - but I'm looking at it from my age perspective. LOL

If you want to get across country (and that's all you want) that is a 12 hour day at 65 mph which is turnpike speed. I have a sister who maks it from Madison Wisconsin to Connecticut in two days, which I would not recomend.

I don't know. The more I think and hear about it the more I am inclined to fly. I bought a Mercedes roadster and I love driving it. Getting up in years and this will probably be one of the last times if not the last time I go back East and I thought it would be fun to see "America" again. I have driven cross the country twice but that was many years ago, back in the sixties.

I looked at some of the route planners available on Internet and was very surprised to see one that would take me through states like Utah and Colorado. Lots of hills that way I think but then Arizona has hills to.

I am going to think about it more. Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

We once drove from NYC to San Diego, and it took us about
5 days à 8 hours driving per day, without any sightseeing stops.
It was a nice experience but I wouln't want to do it again.

CJ, What you did was quite extreme, but I'm sure most of us did the same in our youth. When I was driving back from Chicago to Sacramento in the early sixties, I picked up a Marine (returning to San Diego) early on in my trip, and he helped drive. We did it almost non-stop.

I know cicerone, but we were moving to SD and had one of
these big trucks we couldn't really drive properly.
I remember ignoring all hight requirement signs at a
Burger King drive-thru and when we drove around the
corner to the pick-up window, there was a little overhang
we couldn't fit through, and behind us were already 2 cars lined
up.

If its gonna be just one driver - and a "comfortably mature" one at that, prolly oughtta figure on no more than 400-500 miles per day. Allowin' for stops, that works out to around 8 to 10 hours of drivin' at normal highway speeds. With 2 folks drivin', you can fairly comfortably cover about half again as much distance, drivin' 12 to 15 hours per day. I'd suggest a couple things - plan your overnight stops to put you on the destination side of any major city - you'll find your evenin' arrivals and early-mornin' starts relatively unaffected by rush hour traffic, and I think you'll find splittin' drivin' shifts into roughly 2½ - 3-hour segments doesn't wipe you out ... much more than that and fatigue sets in real quick - and is pretty hard to recover from. If there are 2 drivers, swap off, if there is only one, stop for a leg stretch, a bit of refreshment, and perhaps a brief nap (even just 10-15 minutes works wonders). Avoid really big meals durin' your travel time, and keep some energy foods and drinks handy in the car.

For route plannin', you might find it beneficial to lay out your itinerary usin' each of the "Big 3" online free map services: MSN MapPoint , MapQuest , and YahooMaps ; there will be minor variations. Set up an entire-trip map first, then break that into individual 2½ - 3-hour segments. A couple weeks or so before startin' off call the 800 number of the Travel Office of each state you'll be passin' through to get updates on contruction delays, detours, and the like, adjustin' your final route as appropriate, and plan your stops and make your motel reservations accordingly. Once you've got your travel plan figured, usin' any one of the mappin' apps print out detailed segment-by-segment "turn-by-turn" maps, and print out specific individual high-detail maps for each planned stop area, for each city you'll pass through, for each major highway interchange you'll traverse, and for any detour routin' as indicated by the varous state travel offices you'll have consulted. I've found it handy to print it out tablet style usin' the printer's 2-sided printin' option, assemblin' a route-order flip map for easy on-the-go reference.

Now, with the good advice outta the way, here's a tale you might get a kick outta:

One Lap of America.

timberlandko, thank you. I have just put my traveling interest back on again. I haven't thought much about it since March but one of the organizers of the class reunion just prompted us about whether or not we are coming.

Your post provided me with more real, practical information about driving across the country than I could have ever hoped to receive and I thank you for it very much. This is they type of information I expected to receive from AAA but when I went down there, their service fell woefully short. Excellent maps and booklets but not much personal knowledge. I suppose part of it was my fault for not asking the right questions and being more prepared went I went there. But I rarely take long drives like this. In fact the last time I drove cross country was in 1968.

As I said, AAA provided me with excellent maps and books at no cost as they are covered by my membership fee. Actually there is an overwhelming amount of information there. Part of the trick is culling out the essential and I don't believe I will have too much of a problem with that. If I go I am going to use my plans as a rough guide but paying particular attention to the motels / hotels I stop in. Security of my vehicle (and myself of course) is of the utmost importance so I am paying close attention to the description of these places given in the AAA books. My car is not brand new but it is a fine care and I am going to have it thoroughly gone over by the Mercedes dealer here before I leave to insure I have no problems. I will have the oil changed on the East Coast before I head back.

Still not certain whether or not I will be taking someone with me. I plan on keeping complications to a minimum, simple plan and as comfortable as I can make it.

Thank you again for the wealth of detailed information about driving across the country.

Jack - don't neglect to take advantage of the AAA website. Lots of handy features for when you've got routing ideas in the middle of the night when no one's in the office.


The most recent roadwork info is usually on the self triptiks you compose at the site.

jack : whenever we go stateside (from canada) we always pick up the "entry/exit" guide for the particular region we are visiting at the travel information office as we travel from state-to-state - you also find them at many fast-food restaurants. if you time your travel right, you can pick up some real bargains. in large cities you can often get a 4 or 5 star business hotel for less than half-price from thursday to sunday night. if you want to plan ahead have a look at ... www.roomsaver.com ... hbg

Thank you hamburger.

have a great trip, jack ! hbg

LOL we drove from
school bus
Spokane to San Diego nonstop
pre kids
Spokane to Denver nonstop
Spokane to Omaha nonstop

now these all require overnight

I like getting a trip-tik from AAA
pretty much tell them what you want and they figure it out, even road construction most times

husker : i agree with you. i prefer getting my triptiks from CAA. i find that printing them out is a rather slow process and the quality isn't up to the standards of a properly printed map. i do like the driving instructions from the website, but i find that i adjust "to my own taste in driving " (when i get the instructions to drive from kingston to myrtle beach, the instructions call for going on the beltway around washington ! i prefer to give the beltway a wide berth unless it's a weekend. hbg