driving across the USA - provisional itinerary

"Me" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"rob tyler" wrote:

We have now put together a rough outline of the itinerary for our drive
across the USA from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans and Santa
Fe.
This is my first trip to the USA.

We have had many useful suggestions from the newsgroup and our route and
places to stay are rough guides as to the final journey. We would love
to
hear of any recommended towns along the route that would offer more
interesting stopping places; and any other suggestions or comments. We
are a
bit wary now as to the weather conditions in the South West in
particular.

And the important question is: What should we not miss? Which features
along
the route or involving a reasonable detour would you recommend we
include.

Based on your itinerary, it doesn't seem as if you've allowed for any
time to actually get out of your rental car to see any of the cities on
your list. I suggest you reduce the number of cities on your itinerary
by at least half and actually plan to spend a day or two in the
remaining cities.

i dont think that's right - it means we will drive for 4 or 5 hours a day -
and have 20 or so to do other things...

"TheNewsGuy(Mike)" wrote in message
...
BTW Do Vegans breastfeed?


Assuming this is a serious question, the answer would be yes, but with the
caveat that diet is carefully watched to make sure that the infant is
getting proper nutrition - then again, all nursing mothers have to do that.

Chris

hi steve
- looks like you've been there and done some...........
- where do you recommend?

"steve" wrote in message
...
Have a look at my website it may give you a few ideas of where to visit or
avoid on your journey.
Good luck
Steve
London UK
www.usatouring.co.uk


"rob tyler" wrote in message
...
We have now put together a rough outline of the itinerary for our drive
across the USA from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans and Santa
Fe.
This is my first trip to the USA.

We have had many useful suggestions from the newsgroup and our route and
places to stay are rough guides as to the final journey. We would love
to
hear of any recommended towns along the route that would offer more
interesting stopping places; and any other suggestions or comments. We
are
a
bit wary now as to the weather conditions in the South West in
particular.

And the important question is: What should we not miss? Which features
along
the route or involving a reasonable detour would you recommend we
include.

13th December, Saturday Fly to New York JFK drive to Philadelphia PA 106
miles

14th December, Sunday past Washington to Roanake VA 378 miles

15th December, Monday to Knoxville TA 260 miles

16th December, Tuesday Chattanooga TA 112 miles

17th December, Wednesday Tuscaloosa AL 204 miles

18th December, Thursday New Orlreans LS 291 miles

19th December, , Friday New Orleans LS 0 miles

20th December, Saturday Beaumont TX 261 miles

21th December, Sunday Austin TX 248 miles

22th December, Monday Sheffield TX 317 miles

23rd December, Tuesday Carslbad, NM 210 miles

Christmas Eve, Wednesday Santa Fe NM 267 miles

Christmas Day, Thursday Santa Fe NM 0 miles

26th December, , Friday Gallup NM 198 miles

27th December, Saturday Flagstaff AZ 185 miles

28th December, Sunday Flagstaff & Grand Canyon 77 miles

29th December, Monday Las Vegas NV 275 miles

30th December, Tuesday Bakersfield CA 286 miles

New Years Eve, Wednesday San Francisco CA 288 miles

New Years Day, Thursday San Francisco CA 0 miles

2nd January, Friday explore the Californian coast

3rd January, Saturday day off

4th January, Sunday San Francisco: Fly back to London

Approximately 4000 miles for the trip

"smackey" wrote in message
m...
"rob tyler" wrote in message
...
We have now put together a rough outline of the itinerary for our drive
across the USA from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans and Santa
Fe.
This is my first trip to the USA.
...

I agree w Bvaughn; you're just driving and driving. If that's what
you want to do, fine. But you should spend more time in fewer places.
His/her suggested schedule is better except, of course, two days in
Philly! How about 1/2 a day there? Also, Williams burg only warrants
one day. Add to your time in NYC or DC. If you want to get away from
the east coast figure a way to add in Chicago (even though I'm mad at
Mayor Daley over the Meigs debacle). Or go up to New England or
Boston.

all your suggestions are another trip - is there a big north/south or
east/west divide in your country now? i'm going to dive inan shoot past the
north east as soon as possible - i think it will be too cold next month - or
do you do warm midwinter?

"B Vaughan" wrote in message
...
On 27 Nov 2003 13:16:30 -0800, (smackey) wrote:

"rob tyler" wrote in message
...
We have now put together a rough outline of the itinerary for our drive
across the USA from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans and Santa
Fe.
This is my first trip to the USA.
...

I agree w Bvaughn; you're just driving and driving. If that's what
you want to do, fine. But you should spend more time in fewer places.
His/her suggested schedule is better except, of course, two days in
Philly!

Philly is a lot nicer than some of the other places on the itinerary.
Anyway, part of the reason I suggested a few days was to give the guy
a chance to rest up a bit after the flight. If he's interested in
history, he could easily spend several days there. It's also got a
very pleasant downtown area (in the Society Hill, Queen Village, and
most of the area south of Chestnut St from the Delaware River to the
Schuylkill River. It's a city with a personality, unlike some of those
cities that have dowtowns that look just like one another and that
empty out by 7 PM.

Barbara


How about 1/2 a day there? Also, Williams burg only warrants
one day. Add to your time in NYC or DC. If you want to get away from
the east coast figure a way to add in Chicago (even though I'm mad at
Mayor Daley over the Meigs debacle). Or go up to New England or
Boston.



well, you're right ... Philadelphia will be my first experience of the US
after the controls of JFK - which from reports i am not looking forward to
with anticipation of much efficiency - (any idea how we drive there - is it
easy to bypass new york?) - i take it to be a city of pride and ancestry -
perhaps close to our understanding of what history means to people settled
in a town - i was surprised that Santa Fe claims to be the second oldest
city in the US ( and confess not to know the first)............

"Pat Keith" wrote in message
...
The freeways here are much the same as the freeways in the United Kingdom.
If I was to visit London how many days would you recommend I stay? I have
spent a week in New York and it wasn't enough. Why not visit New York for
several days. Then take a train to Washington DC for a few days. Then
fly
to Las Vegas for several days. Rent a car and go see The Grand Canyon.
If
you have a week or so drive thru Monument Valley and visit Mesa Verde.
Return to Las Vegas and fly to San Fransico for several days. When I
visited London I had problems driving. I even had problems walking.
Every
time I stepped off a curb I was looking the wrong way. Next time you come
do it in the summer. Fly into Denver and spend a month driving around the
Rockies.


no - because we all do it our own way - i'll do a road movie version - you
do a train hopper - somebody else hitchhikes - and somebody else has got a
live-in wagon .....
- you'll spend longer trying to sort out your train and plane connections
than i will filling up in the morning - and i wont know where i'm going.....
damn

"rob tyler" wrote in message ...
We have now put together a rough outline of the itinerary for our drive
across the USA from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans and Santa Fe.
This is my first trip to the USA.

Since your plan seems to be to "skip the east" this trip and concentrate on the west
then I'd do that more aggressively, fly directly to a more westerly or southerly
starting point (or connect in NY) and avoid spending any time in the east at all.

Personally I don't care much for the style of trip you propose here with some driving
almost every day, I'd rather have some days spent entirely on the road, skipping over
some of the less, er, spectacular spots you suggest and spending more time in for
example New Orleans.

Not that I don't think there's merit in the idea of keeping off the interstates and
actually seeing villages and towns on secondary roads and meeting some people
but in that case now you're actually covering too much distance every day if
that's what you want to do. Again, I'd drop some stops completely and have
at least a couple days of long driving to cover more distance (on interstates one can
comfortably cover 600 miles a day, maybe even more if there's more than one driver),
through Texas for example, drop Beaumont and Sheffield (no offence intended, I'm sure
they're lovely places but it's safe to say, they're not famous as traveller's destinations),
and plan some shorter distance back road days as an alternative, frankly in areas where
there's more dense population than west Texas, Tenessee might be a good choice for that,
rolling hills lotsa small towns.

"fishman" wrote in message
...

"TheNewsGuy(Mike)" wrote in message
...
BTW Do Vegans breastfeed?


Assuming this is a serious question, the answer would be yes, but with the
caveat that diet is carefully watched to make sure that the infant is
getting proper nutrition - then again, all nursing mothers have to do
that.

Chris

vegans are probably permitted to consume human flesh - unlike humans, who do
not relish any flesh that does not come from animals..

"Norm Soley" wrote in message
...
"rob tyler" wrote in message
...
We have now put together a rough outline of the itinerary for our drive
across the USA from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans and Santa
Fe.
This is my first trip to the USA.

Since your plan seems to be to "skip the east" this trip and concentrate
on the west
then I'd do that more aggressively, fly directly to a more westerly or
southerly
starting point (or connect in NY) and avoid spending any time in the east
at all.

Personally I don't care much for the style of trip you propose here with
some driving
almost every day, I'd rather have some days spent entirely on the road,
skipping over
some of the less, er, spectacular spots you suggest and spending more time
in for
example New Orleans.

Not that I don't think there's merit in the idea of keeping off the
interstates and
actually seeing villages and towns on secondary roads and meeting some
people
but in that case now you're actually covering too much distance every day
if
that's what you want to do. Again, I'd drop some stops completely and have
at least a couple days of long driving to cover more distance (on
interstates one can
comfortably cover 600 miles a day, maybe even more if there's more than
one driver),
through Texas for example, drop Beaumont and Sheffield (no offence
intended, I'm sure
they're lovely places but it's safe to say, they're not famous as
traveller's destinations),
and plan some shorter distance back road days as an alternative, frankly
in areas where
there's more dense population than west Texas, Tenessee might be a good
choice for that,
rolling hills lotsa small towns.

i can understand you reservations - and no offence meant to the eastern
states - it will be a superficial journey for sure - but its the framework -
i dont know where will be the eastern part to explore really - but Tenessee
sounds a good starting point - and the places we have pulled out of the
map - so many of your town names come from the old land - and Sheffield,
Yorkshire, England is where my travelling companion lives - we thought we'd
visit your
version en route
- i'm looking forward to the cities (New Orleans and San Francisco) but i'm
a country bumpkin really - and i like country..........

"rob tyler" wrote in message ...
i can understand you reservations - and no offence meant to the eastern
states - it will be a superficial journey for sure - but its the framework -
i dont know where will be the eastern part to explore really - but Tenessee
sounds a good starting point - and the places we have pulled out of the
map - so many of your town names come from the old land - and Sheffield,
Yorkshire, England is where my travelling companion lives - we thought we'd
visit your
version en route
- i'm looking forward to the cities (New Orleans and San Francisco) but i'm
a country bumpkin really - and i like country..........


One thing I will warn you about, as reported by other brits I've known, there
is no way you really be prepared for how comparitively flat and empty some of the
areas you are planning to drive through might be, and highway maps don't show
topography, you'll be OK if you're not rigid about your planned itinerary (which
it doesn't sound like you are), but I'll be genuinely shocked later to learn that if you
really do follow your plan in Texas you look back on it and think of it as time well
spent. you'll look back and wish you'd spent more time in New Orleans (which is
really the most genuinely unique place in the US) or had more in Las Vegas (which
really is the most ungenuinely unique place in the US) or got to SF sooner, or heck
spent more time in Austin which is a very cool place too.