i'm planning a coast to coast in the US.
 

hi all guys, i'm planning a coast to coast vacation in the usa with some friends.
we'd like to follow the route 66 from chicago to LA. we are 4 and we'll come on august september.

i have some questions and i need some advice, on pretty much everything :)

what kind of car i need to rent ?
i thought that a pickup could be awesome for a road trip, and for a lot of baggage, but i don't know where i can rent one.


place i'd like to visit are:
Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans, LasVegas, Grand Canyon, a ghost town, San Francisco and much more things.
oh, well, we'd like to visit an adult production house (hope it's called like that)
could you think that is possible ? maybe writing them some weeks earlier.


uh, i'd like to visit also some car event, or something similar with cars, drift, and burning tyres :)


we are staying a month (well 28 days).

thank :)

Be sure to check out the giant manure pile in Idaho.

be prepared for a lot of long boring driving

If you're planning on going from Chicago to LA forget about New Orleans and Detroit as they are both out of your way.

nad for real i was googling untill i understand what a giant manure pile is ...
big lol man :)

already prepared, what about speed limit ?
here in italy we don't really know what a speed limit is ... -.-

yeah, with a little detour it could be possible... don't know if we have time.
the second choice would be start from toronto (and watching the niagara falls), detroit, chicago and let's go.
but i don't know if i can rent a car in canada and travell till california O.o

A month isn't going to be long enough, youll spend half your time driving. I have some friends who were first timers in the USA that did a circuit from LA>grand canyon> vegas> san fran.

They were impressed

I recently drove from California to New York on business, it was the most boring 4 days ever. That I-40 is 1000 miles of nothing but fields. I stopped one night in a small town that happened to be a dry town ( no alcohol ) that was a mistake. I hope you plan your trip well and visit some interesting places .:thumbsup

well, we are going to do a road travel, so i considered to spend half of the time on the car, hope to get a big car :D

but yes, we don't have much time, this is why i'm here to listen to you, american people, on what kind of travel is best for us, doing the route66.

and this is the only shot to visit america for me, i have work , loan, and a car to finish to buy. so i need to travel and go go go go.
i'm planning to take a picture and videos of everything, thousands of picture and hundreds of videos.
i love america ♥♥♥♥

hope too, i drove from amsterdam to milan (netherlands to italy in the case :P) on one shot drive, 11 hours, my friends was sleeping and i drove all myself.
yes, i like to drive :)

edit: well.... you write 1000 miles, but my travel was 1100 kms .... lol :D
i missed 500 km

get a dodge caravan/chrysler town and country... pretty big and comfortable enough...gas isn't too bad... not sure where to rent...

In that case, rent a RV

Here's my advice.

Rent an SUV. You want everyone to be as comfortable as possible. More comfort means less stress and less unnecessary stops.

Stick to the speed limit. Since you're driving for thousands of miles (and perhaps in an SUV) you will want to save gas. Also nothing ruins a trip like being stopped for speeding. The cop will likely want to search your car too and if he finds anything, your trip is over.

Plan your trip and stops, but allow room for new adventures along the way.

Sleep properly. Driving while too tired is worse than driving drunk. Plan Hotel stops along the way. Exercise where possible especially in the morning to help wake yourself up.

Bring a cellphone that you can use as a wifi tether to have your own travelling wifi hotspot.

Have a safe trip!

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Nice adventure. I have some friends from France that did that a couple years ago, but on Harleys.

Since I do significant travel by bike and car, I can probably be of more help than some of the comments I have read this far.

1. Chicago to LA is only 2,000 miles. Easily done in 28 days. Last year we did 8,000 miles in 30 days and were not rushed at all. We even stayed in IN for a week or so.

2. We used a Dodge Charger which is an extremely comfortable car. Which is very important. Luckily, the Charger has a nice back seat, so your passengers will be comfy as well. You will get 20 MPG which is a lot better than any RV will give you.

3. Do not drive at night. This is a beautiful country. You miss the good stuff in the dark.

4. Detroit to Chicago is only 300 miles. There is no reason you could not visit it before you head out.

5. Rte 66 drops pretty far south. There is no reason you can't drop into New Orleans. You have plenty of time.

6. San Francisco is only 6 hours north of LA if you take I-5. Since Hwy 1 may still be closed by then, it will be a good option (or 101, a little longer).


Are you flying back home from CA, so no need to drive back to Chicago?

OPTIONS:

Start in Detroit and then take the train from there to Chicago, and from Chicago to California. This way you skip the most boring part of the drive.

You could get off the train in Denver or Salt Lake and drive from there to SF (about 1000 miles).

Or just continue on the train to San Francisco. For adult production house look up Kink in SF.

Rent a car in SF for easy 400 mile drive to Los Angeles and then on to Vegas, ghost towns and the Grand Canyon.

For car stuff look up Hot Import Nights as the main car show that travels around the US.

Not excactly coast to coast. But sounds like fun :thumbsup

I want to do cross Canada and Cross the US. Will probably take a different route though and go down the east coast and accross the bottom. Then maybe go up the west coast and accross canada. Probably need about 3 months to do it.

not sure about Chicago to LA, cross country is New York to San Fran.

Sounds like a blast! Road trips are the best!!

11 hours will get you about 2% across the USA. It's much wider than people think. I am going to go with the "Vegas / Reno / Tahoo / LA / San Fran / HWY 1 trip as suggested.

Havent done coast to coast but Cape cod to Denver (circa 2000miles) . Used a Dodge Charger which wasn't bad.

If you have 3 or more passengers, an SUV or RV would be much more comfortable (A charger for ex with 4 people and luggage would be cramped).

A train for part of the trip would be an idea. The California Zephyr goes from Chicago to Emeryville, CA (stops in Denver). They do sleeper cars so you can eat, drink and sleep in a real bed. Id take it from Chicago to Denver (which isnt an exciting drive anyway) then hit the road in Denver and go through the Rockies down to Vegas (Grand Canyon not far from LV) and onto CA.

Boring? You people either have never made the drive or are incredibly difficult to entertain.

prepare to enter a land that have no idea what any food is other than american staples

suggest coolers with food, 'salads etc', because your body is going to fucking hate you after driving through fast food america

always mention you're from italy and looking for 'cool places to see', some very friendly people that should tell you the cool unspoken places etc

if you can, bring a dirt bike

renting a truck is expensive, the small to midsize cars are your best value

Open up a corporate account with Enterprise and you get a discount every time you rent.:2 cents:

Not bad idea at all, but I'd suggest the spring time.


We rented Diamond Chrysler 300 which has never been broken on the road from NYC to LA.

This is depends. We (3 guys) have fit well into a sedan. No probs with a baggage.

Never been to any adult production house and never wanted to be there, but good luck :)

In New Orleans make sure to stay in the old French block. 2 thumbs up for Place D'Armes if you love vintage style and ghosts :)

In Las Vegas I'd recommend the Venetian Hotel. You'll love it.

As about LA, so the Hotel California near the Santa Monica pier is something I'd suggest. Of course if you love the ocean...

Good luck on it an have a nice travel :thumbsup

Make sure to visit the eastern-southern cities as well. For example, Miami is a must IMHO

That is a good point. Dodge Caravan would be a good alternative. Get GPS. Whenever you see a brown road sign designating something interesting, take the turn.


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Every small town larger than a truck stop has at least one restaurant that is not fast food. If you lived on fast food, that was your fault. I do not do fast food and had no problem finding good food to eat anywhere.


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That being said, a cooler with snacks and drinks is a good idea. Sometimes you find a place you'd like to stop and enjoy a while.

yea no doubt about that, i am mostly talking about the highway stops etc. hard finding those places while making the most use of daylight

I have been across the country several times since I can't fly due to prohibitive cost and trains because they aren't very handicap accessible at all stations. Me and my sister just did Dallas to Vegas then from LA back to Dallas. Only took 24 hours from LA to Dallas split in 2 days. We have also done the Hot Rod Power Tour back in 99 when it did the complete Route 66 in 10 days with American Muscle Cars. My wife and I did Dallas to Orlando thru B'Ham/Atlanta and back down I-10 to Dallas. And Dallas to Chicago in 1 day.

I would definitely suggest a comfortable vehicle to ride in because that IS the fun to see everything. We drove all of these in a Cadillac Deville DHS, Cadillac SRX4 or a 96 Impala SS with 500HP+. Our Cadillac actually got 3mpg more with cruise at 80mph going thru LA, MS, AL, GA & FL. Invest $400 in a Valentine 1 Radar Detector/Locator if you want to go over speed limit it WILL make your trip a little better with less visits by the podunk LEO's you might encounter. Always good to slow down going thru small towns especially if loaded down because the LEO's watch the main roads for drug traffickers because they also use large vehicles that are loaded down and they will stop you to take a peek. If you have any questions just post it up there are a lot of road warriors out there.

Oh its also fun sometimes to video certain places because there is a lot to take in sometimes. Just buy one of the windshield mounts for your HD camera and away you go. I took about 3000+ pictures with my iPhone and Canon iS on our adventure to AEE/AVN Awards/ANME in Vegas/LA. You want to take as m,any pictures as possible especially if moving because you might use one out of every 10 shots you take due to motion and movement.

Baddog should know best :)

I am not sure what you mean by making the most of the sunlight. He is going to have 14 hours of it every day. He is only going 2,000 miles in 28 days. That is less than 75 miles a day. He has plenty of time to go off the path, make u-turns, detours, see cool stuff and find a decent meal along the way. :upsidedow

BTW: Every adventure includes a u-turn. Don't hesitate to make a lot of them.


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Okay, I have to correct myself. There seems to be some dispute about the length on Rte 66, but if I err on the side of caution and say it is 2,500 miles, then add another 1,000 so he can go to Detroit, it is only 125 miles a day. Piece of cake.

A blast can be had if one really wants.

thank you all guys, when i come back home this evening i will read and i will answer everything, but i saw some photos and it's all pretty cool.
food
gnam :D

I have driven through most states and I think all of them along Rte 66. I would be more than happy to offer suggestions. It is one of my favorite hobbies. Feel free to contact me direct.

When I see this, then I will consider that I'm completely lost. WTF!?!?!

man you missed out if that's your conclusion. a huge part of the fun of driving across america is trying the regional foods. hitting the drive-through and getting back on the frwy is hardly fun1

there are many cellphone apps that point out local fun spots/restaurants as you go.

The most frequent place for skin cancer occurrence is on the lips on the side of your face where the sun shines when driving. Wear sunscreeen/lip protection.

I just thought of something you might consider. I have some German friends that when they come here for a month of travel, they buy a used car then either sell it quick or ship it home if they like it.

Make sure to hit the natural hotsprings in Washington. Bring a tent... camp out... weather will be warm, that's what it is about 2cent

Yeah. Well, that is what happens when you make a u-turn. I saw what I thought was a really cool looking scene off in the distance, and I wanted to take a picture of it, so I made a quick detour. I sure did not expect to see that in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota.


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He was across the road. Never would have spotted him from the highway.