Planning a road trip to the West Coast, need advice

elcatfisho · Feb 15, 2015

Hey NT,

Hope you are have a nice weekend. It is very cold right now in Ohio. I am planning to take a summer road trip to the West Coast with a friend and none of us have done this before. Major cities we are planning to visit along the way are Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, and possibly Vancouver. We'd also love to visit a few national parks along the way such as Yosemite, Ashley, Arapaho, Tahoe, Yellowstone, Redwoods, and Death Valley. We are considering driving up the coast line on the 101 and seeing the magnificent Pacific Ocean. We want to camp out for a few nights along the journey when possible, but we also expect to reserve some lodgings along the way.

My friend has fam in Sactown and my sister is planning to move out to Seattle in a couple of months. Those two cities we will visit at the very least and will be able to stay for a couple of nights for free. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of what driving route we are going to take to and from the West Coast. We're not sure which car we're taking, and I'm not sure if my car can handle 6,000+ miles without breaking down. I don't know **** about car maintenance besides adding engine oil, so I'm a bit uncomfortable with taking it out there and risking the possibility of being stranded in the middle of Nebraska or Wyoming (not to say that there's anything wrong about those states of course) with no help within a hour's reach.

I'm expecting to save at least $1,500-2,000, but like the rest of the details I am not sure if this is a good estimate.

If anyone has any advice or can share their experiences please tell! I appreciate any comments, suggestions, concerns, or criticisms.

We're committed to doing it this summer and I'm very excited as I haven't taken a major vacation in awhile.

Thanks!

-Pat

dabottom305 · Feb 15, 2015

Get your oil changed along the way.

omariwestafari · Feb 15, 2015

If u had bought da hemi ypu wouldnt have to worry about ur car breaking down

jordan23mj45 · Feb 15, 2015

I'm thinking you're going to need to save more than $1,500- $2,000, but awesome idea

verdykt · Feb 15, 2015

Nebraska (Omaha aside) and Wyoming are terrible states. No apologies needed.

johnnyredstorm · Feb 15, 2015

Kerouac would be proud

elcatfisho · Feb 15, 2015

omariwestafari said:
If u had bought da hemi ypu wouldnt have to worry about ur car breaking down

i know b, i dun goof'd

Jordan23mj45 said:
I'm thinking you're going to need to save more than $1,500- $2,000, but awesome idea

I guess i'll need to find an extra side hustle... or we'll just live extremely poor lol.

Verdykt said:
Nebraska (Omaha aside) and Wyoming are terrible states. No apologies needed.

Well with NT's historical beef with Ohio I was worried that I may call the Nebraskan and Wyomingan NT base to arms.

JohnnyRedStorm said:
Kerouac would be proud

If you are alluding to my current desire to live a sober life, then I guess I can agree.

zapatohead408 · Feb 15, 2015

One of my old coworkers did this with his buddies and had the time of his life.

johnnyredstorm · Feb 15, 2015

sober life is good and all but i was referring to the traveling cross country :lol:

i'd do it but i hate driving so props b. it'll be an awesome experience.

frankmatthews · Feb 15, 2015

I'd imagine gas would be at least $500 especially if it's not a new car.

I will say priceline express deals have extremely cheap 3 and 4 star rooms if u book last minute.

You'll probably need more money if this is going to be a month or longer trip.

elcatfisho · Feb 18, 2015

FrankMatthews said:
I'd imagine gas would be at least $500 especially if it's not a new car.

I will say priceline express deals have extremely cheap 3 and 4 star rooms if u book last minute.

You'll probably need more money if this is going to be a month or longer trip.

Nah we were thinking 3-4 weeks.

theknowledgeableprofessor · Feb 18, 2015

Dude, easily, rent a car for the whole trip. You can get very good deals. It may not seem like it initially, but you will save $ this way. Gas, wear and tear, maintenance. Thats a looooong trip. Just eat fast food and sleep in the car/motel 6 only when needed. Maybe PM when youre in the bay area !

tsamshox · Feb 18, 2015

Drive out to New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada and check out the National Parks. Play some Eagles "Hotel California" while you in the drop top coupe and get in that zone playa.

HNL HI · Feb 18, 2015

sell your house first, don't look back.

truballa101 · Feb 18, 2015

This idea seems pretty fun. Best of luck OP. I think you should try to have a bigger budget thought. Maybe sell your body along the way *shrugs* srs

elcatfisho · Feb 18, 2015

theknowledgeableprofessor said:
Dude, easily, rent a car for the whole trip. You can get very good deals. It may not seem like it initially, but you will save $ this way. Gas, wear and tear, maintenance. Thats a looooong trip. Just eat fast food and sleep in the car/motel 6 only when needed. Maybe PM when youre in the bay area !

good advice man, I'll look into that. Any websites that I should consider? I am 21 so I am not sure how that may affect the rental rates. Appreciate the offer man, I'll be hitting up Cali NTers when it gets closer to summer.

tSamShoX said:
Drive out to New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada and check out the National Parks. Play some Eagles "Hotel California" while you in the drop top coupe and get in that zone playa.

Yeah I'm thinking about the Grand Canyon as an option now. Driving out in the heat, out in the middle of nowhere, sounds amazing right now considering how ******* cold it is in Ohio. Need to create a playlist to jam out to the whole way there.

Truballa101 said:
This idea seems pretty fun. Best of luck OP. I think you should try to have a bigger budget thought. Maybe sell your body along the way *shrugs* srs

$2k minimum? My dad was telling me maybe I should try to find some daily jobs to work along the way. I'll look into Craigslist. And son, I've been hitting the gym 6 days a week, getting on that low-carb diet, of course my body will be an option. :nthat:

elcatfisho · Aug 7, 2015

Update! Made it out to Sacramento. Destinations made:
-Chicago, IL
-St Paul, MN
-Badlands National Park, SD
-Grand Teton National Park, WY
-Yellowstone National Park, WY
-Seattle, WA
-Portland, OR
-Crater Lake National Park
-Yosemite National Park

The US has a lot of awesome places. I've been very lucky and have met lots of awesome people. Heading back to Ohio starting tomorrow, we're taking I-80 East.

More pictures to come when I'm all done.View media item 1661993 View media item 1661995 View media item 1661996 View media item 1661997 View media item 1661999

sreal · Aug 7, 2015

sounds like you hit a lot of cool places, but you gotta hit san francisco before you head back!! just hop on the I-80 WEST from sacramento and you can get to sf in less than 2 hours. there is so much to see and do in the city man, i promise you won't regret taking an extra day to take a tour of the city.

samyoung80 · Aug 7, 2015

ElCatfisho said:
Update! Made it out to Sacramento. Destinations made:
-Chicago, IL
-St Paul, MN
-Badlands National Park, SD
-Grand Teton National Park, WY
-Yellowstone National Park, WY
-Seattle, WA
-Portland, OR
-Crater Lake National Park
-Yosemite National Park

The US has a lot of awesome places. I've been very lucky and have met lots of awesome people. Heading back to Ohio starting tomorrow, we're taking I-80 East.

More pictures to come when I'm all done.

Crater lake is on my list. Thanks for the update. If you get the chance drive through Big Sur

Ox. · Aug 7, 2015

[emoji]128074[/emoji]

yanky · Aug 7, 2015

If time permits touring SF and taking highway 1 down to monterey/Big sur will be well worth it especially right now since it's summer time the view on HW1 is top notch with the pacific ocean. Will not regret it.

The view from Bixby bridge down in big sur because you can't visualize it with just words :

View media item 1662740

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Planning a road trip to the West Coast, need advice

elcatfisho

dabottom305

omariwestafari

jordan23mj45

verdykt

johnnyredstorm

elcatfisho

zapatohead408

johnnyredstorm

frankmatthews

elcatfisho

theknowledgeableprofessor

tsamshox

HNL HI

truballa101

elcatfisho

elcatfisho

sreal

samyoung80

Ox.

formerly oxpenguin

yanky

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