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So The fiancee and I are about to embark on what I'd consider a really epic road trip. We've done the East Coast cruise twice now, and a few day+ trips around Florida, but nothing like this.
We've got 14 total days to work with. Roughly we figure 6 days of roundtrip travel time, and 7 days of seeing sights and family, etc.

I'm going to continue using some of the basic techniques I already had in use prior to joining the forums, and add a couple of new ones, but nothing that requires too much practice/prep as we depart Dec. 19th.

I hope to give occasional updates here on our mileage and FE etc. as time allots, hence me getting this thread going.

SO, I'd like a few things from anyone who cares to share:
If anyone out there has done this trip (loosely we'll be hanging around the I-10 path from Jacksonville thru LA) or parts of it, could you give suggestions of areas to avoid, and if possible the time of day when traffic is worst, and anything that could eat our MPGs.
Off-topic from FE, but still on-topic with roadtripping, any members or people who've travelled in the following states - Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California - feel free to suggest some "must-do's" in any of these places. Our trip isn't following any sort of timeline/itinerary other than the 14 day plus or minus a day plan.
Lastly, this pertains to my first item in terms of things to avoid/traffic etc. On the flipside, any stretches of road between FL and SoCal that anyone knows of that are good for maximum FE, please divulge!!!!

I look forward to periodically updating our progress. Thanks in advance to you all! ("y'all" if I wanted to give into the local lingo...) :flag::cool:

Well you are looking at 2,885 miles and 50 hours of driving between Daytona and San Francisco. Keep the speed down under 65 mph and that should keep the fuel mileage in the upper limit.
May I suggest a web site and forum I found for the kind of trip your planning.
Road Trip America (http://www.roadtripamerica.com/)

These people can help you out on what to see and what to avoid.

Good luck!

As for road trip advice-

1) Fill up on Gas and water whenever possible. Every state from Texas to CA has stretches where gas stations are 150+ miles apart. Don't risk getting lost or not finding gas when you need it.

2) Avoid I-5 in the CA Central Valley- Hot (in summer), dry, and deserted. US-101 or Route 1 are better choices.

Avoid going north to I-80, as you could get caught in snow this time of year. Avoid I-5 north through CA, as it's as boring as Warthog says it is. US 101 is much more scenic. CA hwy 1 is too slow and twisty. It'll add half a day to your trip, but it is even more scenic, in a white-knuckles cliff-hanging way. ;) Avoid all metropolitan areas during weekday rush hours. Don't try to push 2000 miles in 3 days. If you're driving for mileage, you're going to average 50 mph or less, and that's back to back 15 hour days.

I'd skip the Gulf Coast states. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana all look just like Florida. Shoot for Houston's Johnson Space Center, or the Alamo and Riverwalk in San Antonio, and enjoy its music scene at night. If you're into offbeat stuff, research the fossilized dinosaur tracks in Hondo, TX, and consider a visit to see them. Then, if you can spare the time to jog north, definitely take the time to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. The Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Phoenix or the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson are worth seeing for the desert plants and animals, respectively

In L.A., consider the La Brea Tar Pits, Hollywood's Walk of Stars, Universal Studios, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, etc. The world-famous San Diego Zoo and Sea World are the main sights in San Diego For a romantic getaway, catch the ferry from Long Beach and spend the night in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

If you have passports, consider parking on the US side and walking into Mexico at Matamoros, Juarez, Nogales, or Tijuana. It's not for everyone, but prices are great - leather jackets for $60, lace tablecloths for $15-30, stained glass art for 1/3 US prices, and you'll appreciate living in the USA a lot more once you see the poverty on the other side of the border.

In SF, the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is a real gem. Reserve now online or via phone for a boat ride to Alcatraz. If you wait until you arrive, you may have to wait a day to visit the island. Muir Woods National Monument north of SF on Hwy 1 is a cathedral of Redwoods - well worth the visit. If you're into wine, drive to the Napa Valley and tour some wineries. If you're into history, visit the Sacramento area and Sutter's Mill where the Gold Rush of 1849 started, the Chinese town of Locke, the state Capitol, and the state Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.

Thanks to everyone so far for some great feedback and suggestions!

I'm already set with compromising FE a bit for the sake of time. Unfortunately our travel time got cut short a few days from the initial plan, but this is what we have to work with; and making things work is what I'm good at ;)

We're making a road trip packet with all the fun stuff we want to see and do. We'll check off what we end up doing, and save whatever we don't get to for another trip.

Big thumbs up to skipping the first few states between FL and Cali - I've been through southern Alabama and a bit of the Mississippi Delta so we'll just use those stretches for fuel/snacks/restrooms/stretching.
Anxious to see how big Texas really is.
Looking forward to stopping at a border town somewhere along the way. I've read recommendations of Agua Prieta, in Sonora. Douglas, AZ is it's U.S. neighbor and it's common to park there and walk across. I heard the food was delicious, albeit over-priced a bit. But for a day trip I'll take it.
I spent a few weeks traveling through Ecuador this past summer; such a beautiful, eye opening and appreciative experience. So different and absolutely wonderful. Actually met a few U.S. transplants who fell in love with some of it's places and run restaurants and/or hostels now and seem to be doing quite fine. One hostel owner was from Cleveland - he came down with the Peace Corp and never went back. I guess young love combined with such dynamic landscapes will do that to you... but I digress.

My fiancee and I are tossing around living on the West Coast for a while, so this will be a good opportunity for some re-con work.

Looking forward to seeing how my fuel consumption plays out. We've got lots of gift cards left over from last X-mas and birthdays between the two of us (it's all we usually ask for) to starbucks and DD's that I think we'll have our "en route" foods/drinks covered. And we've got a couple other helpful resources to offset our traveling costs which will be nice.
I'd love to get a longer time frame and do the trip properly (which is subjective, but I don't think we'll do it as much justice as we'd like this time around)
Maybe someday set a record for the least amount of fuel spent on the longest trip - where ever that may lead. Someday, someday...

Anyway, keep the suggestions flowing, our traveling packet is getting bigger and bigger and we love it!

If you're willing to drive into Mexico, try Porto Nuevo between Tijuana and Ensenada for very reasonable lobster dinners. They're geared for serving gringos, so the food is safe. You'll need full title to your car - it can't be in the hands of a lienholder, and buy Mexican insurance at the border. I've driven as far south as Colima, about 1500 miles below the border. I prefer the bigger Frontera towns for their variety of offerings, but their disadvantage is their hard edge. Douglas and Agua Prieta are pretty small, and you'll have a higher quality experience there.

I drove about 4000 miles this summer from CA to NM, UT, and CO. I got roughly the same mileage (38-40 mpg) going 55 mph alone on cruise control and averaging 50 mph, or going 65 mph slipstreaming big trucks and averaging 60 mph. If I push my car to 72 mph on cruise control, it only gets 26 mpg. If I go 62 mph on cc, I get 30-31 mpg. So you'll probably find the same mileage tradeoffs. Go fast, and just get the EPA mileage estimates, or drive smart and beat the estimates. That was before I tried hypermiling. It's a mostly flat drive, with the only really long downhills I recall being in the California desert, where the big trucks going the other way crawl up in low gears. Once you leave east Texas, you'll get into hilly country where you can do a little FASing on the downhills

It's 800 miles across Texas - a pretty long day.

I visited Ecuador in 1995. Unfortunately, my Spanish is very limited. From what I could see, the people are as friendly as you said, once you got out of Quito. We heard gunshots in Quito, and noticed that every Cambio, Banco, y Joyeria had armed guards. Mexico is probably safer, overall. Still, you should go below the Frontera to see how normal Mexicans live.

Mexico is probably safer, overall. Still, you should go below the Frontera to see how normal Mexicans live.

I'd give Mexico a pass. As of this summer, there is a "hot" drug war going on that tends to involve gunshots and hostages.

Yeah, the fit is still under lien, so no go, even if I wanted to go that route - but I don't. We'll do a brief walk across visit.
I'm currently trying to determine what sort of identification we'll need; I have friends who in undergrad, about 2 years or so back, could go to the border towns with just their drivers' licenses.
Now I'm hearing talk of birth certificates and passports and licenses not being valid enough anymore.
Anyone shed some light? I know it's off topic to hypermiling but still part of the trip nonetheless. We'll probably pack passports to be sure.

While I didn't have the gunshot experiences in Quito, it's certainly disconcerting enough to see armed militia at all financial institutions and government buildings, etc. Ecuador put that into perspective among other things. But the people are beautiful and friendly.
I spent time in Banos, Otavalo, and Cotocachi and used Quito as just a point of transfer between buses. Probably stayed a total of 2 and half days there overall - unfortunately the hostel was across from a square that was playing a big futbol (soccer for the gringos..) match the 1st night I stopped over - not much sleep needless to say.

3 more summative exams between me and the open road... a well deserved vacation!

To get back into the US, you need either a $45 Passport Card good for ground travel in N. America or a full US Passport.

Here are the USCBP documentation requirements (http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/ready_set_go/land_travel/) for land reentry into the US. It doesn't sound like the requirements are that much worse than they were last year.

It sounds like you'll have a great trip. Get to the Fort Davis, TX drugstore before 3 p.m., and order a chocolate malt. Visit the McDonald Observatory. Stop at Chuy's Restaurant in Van Horn, TX for the All Madden Hall of Fame. The RoadsideAmerica.com site mentioned by ALS lists just the kinds of places I like to visit. They used to publish a book that I used to plan a month-long trip around the country with my son in 1993.

Some of the highlights: The Petrified Forest in Arizona, Chaco Canyon (NM), Carlsbad Caverns (NM), dinosaur footprints in Hondo, TX, riverwalk in San Antonio, Volksmarch around Superdome in New Orleans, boat trip for alligators in Houma, LA, rescuing 26 year old female hitchhiker Delectable Deborah in Homestead, FL, Big Daddy Garlits' Drag Racing Museum, Air and Space Museum and American History Museum in Washington, D.C., Amish handcrafts in Pennsylvania, National Clock and Watch Museum in Maryland, Cheers Bar in Boston.

The next summer, I drove him down the length of the Baja California peninsula and back.

SentraSE-R - thanks for the link - that makes things nice and clear.

From age 3 on until college I wanted to be a Paleontologist. So, if it involves Dinosaurs (which the west is full of) I'm all aboard. (I'm in Chiropractic school now... things change, for the better)
I've been browsing roadsideamerica.com and taking notes - so thanks for the suggestions.
Does the drugstore in Fort Davis close at 3pm or do they just not serve or there's something I should be aware of (time stands still after 3pm, for example...)

Mention of a month long trip and a Baja California excursion make me want to extend this trip...

All in due time though.

I'm packing my typical roadside kit - plenty of utilities/tools, etc. extra bulbs and fuses, debating on whether or not to carry any extra fluids or just wing it, tire patch kit, jumper cables, etc. But any more western specific items anyone here would recommend to carry with me for traveling?
And any suggestions for must carry have on hand stuff in general.

Counting down the days - 1 more exam left and a whole lot of packing after that. I'm trying to make a list this time around because we tend to pack last minute...

It's too bad half of your two weeks is going to be spent driving. That doesn't leave nearly enough time for sightseeing. But you can at least do some scouting for your next road trip ;)

Dinosaur National Monument in Utah is probably too far north to catch on this trip. I'd do it in combination with Carlsbad, Chaco, Canyon de Chelly, the Grand Canyon, etc.

The Fort Davis Drugstore closes at 4 p.m. on weekdays, but if business is slow, you may find it closed before 3:30. There's a monument outside of town honoring the US Cavalry's Camel Corps, one of only three in the country. The other two are the Hi Jolly monument in Quartzsite, AZ honoring camel driver Hadj Ali, and the Camel Barn Museum in Benicia, CA about 40 miles NE of San Francisco. You can visit all three on your trip! That's a sesquicentennial connection you can make in two weeks. Another coast-to-coast connection you can make is to visit the chapel on the former Mare Island Naval shipyard in Vallejo, CA this trip, then visit the two other chapels designed by Architect Albert Sutton on Jekyll Island, GA and Lake Placid, NY on later trips.

No, there's nothing special you need to carry out west in your toolkit. You're carrying more in your car than I usually carry in mine.

You know, if you didn't have relatives to visit, I'd advise you to drive to San Ysidro, walk across the border, and take a bus to Mulege. It's paradise!

Thanks to everyone so far for some great feedback and suggestions!

Anxious to see how big Texas really is.


The sun has riz,
The sun has set,
And here we are
In Texas yet! :)

In your direction that's almost 900 miles from Beaumont to El Paso.

If you are going to Carlsbad, I would also recommend White Sands.
You might also try tracing some of the old Route 66 through Arizona.
The Grand Canyon would be just a couple hours out of your way.
If you have time in CA, you might stop off at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.

Larry

If you're in San Francisco, I'd say avoid the Academy of Science. It definitely is not what it used to be and there were way too many people when I went. Maybe it has died down but it seems a lot smaller and less educational (ironic since now is the time when I am interested).

Daytona to San Fran and back in less than 14 days?:eek: Hope you have a very comfy car as you will be spending most of your time in it.. Let us know how the trip went.
PS i do hope you have at least all season tires and not some high performance summer tire.