Roadtrip California - Florida

[jejeje]

In about 12 hours I'm on the plane leaving Norway and freezing temperatures and heading to San Francisco to start this year's roadtrip. My girlfriend and I will drive from SF, via LA and Las Vegas (SEMA!) and head east towards Miami.

Here's the route (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=san+francisco&daddr=CA-87+S+%4037.321850,+-121.891120+to:US-101+S+%4036.756180,+-121.665140+to:US-101+S+%4034.290180,+-119.334960+to:E+Mountain+St+%4034.161635,+-118.124998+to:S+Jones+Blvd%2FNV-596+%4036.102380,+-115.225024+to:AZ-64%2FUS-180+to:N+10th+St+%4033.504760,+-112.060639+to:I-10+E+%4029.769900,+-95.347040+to:I-10+E+%4029.978940,+-90.113040+to:I-10+E+%4030.320700,+-81.720080+to:I-75+S+%4028.085720,+-82.354100+to:miami&hl=no&geocode=%3BFXp8OQId0Ba8-A%3BFdTaMAIdjIm_-A%3BFQQ6CwId0Bfj-A%3BFeNDCQIdOo71-A%3BFezgJgIdQM4h-Q%3BFYCPJQIdcCxR-Q%3BFfg9_wEdIRdS-Q%3BFaxAxgEdoB5R-g%3BFTxxyQEd8Pug-g%3BFTyozgEd8Awh-w%3BFdiNrAEdTGAX-w%3B&mra=ls&via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11&sll=34.827332,-111.571655&sspn=3.751318,5.454712&ie=UTF8&z=5) as of today. It's subject to change at any time, but atleast we know losely where we're going. :)

Hopefully we'll get some nice shots along the way. It's very likely that I will be posting stuff on POTN during thet trip.

And yes, for those who wonder, I DO know how far that drive is. :) In 2006 two pals and I drove more or less the other way, from Miami to LA (also SF). It won't be an Alex Roy time crossing America, we'll take our time and look at stuff along the way. Well be using about two weeks on the drive with a couple of days in SF before starting and a short week in Miami after arriving.

If you have any hints of what we should go see along the route feel free to post. It would be highly appreciated.

I guess this is a sight I need to get used to:

http://2008.junaiten.no/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/road-287x300.jpg
(from the roadtrip in 2006)

[12mnkys]

very cool man...be sure to stop in Sedona, AZ...Fantastical picture oppurtunities and it very unique to the desert southwest, USA....

I lived in Phoenix for five years and really miss the area... Another great place to stop before you get to AZ would be Las Vegas of course!!!

Good Luck!

[FlyingPhotog]

Big +1 for Sedona!

If it fits your schedule, drive 89A from Sedona and spend part of a day in Jerome, AZ...

Very funky old town! Head down to Prescott from Jerome and then back to I-17S toward Phoenix. One of my favorite drives...

Keep us up to date on your itinerary and maybe some of the Phoenix folks can come out and play for a day as well!

Sounds like you're gonna have a great trip!

[tsw910]

ah SEMA .. awesome show ! can't believe how vegas stops everything for that show ..

and dont forget to stop by Louisiana for some Gator tail .. yummy

[inthedeck]

New Orleans...if possible. No Mardi Gras, but, it'll help their community, to have some tourist $$'s.

Enjoy the trip.

[justincase724]

Wow, that's one hell of a drive, but it sounds like a lot of fun. I took a look at your map and there's one part of the drive from San Francisco down to LA that I would suggest changing. Rather than taking the 101 South through all the open farm land, head through Monterey (which is also a cool place to stop - home of the Laguna Seca race track, if you're into that kind of thing) and down Highway 1 through Big Sur. It may be the difference of an hour or two (if you don't stop) but it's well worth it if you have to be stuck in a car the whole time. Along the way, you can stop at Hearst Castle - it's a cool historical site that you have to pay to tour, but it's a really cool old castle way up on the hill. I tried revising your map and linkng it back to you, but the link just kept giving me your original map.

[shannyD]

you have to hit up new orleans. such a fun place.

[lowrider]

I see you'll be pasing thru Tucson, if you have the time for a little hiking, stop by Sabino Canyon. It's not Sedona, but it's well worth seeing.

Lou

[12mnkys]

Big +1 for Sedona!

If it fits your schedule, drive 89A from Sedona and spend part of a day in Jerome, AZ...

Very funky old town! Head down to Prescott from Jerome and then back to I-17S toward Phoenix. One of my favorite drives...

Keep us up to date on your itinerary and maybe some of the Phoenix folks can come out and play for a day as well!

Sounds like you're gonna have a great trip!

Woot most definitely!!!! I love AZ! :D

[DavidSR]

Are you passing by Texas? There's a zoo you can take your car in and take pictures of the animals.

Here's the website
http://www.fossilrim.com/

[jejeje]

WOW! Lots of response! Thank you all!

Las Vegas - Check.

We'll be attending SEMA (http://www.semashow.com/) there, aswell as some shows like Kevin James standup and Criss Angel+Cirque Soleil - Believe.

Phoenix AZ is on the route. We'll be going to the Checker Autoparts 500 Nascar Sprint Cup race on the 9th. Some may say it's redneckish but I just have to experience it! :)

Hoping to get to see abit of the south rim of Grand Canyon aswell before that, but between Vegas and Phoenix the schedule is pretty tight.

Fossil Rim would be interesting. I wish I knew about that earlier. I went to Plano/Dallas in april this year for a week and that's right there. This time we're passing thru further south (Houston) so I'll have to check the timetable when we get to Texas to see if we can do the detour. Maybe we'll drop Houston all together. I'll make a decission as we go.

Yes, New Orleans is one of the places we'll drive thru and make a stop. :)

As mentioned, we have a couple of days in SF before leaving, so I'll definitely take a look at all your suggestions.

Thank you very much for all your input guys. I'll keep you all posted for sure. Yes, I'm very into car stuff so Laguna Seca was a good idea. Can't understand why it didn't hit me before. I've raced there lots of times... eeeh, in Forza2 on the xbox360 of course ;)

I'm so exited right now. And since I've done such a 3500+ miles trip before I'm not really that worried about the length we have to drive. Unlimited milage, cruise control and gas that is under half the price of what is is here in Norway, and I'm all set :)

[idyguy]

If you're going to head to Sedona from California, you might consider taking Hwy 10 east to Hwy 60 (?) to Prescott, then take Hwy 89A through the mountains and Jerome down to Sedona. It's a great route with some beautiful vistas along the way. Jerome is a wonderful old mining town built on the side of the mountain overlooking Sedona.

P.S. I didn't see FlyingPhotog's post before I replied. I agree 100%! It's all very beautiful through this part of Arizona.

[idyguy]

If you're heading down through Tucson, be sure to take a little detour down to Tombstone and Bisbee.

[Billginthekeys]

I guess this is a sight I need to get used to:

http://2008.junaiten.no/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/road-287x300.jpg
(from the roadtrip in 2006)
I can tell you one thing. You better multiply the traffic by about 100 times to come close to what you will see in miami :lol:. Sounds like a great time though, I've often wanted to do something like that.

[inthedeck]

^^So have I. The furthest I've driven is from NYC to New Orleans in 21 hours, straight. Ah...the times of being unemployed. I even took pictures back then...with FILM! haha..Ok, it wasn't ALL that long ago...but in 2003 digital SLR's were just coming out. Rebel XT days. Wow, that was only 5 years ago? ??? man...*shakes head*

[scubasushi]

if you're into Bird photography, when you zip past Ft Myers in Florida, you could pop over to Ding Darling on Sanibel Island (best early morning) [take exit 131 on I-75]

and of course, on the way across Florida, you can do one of the air boat rides and see some gators in the Everglades (bring some mosquito repellent though!).

Miami is also fun of course :)

[12mnkys]

WOW! Lots of response! Thank you all!

...
Phoenix AZ is on the route. We'll be going to the Checker Autoparts 500 Nascar Sprint Cup race on the 9th. Some may say it's redneckish but I just have to experience it! :)
...


PIR is a very nice racetrack... I have raced in my Evo TT on Road course several times at PIR. The last turn coming out of the back straight is a wicked one. It has an elevation drop going into a 90 degree turn, coming off of a 140+ mph (EVO) straight away... You have to commit to that one for sure! I have seen a lot of spinout wrecks because of that turn!!

Enjoy!

[tsw910]

off topic .. ^^ .. you have a twin turbo evo ?

[12mnkys]

off topic .. ^^ .. you have a twin turbo evo ?

well kind of on topic since the OP said he was going to PIR...

Not twin turbo...single turbo RX6B to be exact... TT stands for time trial... :D

[tsw910]

oh ok .. the way you put it .. it seems like you have a twin turbo evo :D .. i was just thinking to myself that you must be ahead of AMS lol

[12mnkys]

Nope...AMS does great work though!

[jejeje]

Man! What a trip!

I'm sorry I haven't done any updates along the road, but I tried to sit as little as possible by the computer. I did a travelblog in norwegian and posted selected photos for my friends in norway but that took me like a couple of hours every time and I was fed up after each post, so I didn't touch any forums during the whole trip.

The trip was great. Saw alot of stuff. Met alot of people. Drank alot of Corona. Had alot of fun. And ofcourse, took alot of photos. I will post some when I get to sort everything and pick out the best ones.

- We drove 4200 miles in two rentals.
- We drove thru 9 states.
- We took 9617 photos (37GB)
- We spent $316 on fuel
- We spent $14000 (total with EVERY single gum and beer, I wrote everything down on my iphone and imported to a spreadsheet when we got home.)

It was by far the best vacation I've had to date. Now it's time to pay off cc dept and start planning the next one :)

[londonandlawson]

This is cool, but what is the point? Just a vacation to see the States or what? And if so, why do the same trip/route twice? Why not see another part of the country?

[jejeje]

This is cool, but what is the point? Just a vacation to see the States or what? And if so, why do the same trip/route twice? Why not see another part of the country?

The main point was to go to the SEMA show as I'm very interested in cars. Also to visit friends in Florida and to drive places I hadn't been. The route was different than last time, alltho some of the cities were the same (mainly in the beginning and end, and Vegas). :)