Imagine a road trip across USA with a Boxster

[fundriver]

IMAGINE a road trip across USA, from the East coast to the West Coast, with a Boxster.

1) You have a Boxster (yours, or the one you dream of).

2) You have the choice between 4 points of departure:

- Boston
- New York
- Washington DC
- Miami

3) You have the choice between 4 points of arrival:

- Seattle
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- San Diego

4) You have 21 days from the departure to the arrival

So, let's imagine! Choose the roads, the stages, and the points of interest you want to have a look along the road, etc.

[jb92563]

I drove from Southern California to St Petes Florida and back in 7 days on the 10 hwy however the route on the 10 is not that interesting for a Boxster so I'd only take that to get to the more interesting roads.

I know the section of road between Denver, CO through the mountains past Aspen is very scenic but again the major highways don't challenge the driving skill much.

Its really all about the Boxster exciting roads off the major routes so local knowledge is a must.

Perhaps everyone can list their fun routes and then link them all together in a way that makes sense.

[tomonomics]

21 days? Wow, that's a lot of back roads and a large hotel budget, but I'll bite...

(and it would take at least that long to plot out the route, but personally I like to leave some parts of the journey to just get lost and wander.)

So, with 15 minutes of planning and Google maps, here's my route:

Day 1
Starting in NY, I’d head into Jersey and take Route 97 Along the Delaware in NY/PA, heading up to the Finger Lakes in NY (and a quick lap around the Old Course at Watkins Glen).
Day 2
From there head back down into PA, taking some backroads to Penn State to visit my niece.
Day 3
A straight shot to Pittsburgh, where I’d catch a game at PNC Park (or whatever the Pirates stadium is called now)
Day 4-5
Assuming this would be a Saturday, the next stop is South Bend for a ND game. Followed by a day in Chi-Town, and hey lets see the Cubbies while we’re there. Dinner and drinks with friends at Hugo’s Frog Bar.
Day 6
In a perfect world, the Packers would be playing on Monday night, so it’s a nice ride up the shores of Lake Michigan into Green Bay.
Day 7-8
Back down Rt 41 to Rt 151 and over the Mississippi...I’m sure there are some nice roads along the river. Some quality time in the heartland will put me just outside of Dyersville, Iowa where I’d walk through the corn rows at Field of Dreams.
Day 9-10
Back North along the Mississippi, then across Rt 14 making my way to Badlands National Park.
Day 11-14
Wyoming bound into Grant Teton and Yellowstone with my Nikon.
Day 15-16
North into Montana on Rt 93, and maybe some fly fishing outside Helena.
Day 17
Back down Rt 12 to 95 and make my way into Oregon.
Day 18
Some quality time in the Columbia valley wineries, then heading into Portland.
Day 19
Rt 26 to the coast, heading up 101 for a photo op at Leadbetter Pt State Park
Day 20
Arriving in Seattle, it’s dinner at the Crab Pot on Pier 57, followed by a few pints at Kells Pub.

Day 21-24
Extended trip.....it’s the ferry to Victoria, BC to see my cousin.

-T

[black_box]

I did this in 2011 for my 30th birthday with my 2000 Boxster S, except it was it 60 days exactly.

NYC -> Nashville -> STL-> Chicago -> Sioux Falls -> Black Hills -> Denver -> Rocky Mtn NP -> Moab -> Arches NP -> SLC -> Star Valley, ID -> Jackson Hole -> Tetons -> Yellowstone -> Missoula -> Glacier -> Nelson, BC-> Osoyoos -> Vancouver -> Victoria -> Salt Spring Island -> Bellingham -> Seattle -> Portland -> Cape Arago, OR -> Redwood NP -> Ukiah, CA -> SF -> Santa Cruz -> LA -> San Luis Obispo -> Big Sur -> Carmel -> Yosemite -> San Jose -> NYC (by air, car transported)

No motels -- mostly camping, hostels, and staying with friends old and new.

[V-Rod]

Black Box,

Wow, that is the road trip of a lifetime. Someday I am going to do it...! You just re-inspired me. Thanks!

[particlewave]

I'd rather not. Road trips suck and even "short" 2-4 hour drives in the 986 leave me sore and stiff.

Maybe in a Panamera...preferably a cargo van or RV, lol!

[ekam]

If I have money I'd just ship my car to Europe.... tons and tons of perfectly paved, curvy roads in countries like France and Germany...

[fundriver]

New-York to San Francisco (mainly on scenic drive, according Rand McNally Road Atlas; not always possible):

1) New York, I 80, 519, Easton, Allentown, 100, Morstein, 322, Harrisburg

2) Harrisburg, I 76, I 70, Somerset, 653, 381, Farmington, Uniontown, 21, 89, 21, Moundsville

3) Moundsville, 7, Marietta, 550, Athens, 33, Colombus, I 70, Richmond

4) Richmond, 40, Indianapolis, 40, Terre Haute, 150, 16, Kansas, 49, Ogden, Penfield, Clarence, 9, Bloomington

5) Bloomington, 9, Dallas City, Gladstone, New Boston, Muscatine, 22, Rock Island, 67, Clinton

6) Clinton, 67, 52, Bellevue, Springbrook, Andrew, 62, 64, 151, Cedar Rapids, I 380, 6, Marengo, Belle Plaine, Haven, Montour, Le Grand, 30, 65, Des Moines

7) Des Moines, 44, 30, Missouri Valley, I 29, Omaha, Colombus, 30, Grand Island

8) Grand Island, 2, 61, Ogallala

9) Ogallala, 26, 88, 71, Kimball, I 80, Cheyenne, 25, 34, Estes Park

10) Rocky Mountain National Park

11) Estes 7, 72, I 70, 91, Leadville, 24, 50, Montrose

12) Montrose, 550, 62, Placerville, 145, Mesa Verde NP, Cortez

13) Cortez, Pleasant View, Canyon of the Ancients NM, Hovenweep NM, 262, 163, 261, 95, 24, Capitol Reef NP

14) Capitol Reef NP

15) Capitol Reef NP, 24, 12, Bryce Canyon NP

16) Bryce Canyon NP

17) Bryce Canyon NP, 12, 89, 9, Zion NP, Hurricane

18) Hurricane, I 15, Cedar City, 130, 257, Hinckley, Great Basin NP

19) Great Basin NP, 50, Loneliest Road, Reno

20) Reno, Lake Tahoe, 28, 89, 395, Lee Vining, Yosemite NP

21) Yosemite NP, 120, Angels Camp, 4, Stockton, 205, 580, Oakland, San Francisco

What a trip!!!

[patssle]

I did several 2-3 road trips across the US in my Mazda 3. Been considering going back to Utah in my Boxster - so much to see there that I missed. http://i.imgur.com/0vUdi.jpg

[dbear61]

Fundriver,

You commented on my Road Trip! post, so you know what I did in 17 days with 3 days spent in Seattle.

The trip depends on whether you want scenery, fun roads with twists and turns, historical sites, modern sites or some mixture of those options.

If you don't tell us what you are most interested in doing in 21 days, you'll get ideas all over the place.

I don't know if you're native Austrian, or if you have spent time in the USA. If you are native European and don't have much experience in the USA, you have no idea how big it is.

The Northeast is really compact, similar to Europe, but once you get beyond the Appalachian Mountains, hour can drive 12 hours and only get through two or three states without any sightseeing.

If you're interested in history only, you could spend your whole 21 days in Boston, NYC and Washington DC.

Tell us what you want to get out of the road trip, and it's easier to give you relevant input.

DBear

[BruceH]

Speaking of road trips, I just finished the book about driving a 944 from England to Cape Town South Africa. Pretty amazing story, well worth the read.

Survival of the Quickest

[fundriver]

Thank you all for your messages. Your trips, done or imagined, gives ideas and makes dream!

@ BruceH: this is not a trip, but a real adventure!!! Amazing! I love to read such adventure-trip reports. One of the condition to do that is, I guess, to have excellent knowledges in mechanics. I spent a lot of time myself to imagine, and only to imagine, a road trip from the Alps to Le Cap in South Africa; but, for security and political reason, this is more and more difficult to find a way.

@ dbear61: Yes, your own post about your trip from Milwaukee to seattle gave me the idea of this post! I am a native european, and was 4 times in the USA (a fantastic trip with family from SF to LA through CA, NV, UT and AZ, in beautiful landscapes, visiting some NP and other points of interest, in 1989 [I was a teenager and naturally didn't drive]; a other trip like that on the East Coast, from NY to Boston to Quebec, to Montréal, to Toronto, to Pennsylvania, to Washington DC, to NY, in 1991; a trip to Portland and Oregon in 2005; a trip to NY in 2009. All are great souvenirs. I like geography and history, and can spend a lot of time dreaming on a map, or on GoogleEarth. I know that the roads in the USA are differents than the ones we have in Europe, that the country is huge. It is an other size, an other scale. I guess that to cross the Midwest, were there is no relief and only fields during hundreds of miles can appear to be boring, or be boring. But I think it is a good way to "feel" the country, its dimensions, perhaps its spirit, etc. To cross the USA from one coast to the other by the road is an old fantasy (someone said: "Go West, young man, go West!"). Naturally such a trip in 3 weeks (or less) is perhaps a little bit frustrating, because you don't have the time to visit. But it is an other concept. A driving concept. Anyway, next time I will have the possibility to visit the USA, I will ask you for some tips; that is always a precious help to have the tip of local people when you visit a place you don't know. I add, that for tourism, or for a tourist like me, I think that the part of the country which would be the most interesting because of the fantastic scenery, the wild landscapes and nature, the big NP's, the dimensions, is from the East side of the rockies to the Pacific coast; but obviously, there is beautiful places and landscapes in the other parts of the country; for example, I remember that the Northeast was effectively beautiful and that I loved this area, but it is less different than the landscapes I am used to, compared to the wild West.

I look forward to read more of your trips, done or imagined, from one coast to the other (this is the subject of the post), and also others special trips you did.

[patssle]

Originally Posted by BruceH

Speaking of road trips, I just finished the book about driving a 944 from England to Cape Town South Africa. Pretty amazing story, well worth the read.

Survival of the Quickest

Hmm, did you post this on Reddit? Seems familiar.

[jsceash]

I haven't been far west but does north to south count. Pa to Finger-lakes NY then to Vermont. Pa to Georga. PA to Delaware Pa to Tennessee. since purchased this car was in Vermont, Mass. Conn. NY, NJ, Del, MD, PA, WV, VA, NC, SC, GA, TN

[BYprodriver]

I bought my 2000 S on E-bay 10 years ago. Blissfully ignorant of what "IMS" was & the Box still had a year of warranty left, I pressed "Buy it now" & bought a pair of plane tickets for my wife & I from LAX to Portland OR. I was confident my onsite PPI was sufficient, wrote the check, & headed west to Pacific coast hwy. Arrived in So CA 4 days later after driving Hwy 1 all the way stopping where ever we felt like stopping.
This was my favorite trip ever & I don't think I will ever top it!

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by patssle

Hmm, did you post this on Reddit? Seems familiar.

Hmmm, no. What's Reddit?

[schnellman]

Last summer I drove from Columbus, Ohio to Lompoc, CA. My only mistake was taking the southern route which routed me through the LA area. There is not enough money in the world to make me interested in living in that hell hole. I took a northerly route back through UT, WY, etc and enjoyed it much more.