Road Trip Planning

Occasionally I get bored. On these occasions, I tend to do random things like make a blog post about our possible summer road trip fun. And here it is.

It'll be twenty-three days of cross-country madness and I can't wait to do it. I figured I'd come up with another way of presenting the information.

Day 1:
Starting point: Moorestown, NJ
States: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.
Ending point: Chicago, IL
Drive time: 12:40
Mileage: 794 miles
Highlights: none

Day 2:
Chicago, IL
Highlights: Hot Doug's hot dogs, Molly's cupcakes, visit John and Steph

Day 3:
Starting point: Chicago, IL
States: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Ending point: Rochester, MN
Drive time: 6:12
Mileage: 348 miles
Highlights: none

Day 4:
Rochester, MN
Highlights: Corn water tower, Snappy Stop, visit parents

Day 5:
Starting point: Rochester, MN
States: Minnesota, South Dakota
Ending point: Rapid City, SD
Drive time: 9:15
Mileage: 575 miles
Highlights: Wall Drug, Mitchell Corn Palace, Mount Rushmore, Black Hills National Forest

Day 6:
Starting point: Rapid City, SD
States: South Dakota, Wyoming
Ending point: Cody, WY
Drive time: 6:21
Mileage: 391 miles
Highlights: Bighorn National Forest

Day 7:
Cody, WY
Highlights: Yellowstone National Park

Day 8:
Starting point: Cody, WY
States: Wyoming, Montana
Ending point: Kalispell, MT
Drive time: 8:41
Mileage: 508 miles
Highlights: Flathead National Forest

Day 9:
Kalispell, MT
Highlights: Glacier National Park

Day 10:
Starting point: Kalispell, MT
States: Montana, Idaho, Washington
Ending point: Seattle, WA
Drive time: 8:56
Mileage: 525 miles
Highlights: none

Day 11 and Day 12:
Seattle, WA
Highlights: Space Needle, Olympic National Park, Microsoft, Nintendo, visit Dustin

Day 13:

Starting point: Seattle, WA
States: Washington, Oregon
Ending point: Portland, OR
Drive time: 2:55
Mileage: 174 miles
Highlights: none

Day 14:
Portland, OR
Highlights: Visit Dana's friend

Day 15:
Starting point: Portland, OR
States: Oregon, California
Ending point: Novato, CA
Drive time: 10:28
Mileage: 625 miles
Highlights: Redwood National Park

Day 16:
Novato, CA
Highlights: San Francisco, visit Dana's aunt and uncle

Day 17:
Starting point: Novato, CA
States: California, Nevada, Utah
Ending point: Salt Lake City, UT
Drive time: 11:43
Mileage: 726 miles
Highlights: Bonneville Salt Flats, Mojave Desert

Day 18:
Starting point: Salt Lake City, UT
States: Utah, Wyoming, Colorado
Ending point: Denver, CO
Drive time: 8:18
Mileage: 536 miles
Highlights: none

Day 19:
Denver, CO
Highlights: Thin air?

Day 20:
Starting point: Denver, CO
States: Colorado, Nebraska
Ending point: Lincoln, NE
Drive time: 7:34
Mileage: 488 miles
Highlights: Flattest land of all, visit Will

Day 21:
Starting point: Lincoln, NE
States: Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee
Ending point: Nashville, TN
Drive time: 12:38
Mileage: 753 miles
Highlights: none

Day 22:
Starting point: Nashville, TN
States: Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia
Ending point: Roanoke, VA
Drive time: 12:40
Mileage: 637 miles
Highlights: Blue Ridge Parkway

Day 23:
Starting point: Roanoke, VA
States: Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey
Ending point: Moorestown, NJ
Drive time: 9:25
Mileage: 412 miles
Highlights: Blue Ridge Parkway

Driving days: 14
Stationary days: 9
Longest driving day: Day 1 (12:40) and Day 22 (12:40)
Mean driving (including stationary days): 5:34
Mean driving (excluding stationary days): 9:08
Percentage of time driving: 23%
Total Mileage: 7492
Total Drive Time: 127:46 (5 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes)
Average Speed: 58.6 mph

It's important to note that the last two days could be shortened considerably by avoiding the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's very scenic but extremely winding. If it was avoided completely, day 22 would be 7:02 and day 23 would be 6:50.