Donut's Dolly Drives Distance

[Donut]

Hello,

I will move from the East (Maryland) to the West (California) coast in September 2015 and I am already looking forward to the road trip ahead.

Given that we have users from all over the place, I thought that this forum might be the ideal resource to collect good ideas on where to stop and on which route to take my green Mirage. I am planning to do the ~2800 miles from the DC to the Bay area in three weeks. Since I am a researcher, I will travel on a rather low budget, so I also appreciate tips about how to save a dollar or two if it comes to accommodation/food and so forth.

I have gotten a first taste of the awesome national parks in the US (Arches, Canyonlands, Great Falls), and would like to visit more of these stunning landscapes whilst on the road.

thx a lot for your thoughts and for sharing your road-trip experience.

I hope that within the remaining months I can compose a great trip across this beautiful country/continent.

All the best

[Yttrium]

Every time I saw this sign leaving Ocean City, MD I thought it would be fun to drive Route 50 from end to end.

At the other end there is this sign:

[Cani Lupine]

I moved from Oregon to Ohio last year (then to Virginia, but that's a shorter move), as well as a trip from Oregon to PA in 2013 for a convention, so I'm no stranger to long hauls. The big trips were in my 1996 Ford Aspire, before I picked up the Mirage.

For saving money and making time, freeway rest areas are your best friends. Skip the hotel and sleep in the backseat until you've rested enough, then jog around the rest area and sip some vending machine coffee to wake up. Some rest areas even have local groups that give out free coffee. For food, pack a cooler with some sandwich fixings and have a picnic at rest areas.

Here's the map from the Anthrocon 2013 road trip:

[Donut]

Have you had the chance to stop and visit some places on the way or was this a rather direct route?

What things did you add to your top 10 list on the way?

How did you split up the driving load or, how far did you get per day?

thx a lot for sharing the experience

[Cani Lupine]

For the most part it was a pretty straight shot, since we were on a tight schedule. Each way took 3 and a half days, and I was the only driver. My then-wife wasn't licensed, as she has narcolepsy. Don't need her falling asleep behind the wheel.

There were a few pit stops along the way, like Cabela's in Nebraska, and then Iowa 80 during the move to Ohio, but nothing that was out of the way.

[Donut]

Every time I saw this sign leaving Ocean City, MD I thought it would be fun to drive Route 50 from end to end.

Well, your post gave me the idea to drive to Ocean City for a day and check out the easternmost part of the route towards the west, see photo from this morning.

It's kind of nice there. Not too crowded, since it's off-season; this also makes the hotels super cheap. The beach is really awesome. Plus, I got 52 MPG on the 350 miles round-trip.