Road trip TN to CA

[IloveJack]

We're totally still in the dreaming stage, but I did actually get out some paper and started making plans, and I need some help/reassurance. I've never been further west than TX/OK, othen than to fly to San Fran, and I've been wanting to take a road trip out west for quite some time. However we have a fairly young family. But one of my best friends lives in California and she has been begging me to come visit her for six years. We can't do it this year or next as we already have our vacations planned, but I'm looking at 2017 as a possibility. Our kids would still be fairly young, all under the age of nine, but old enough to manage long hours in the car also. I've never done a real road trip before. The longest we've ever driven is two days at a time. So I'm looking to you guys for help, and hoping that someone has been in my shoes before, and can tell me whether or not this is realistic. I have tried to stick to no more than eight or nine hours in the car each day, and other than the very beginning and the very end, no more than one day of driving at a time. If you've ever done this before, would you mind looking over the plans and see if they seem feasible to do with a young family?

Day 1: drive from Nashville to Oklahoma City
Day 2: drive to Whites City, New Mexico
Day 3: tour Carlsbad Caverns; spend the afternoon with a friend
Day 4: drive to Flagstaff, Arizona
Day 5: tour Grand Canyon
Day 6: drive to Long Beach, California; go to the beach that night
Day 7: go to Disneyland
Day 8: go to California adventure
Day 9: spend with friend; see SoCal sites
Day 10: drive to Yosemite; hike in the afternoon
Day 11: spend morning in Yosemite; drive to Boulder City, Nevada
Day 12: tour Hoover dam, drive to Moab, Utah
Day 13: tour Arches national Park
Day 14: drive to Estes Park, Colorado; tour Rocky Mountain national Park
Day 15: drive to Topeka, Kansas
Day 16: drive home

[NJGIRL]

My personal opinion would be this is too much for only two weeks.. You are spending one day at the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, etc, it's not enough and wil be very rushed....These National Parks are huge and require more than a couple of hours....Also driving 8 hours for a day or two is doable...but driving 8 hours almost everyday for two weeks is going to be exhausting and leave you not feeling like doing the fun stuff.

Just my opinion but I would cut down the number of "attractions" so that you can spend more time at the stops you decide to do.

Make sure you invest in a good portable DVD player if you don't already have one. Many of them come with two screens.

A GPS with updated maps will also be very helpful.

[NewDVCowner]

Less than a day in the Grand Canyon and Yosemite is unrealistic. I can't speak for the rest but I've been to both if those and you need two at least. Getting a place to stay in Yosemite you need to reserve at least a year in advance ( camping opens five month before). I'd recommend staying in Yosemite valley if possible but if you can't do that then look into the town of El Portal. It's a fairly easy drive to the valley from there. I go to Yosemite at least once a year and spend, usually, three night. There are a lot if easy hikes in the valley but I would say at least a day and a half to see most of the sights.

[IloveJack]

Thanks for the advice. I was a little concerned about that, but had no clue about time frames.

[DNS]

I have to agree with the other posts that there is much too short of time at the national parks. All of them, I would say. They are big and fabulous and just can't be appreciated in a day or few house. Maybe you could just pick a couple of them for this trip and plan others in the future. As for the driving - I think if you plan 2 or 3 days at a time in a couple of spots, that will help a great deal on how tired you feel from driving. That's what we have always done. Drive for a day or two, stopping at night, then stop some place for 2 to 3 days, then move on to the next place.

[LVT]

Yikes. Maybe you can do 600 miles some days, but the plan looks exhausting. You will need to take advantage of the rest stops to walk/run/picnic.
Yosemite tent cabins often still have openings and are family friendly camping.
Grand Canyon and Yosemite both are best as on/off bus loops for touring.

[BrerGnat]

Yeah, I think this is far too ambitious of a trip. It is easy to underestimate how tired driving all day can make you. In addition, you will need at least two days to fully experience almost every destination you have listed. With young kids, I would max out the driving to 6 hours a day.

I also would rethink Long Beach. Not sure why you chose that location in particular, but it is probably one of the ugliest Southern California beaches. It is a heavily industrialized port city and the beach is pretty dirty and the water isn't the cleanest. If you want a nice beach for swimming, stick to Newport Beach area or Huntington Beach. Long Beach has a great aquarium and the harbor area has some fun dining and shopping, but the beach there is terrible, IMO. Also, one day at Disneyland and DCA will feel like a tease for you all. Give yourself at least 3 days to explore those parks.

Also, driving from So Cal to Yosemite is a LONG trip. Like 6 hours without taking into account LA traffic issues. In order to be "hiking in the afternoon" on the same day you leave SO Cal, you'd have to leave at like 4am for that to even be remotely possible.