No biz in here, but i need travelling advise badly!
 

Well as some of you know i got hooked up last year when travelling NY and Florida with my gf. To give her a little present from the company for putting up with me working 20hours a day for the last i dont know how many months, im giving her a nice roadtrip through the states again. We both loved it last time, and im sure we are gonna love the "other" coast etc too.

This is the route i have planned now:

http://maps.google.nl/maps/ms?ie=UTF...,13.974609&z=6

I need all the advise i can get, is it wise to travel like i planned, or am i missing out some awesome place that i dont know of or forgot. I also need info on where are the best places to stay, and will update this thread with questions so i can figure out where to go exactly without driving past a spot i shouldnt miss.

I think you can see the points of interest i already put in. Maybe theres something there thats really not worth the time to checkout, i would love to hear your opinions on that too.

We have about 3-4days in chicago, and then we have about 16 days left to travel the area im showing you on that google map thingie.

I know this isnt related to any biz on GFY, but since there are so many people here who can help and i wouldnt know where to go for advise other then a dutch travelling agency who will push me into a fixed package all the 90yr olds are going im asking you all.

Thanks for the advise, keep watching and ask me anything that is unclear! So i can get this plan finished and book the hotels.

I don't know... that's kind of a lot of stuff to do in three weeks. You can certainly do it, don't know how much you will enjoy all of it or take it in without feeling rushed. If it were me I think I would pick just a few cities and really nail them hard.

Keep in mind you will probably need some rest time with all of that driving if you are not used to long drives.

You should also tell us what kind of things you really enjoy doing so we can give you better suggestions.

Do you like cities? Do you like outdoors? Do you want to see famous places? Do you want to shop? Do you want to "do" exciting things?

From what I can see you skip Sedona to stay in Flagstaff, I think thats a mistake :)

Remember the US is pretty big so that is like going to Poland and down to northern Italy and back with slightly less mountains. Very doable in the time allotted but still a fair amount of driving. I drove Pheonix to LA before and if you can skip I would. No interest in taking the coastal highway from La to SF? I have not done it but I thought it had lots of really beautiful sites on it.

Definitely doable, but you won't have much time to stop and kick back, that's for sure. As other people said, it's hard to give full advice without knowing the types of things you like to do; but the suggestion about Sedona vs. Flagstaff is definitely on target. You also seem to be spending a lot of time driving through the desert, and inland California isn't exactly a garden spot. You can get cheap flights between California and either Phoenix or Vegas, and the suggestion about driving Highway 1 along the California coast is definitely worth considering.
Have you thought about doing something like driving around the Arizona/Nevada/desert circle, then hopping on a one-hour flight to California, picking up a different car and doing the California stuff separately? It might cut out some of the "wasted time" and put in some cooler stuff.

Looking at your map, you're traveling mostly through central/inland California, which as Mike said is mostly desert, hot as hell right now, and bare. There's not much to look at when you're driving through it. Although there's some nice spots like the Sequoias, Yosemite, there's really not much to see inland.

You'd be better off starting at SF, and drive along coast on HWY 1 all the way to LA. There's a ton of nice places along the coast like Monterey (nice aquarium), Hearst Castle in San Luis Obisbo, Santa Barbara (lots of shopping and a beach town). At least along HWY1 there's the ocean and more scenery. Then make your waydown to LA and spend a few days there. From there, hop a plane or drive to Las Vegas, then drive out Arizona from Vegas. That's what I would do at least.

I suggest you drive to Mt Rushmore then down to Yellowstone
and finally the grand canyon !

I was suggesting pretty much the same thing but in the opposite direction....but this is an itinerary you should really consider. :2 cents:

The first bit of ADVICE I will give you is to learn how to spell advice. It's not advise. ;-)

Secondly, I've never been to the USA so I can't help you. Though any travel should know that you should be prepared for the worst. A GPS may come in handy as will a blanket and pillow, just in case.