Road trip tips

[Underfoot]

I am currently planning a road trip to the southwestern United States over winter break (consolation prize for a cancelled study abroad program :(), but I have never planned or executed a road trip by myself--the last road trip I've been on was with my dad when I was ~11--and I've also never been to that area of the U.S.

Here's what I've got so far:

-It's an approximately 1 week long road trip at the beginning of January, with some give possible (max is 10 days)

-I'll be travelling with probably only one other person (possibly alone, possibly with one or two other friends)

-We'd fly in and out of Las Vegas (from OHare), picking up a rental car there

-Our main goal is to see national parks/local geology: Grand Canyon, Arches, Saguaro, Petrified Forest are the ones I've been looking at, hopefully being able to see the Navajo Sandstone formation at some point

-Not interested in camping (no real experience with that, so it'd probably be disastrous), so we'd be staying at hotels/motels

-We'd probably spend some time (one or two days) in Las Vegas

Do you guys have any tips for renting a car? Should I go with the big, well-known companies for the security they might offer, or should I give a smaller, cheaper company a go? Is there a particular car type that might be best for road trips?

What are locations we absolutely can't miss in the Nevada/Arizona/Utah/New Mexico area? What can we reasonably expect to get to in a 7-10 day time frame?

Any tips on how to save money on a road trip? Things like food/gas/hotel costs etc. Are there seasonal discounts on car rentals that I might not know about otherwise? Can car rental prices be negotiated?

General tips for road trips? Safety, how to plan, etc? All input is greatly appreciated :)

[Fez]

There's a lot of cool stuff around there; should be a great trip. When you're near Vegas, I recommend kayaking down river from the Hoover Dam. You'll probably spend around $60/person though, renting the kayak and the permit needed; there are companies that specialize in doing this. They'll drop you off at the base of the Dam, and pick you up around 10 miles downriver a few hours later. Another thing to do, if you're in Arizona, head over to Sedona for a day or two for some really good hiking.

And make sure you get a car with good gas mileage, there's some long, empty stretches of highway you'll be on.

[Hutch]

If you have AAA, a lot of places offer discounts on rooms and such.

[MercenaryChef]

I have driven across the country. Make sure you have good music and or good conversation. Baring that be able to hold conversations alone while using many different accents.

And gummy bears. Have those too.

[Guy Kilmore]

I recommend getting a car with an MP3 connection. I listen to a ton of podcasts, like Hardcore History, or get some audiobooks. Really fun to listen to when you are driving about. Oh, and Hardcore History is free to download too.

Money Saving tips. Stop by rest areas, especially as you leave/enter states. They can have fliers and brochures with local deals on it and you can snag some nice hotel room deals or whatnot.

A Cooler is nice, if you can hit a grocery store for stuff over that of a gas station you can save some cash.

Pizza Huts can be your friend. They have a lunch buffet, so you can have a nice salad over fast food.

With that said, it can be fun to check out local spots (I prefer to do this when I have the time.)

[Suttree]

In New Mexico I would check out the Rio Grande Gorge, Taos Pueblo, and the Santuario de Chimayo. Santa Fe is way more touristy than those places but still pretty cool. You can easily hit all of the above in the same day.

In that area Taos Outback Pizza is amazing as is the Rancho de Chimayo for food. In SF the Horseman's Haven is cheap and does a really authentic, greasy spoon local food experience. La Choza and The Shed are both awesome too.

[Nox Irradiata]

Make sure you pack extra socks and underpants. For serious.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Bring empty pop cans to piss in.

[Nox Irradiata]

She's a gal. :D

[myladyashalind2]

Hotel tip --- find one where breakfast is included.

Sometimes there aren't any rest stops along road being traveled, so be sure to have wipes in case of an emergency stop. They are good to have even if you use a restroom.

I don't know how soon you plan on hitting the road once you get it to Vegas..but while in Vegas, Hubby and some friends did a Helicopter ride (couple hours long) that flew over the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and such. They loved it.

[deleted01]

She's a gal. :D

A She-Wee then. I have been stuck on the M25 for hours, which is not fun at the best of times, and definitely not when you have a full bladder. She-Wees seem like a sound investment :p

I'd love to drive around the US. Sounds like a really fun trip!

[Nox Irradiata]

Have you tried a She-Wee? :)

[Raja]

I think we might have had a road trip thread a while back, I'm not certain who it was but I remember it popping up. There might be more there, if you're interested in looking it up.

[MinDonner]

I did a similar trip a few years ago. Highlight was probably the canyoneering trip at Arches National Park - really amazing to actually get out among the arches and see them from different angles than you'd get from the road.

Google Streetview is such a great resource for planning the trip. I planned out the routes in advance and used Streetview to make notes about eg. which lane to get into at which junctions, it was so helpful.

The last road trip thread was from nas, and he went through some of the same areas IIRC, so yeah, worth having a search.

[deleted01]

Have you tried a She-Wee? :)

I confess that I have not.

[OnionAhaiReborn]

There's plenty of empty space out there to pee on, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Underfoot]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Definitely a good idea to make sure we have lots of music/audio books/podcasts.

There's a lot of cool stuff around there; should be a great trip. When you're near Vegas, I recommend kayaking down river from the Hoover Dam. You'll probably spend around $60/person though, renting the kayak and the permit needed; there are companies that specialize in doing this. They'll drop you off at the base of the Dam, and pick you up around 10 miles downriver a few hours later. Another thing to do, if you're in Arizona, head over to Sedona for a day or two for some really good hiking.

And make sure you get a car with good gas mileage, there's some long, empty stretches of highway you'll be on.

That sounds amazing, I love kayaking! We'll definitely have to check that out.

I recommend getting a car with an MP3 connection. I listen to a ton of podcasts, like Hardcore History, or get some audiobooks. Really fun to listen to when you are driving about. Oh, and Hardcore History is free to download too.

Money Saving tips. Stop by rest areas, especially as you leave/enter states. They can have fliers and brochures with local deals on it and you can snag some nice hotel room deals or whatnot.

A Cooler is nice, if you can hit a grocery store for stuff over that of a gas station you can save some cash.

Pizza Huts can be your friend. They have a lunch buffet, so you can have a nice salad over fast food.

With that said, it can be fun to check out local spots (I prefer to do this when I have the time.)

I don't know if a cooler will be possible, since we're flying in rather than driving the whole way. We'll have to think about buying one though, because that could be a good investment. Would you recommend checking into hotels as we go, or making reservations in advance? I had assumed we'd do it in advance, but it does make sense to do it on the go (flexibility, possible local deals). Thanks for the tips!

In New Mexico I would check out the Rio Grande Gorge, Taos Pueblo, and the Santuario de Chimayo. Santa Fe is way more touristy than those places but still pretty cool. You can easily hit all of the above in the same day.

In that area Taos Outback Pizza is amazing as is the Rancho de Chimayo for food. In SF the Horseman's Haven is cheap and does a really authentic, greasy spoon local food experience. La Choza and The Shed are both awesome too.

Cool, thanks! Those places sound like a lot of fun.

Hotel tip --- find one where breakfast is included.

Sometimes there aren't any rest stops along road being traveled, so be sure to have wipes in case of an emergency stop. They are good to have even if you use a restroom.

I don't know how soon you plan on hitting the road once you get it to Vegas..but while in Vegas, Hubby and some friends did a Helicopter ride (couple hours long) that flew over the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and such. They loved it.

A helicopter ride might be out of our price range (poor college student/recent grad), but that would definitely be a lot of fun! We'll have to look into it.

Have you tried a She-Wee? :)

Haha, I have not. I am fairly comfortable going outside though, and like OnionAhaiReborn mentioned, I imagine the long stretches of road will have places where we can do that.

I did a similar trip a few years ago. Highlight was probably the canyoneering trip at Arches National Park - really amazing to actually get out among the arches and see them from different angles than you'd get from the road.

Google Streetview is such a great resource for planning the trip. I planned out the routes in advance and used Streetview to make notes about eg. which lane to get into at which junctions, it was so helpful.

The last road trip thread was from nas, and he went through some of the same areas IIRC, so yeah, worth having a search.

Google streetview is a great idea! Would never have thought of that. I'll do some digging and see if I can find the previous road trip thread.

[lady narcissa]

Naz's thread on his US Road Trip which was previously mentioned in this thread is here:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/93955-epic-us-road-trip/?hl=chicago

He was traveling around a much larger area than you plan to but some of it might still be useful.

One word of caution since you said you are traveling through O'Hare to Las Vegas in January...snow. Chicago can get days in January where all flights are cancelled or subject to extreme delays due to snow. Last winter we had a chunk of such days. If your trip is limited to a week getting your flight delayed by a day can have a big impact so just mentally prepare yourself for that happening. Hopefully by my bringing it up means it won't be an issue for you!

I don't know if a cooler will be possible, since we're flying in rather than driving the whole way. We'll have to think about buying one though, because that could be a good investment.

There will be lots of places in and around Las Vegas where you can pick up a cheap cooler that you can just toss at the end of the week. You'd be able to get them at a place like Walmart or Walgreens. You could pick it up at the same time you stock up on beverages and snacks for the road trip.

[S John]

I am currently planning a road trip to the southwestern United States over winter break (consolation prize for a cancelled study abroad program :(), but I have never planned or executed a road trip by myself--the last road trip I've been on was with my dad when I was ~11--and I've also never been to that area of the U.S.

Here's what I've got so far:

-It's an approximately 1 week long road trip at the beginning of January, with some give possible (max is 10 days)

-I'll be travelling with probably only one other person (possibly alone, possibly with one or two other friends)

-We'd fly in and out of Las Vegas (from OHare), picking up a rental car there

-Our main goal is to see national parks/local geology: Grand Canyon, Arches, Saguaro, Petrified Forest are the ones I've been looking at, hopefully being able to see the Navajo Sandstone formation at some point

-Not interested in camping (no real experience with that, so it'd probably be disastrous), so we'd be staying at hotels/motels

-We'd probably spend some time (one or two days) in Las Vegas

Do you guys have any tips for renting a car? Should I go with the big, well-known companies for the security they might offer, or should I give a smaller, cheaper company a go? Is there a particular car type that might be best for road trips?

What are locations we absolutely can't miss in the Nevada/Arizona/Utah/New Mexico area? What can we reasonably expect to get to in a 7-10 day time frame?

Any tips on how to save money on a road trip? Things like food/gas/hotel costs etc. Are there seasonal discounts on car rentals that I might not know about otherwise? Can car rental prices be negotiated?

General tips for road trips? Safety, how to plan, etc? All input is greatly appreciated :)

If you are under 25 renting a car can be expensive. A lot of the major companies hammer you with an extra fee so if you or anyone in your group is 25 or older then you should have them rent the car.

Also even though it is the Southwest and the desert I would prepare for it to be cold in January. It might get up to nice temperatures during the day and then be freezing at night. Snow is even a possibility in some parts.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

I am currently planning a road trip to the southwestern United States over winter break (consolation prize for a cancelled study abroad program :(), but I have never planned or executed a road trip by myself--the last road trip I've been on was with my dad when I was ~11--and I've also never been to that area of the U.S.

Here's what I've got so far:

-It's an approximately 1 week long road trip at the beginning of January, with some give possible (max is 10 days)

-I'll be travelling with probably only one other person (possibly alone, possibly with one or two other friends)

-We'd fly in and out of Las Vegas (from OHare), picking up a rental car there

-Our main goal is to see national parks/local geology: Grand Canyon, Arches, Saguaro, Petrified Forest are the ones I've been looking at, hopefully being able to see the Navajo Sandstone formation at some point

-Not interested in camping (no real experience with that, so it'd probably be disastrous), so we'd be staying at hotels/motels

-We'd probably spend some time (one or two days) in Las Vegas

Do you guys have any tips for renting a car? Should I go with the big, well-known companies for the security they might offer, or should I give a smaller, cheaper company a go? Is there a particular car type that might be best for road trips?

What are locations we absolutely can't miss in the Nevada/Arizona/Utah/New Mexico area? What can we reasonably expect to get to in a 7-10 day time frame?

Any tips on how to save money on a road trip? Things like food/gas/hotel costs etc. Are there seasonal discounts on car rentals that I might not know about otherwise? Can car rental prices be negotiated?

General tips for road trips? Safety, how to plan, etc? All input is greatly appreciated :)

National and Enterprise are the rental car places I use the most, both are very easy to deal with in my experience. Book online early and you might get a little discount. I have no experience in negotiating price at the counter, but sometimes you can get a cheap upgrade if they don't have a lot of cars on the lot in the size you picked out at booking.

S John is correct in that rental companies charge a hefty premium if you're under 25, so keep that in mind.

If you have a smartphone, load up on travel apps. Google Maps is an absolute must. I recently had to drive 30 miles of the DC beltway - at night, by myself, having never done so before - and would've been lost as a goose if not for that app. A weather app such as WeatherBug is essential, particularly in winter. GasBuddy can be good to find the cheapest gas prices along your route and Beatthetraffic will alert you of any traffic jams. AroundMe, UrbanSpoon and Yelp are also helpful to find cheap/reputable places to eat, etc.