Sightseeing on a 500-mile-a-day road trip?
Preparations and tips
This May 25, 2017 photo shows a view of the world-famous hoodoos, also called tent rocks, fairy chimneys and earth pyramids at Inspiration Point in Bryce Canyon National Park in
Utah. (AP)
IBy Eva Parziale
drove across the country for the first time in 1984, alone in a car without air conditioning and a radio that stopped working as I crossed into Texas. I took my second cross-country road trip this year, this time in an air-conditioned Honda CRV, with music streaming from my iPhone, and my 20-year-old daughter in the passenger seat.
I drove with Kelsey from Columbus, Ohio, to her summer internship in Los Angeles — 2,400 miles (3,860 kilometers) in 4.5 days. We encountered highway construction, accidents and rainstorms but we also managed to take in some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable, tucking in sightseeing and even some pool time despite our nearly 500-mile-a-day (800-kilometer) trek. Here’s how we did it.
Day 1: We left Columbus at 8 a.m. and drove 719 miles (1,157 kilometers) via Interstate 70 to Topeka, Kansas, through construction in Indiana and Illinois, rainstorms in St. Louis and Kansas City, and traffic accidents. We’d planned 10 hours of driving, but didn’t pull into the Fairfield Inn until 13 hours later. We ate takeout from Wendy’s — burgers and fries — standing up in our hotel room to ease the kinks in our backs from sitting so long.
Day 2: Clear skies, dry roads and little traffic. We sped past the lush Flint Hills outside Manhattan, Kansas, through the flat lands of western Kansas and into Denver. After 630 miles (1,013 kilometers) and climbing 7,000 feet (2,133 meters), we arrived in Vail, Colorado. Most businesses in this high-end resort (including a couple of mink coat stores) were closed because it was after ski season and before Memorial Day. But we found a creekside patio table and meal at Sweet Basil before turning in at the luxurious Tivoli Lodge (offseason rates via Booking.com made it affordable). We wished we’d had time and energy to hike the snowcapped mountains. If we had, we might have needed the container of oxygen in our hotel room ($19.99) to offset the effects of the altitude.
Day 3: After a day of mountain driving, we reached Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park. We skipped the cowboy dinner show, one of several dining options offered along with lodging at a complex just outside the park. Instead we headed to the park, arriving at 5 p.m., which meant few visitors clogging the 13 viewpoints along a 38-mile (61-kilometer) loop drive. We made three stops, ending at Inspiration Point, home to rust-colored, pinnacleshaped rocks called hoodoos that spike upward from the ground.
Day 4: We hit the road by 7:15 a.m. and