Driving to San Diego

[soccernut]

I am attending a wedding in late November in San Diego and was thinking of making a whole road trip out of it.

Keep in mine that I would like to spend a maximum of 2 days getting there. My wife and I will have our 4 and 1 year old boys with us.

- what's the fastest route?
- what's the more driver friendly (scenic/non boring) route?
- where should i stop overnight?
- what are some cool places on the way to stop and hang out for a couple hours?

Thanks in advance

[flipstah]

Straight to Vegas via I15 is the fastest route and that's where we stayed overnight.

Calgary to Vegas
Midnight - 10PM

Slept

Vegas to San Diego via I-15

You can do it easy in 2 days.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by flipstah

Vegas to San Diego via I-15

With a wife and two kids?

Its 24 hours of driving alone (one complete day). If you factor in that normal human beings need to sleep (and young kids can't sit still for more than a hour at a time), I kind of doubt it.

Hell, I've done lots of 2500+km one way road trips. It definitely isn't "easy", unless you are excessively annihilating the speed limit.

Bathroom breaks, food, gas, sleep, it all adds up.

OP needs to give more info, like departure time from Calgary. There is a big difference between "we have two days to make it" when leaving at 8am in the morning and needing to be there on the 2nd day and "we are leaving at midnight, we have until midnight 48 hours later to get there".

[flipstah]

For 2 days, that's the best you can do. It's not an easy drive.

[C_Dave45]

OMG, with a baby and a little kid? I agree with Hitemp.. that would be a HARD drive!! 6,000 km's?!!

I hate to state the obvious, but wouldn't it be worth it to fly and rent a car?

Driving: 4-5 days of hard driving, plus 7 or 8 hundred dollars in fuel, plus another couple hundred in meals.

VS Flying: couple hours each way and ~$1400 in airfare.

[Go4Long]

I have a better suggestion. If you want to make a road trip out of it...YOU make a road trip out of it :P

Have your wife fly and meet you in San Diego or LAX which isn't a bad drive (so they don't have to get connecting flights). You do the Vegas drive, see strippers, etc, meet the wife there without wanting to kill her after spending two 13 hour days in the car with two toddlers (which will actually be closer to two 15 hour days and a few more hours on a third day after you count all the stops)

[ercchry]

woman and long drives dont mix... just did the drive from here to basically toronto and back... "i need to pee" was said probably every 2 hours

[flipstah]

Originally posted by ercchry
woman and long drives dont mix... just did the drive from here to basically toronto and back... "i need to pee" was said probably every 2 hours

More time spent peeing = less time at the outlet mall.

Problem. Solved.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by ercchry
woman and long drives dont mix... just did the drive from here to basically toronto and back... "i need to pee" was said probably every 2 hours

Confirmed.

[soccernut]

Wow...Ok.
About the 2 days, I meant I would like to finish the driving in 48 hours. There is no time limit.

I have driven to Vancouver from Edmonton with the family before and it was quite ok.

[flipstah]

Not the same haha. This is a long one.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by soccernut
Wow...Ok.
About the 2 days, I meant I would like to finish the driving in 48 hours. There is no time limit.

I have driven to Vancouver from Edmonton with the family before and it was quite ok.

Originally posted by flipstah
Not the same haha. This is a long one.

Exactly. This is 2 and a half times that Edmonton/Vancouver drive. Plus your going in late November, where it gets dark around 5:00 pm. The first day will likely be in snowy conditions.

[D. Dub]

Take a longer time and drive the Pacific Coast Highway one way -- one of the best drives in the world. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com...ast-road-trip/

[Rocket1k78]

like others have said 2 days is pretty crazy with a 1 year old. The 4yr old will be fine but a 1yr old can make shit go bad fast.

The PCH is a sick road but he's almost doubling the time if not more if he takes that route. I was lucky enough to drive the PCH from LA to san fran and words can't describe how amazing the Big Sur stretch is. That road is no joke though, it's super windy and goes on for about 100kms so If you have even the slightest chance of getting car sick avoid that road.

[benyl]

Originally posted by flipstah
Not the same haha. This is a long one.

Yup. I used to do the drive 3-4 times a year when I was in university.

I probably won't do it again. It's fucking far. Flying is totally worth it.

[flipstah]

We drove to San Diego in winter blackout conditions. It was the scariest driving moment I've ever had.

The snow was so bad, I couldn't see past the hood. We were just in Montana.

Our family solemnly swore that we would never drive down in winter conditions.

Take benyl's advice. If he was willing to fly in one of these during university,


» Click image for larger version

Then the drive definitely isn't worth it.

[oz388]

Please consider sending the couple your entire cost of this road trip and save yourself and your family the time and effort, I think both ends would be happier.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Rocket1k78
like others have said 2 days is pretty crazy with a 1 year old. The 4yr old will be fine but a 1yr old can make shit go bad fast.

The PCH is a sick road but he's almost doubling the time if not more if he takes that route. I was lucky enough to drive the PCH from LA to san fran and words can't describe how amazing the Big Sur stretch is. That road is no joke though, it's super windy and goes on for about 100kms so If you have even the slightest chance of getting car sick avoid that road.

Either go by yourself or make sure get a firm suspension car and hope to god your passenger doesn't get car sick.

PCH is damn good drive, especially south bound.