Driving the perimeter of the lower 48

PhotoPete

Well-known member
Has anyone here ever driven the perimeter of the lower 48? I like road trips like this. Started mapping it out this morning. Looks like its in the neighborhood of 11,000 miles.

Pete
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
Now that would be one cool trip! I don't know if we could afford it anymore though. Prefer to spend our fuel money in smaller doses...Don
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
This is on my Bucket List, but I haven't started any planning yet. Probably at least 5 years away from now.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
About 20 years ago the head secretary in my department and her husband retired and did this a couple of times in their SOB 5er. They started out here in Sacramento in the Spring, headed North up the Pacific Coast, across Canada in the Summer, Down the Atlantic Coast in the Fall, and across the South/Southwest in the winter, taking their time to stop and explore frequently on the way.
 

PhotoPete

Well-known member
That type of thinking, north in the summer, south in the winter is a good idea. I haven't gotten that far in the planning. I am starting in northern Michigan, so i'll go along the top first i figure. My plan would be to run as tight to the coast or border as I can, practically. I wonder if i'll be able to talk the DW into this adventure?

P
 

Manzan

Well-known member
That would be a great trip alright. One word of warning though. When you reach California, Do not try pulling your trailer on Highway One. Without a trailer, the taillights you see going around the many curves in front of you are yours. 101 goes along the coast in Oregon and Northern California as far south as Eureka. Beautiful drive and is almost arrow straight in comparison.
 

Dave49

Well-known member
We started a trip in Uppper MI and went from Alpena MI, to the upper pininsula across the state to WI. We then went to Sioux Falls, SD then on to the Black Hills of SD. From there we went to Buffalo WY to Thermopolis WY, on to Cody WY. From there went to Yellowstone down thru ID and on to Vegas. From there to the Grand Canyon. Left there went to Amirillo TX and then on south towards Beaumont TX. Across the state of LA, then to Gulf Shores AL. From there to the present place we are at Crystal River FL. In two weeks will be going back to MI. to complete the circle. This has taken so far 9 months. Will be 10 mo. by the time we get back to our starting point. I know its not the borders, but it was deffinately a long way around and seen a lot of beautiful country.

Next trip will be right across Hwy 2 along the Canadian and US border all the way to the state of WA. From there down along the coast to San Francisco. Don't want to go any lower than that, so the return trip is yet to be determined on that trip.

Dave
 

Moose

Well-known member
That type of thinking, north in the summer, south in the winter is a good idea. I haven't gotten that far in the planning. I am starting in northern Michigan, so i'll go along the top first i figure. My plan would be to run as tight to the coast or border as I can, practically. I wonder if i'll be able to talk the DW into this adventure?

P

You can cross the border . . . . . we don't bite . . . . . too hard. L0L
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
That would be a great trip alright. One word of warning though. When you reach California, Do not try pulling your trailer on Highway One. Without a trailer, the taillights you see going around the many curves in front of you are yours. 101 goes along the coast in Oregon and Northern California as far south as Eureka. Beautiful drive and is almost arrow straight in comparison.

There are a lot of drives in California and in the west in general that I have done with no problems.(Including Hwy 1 below Big Sur with a fiver).
However, I would not recommend many of them to anyone who is faint of heart.
If you don't know an area, a truckers road atlas is a handy tool to show height or length restrictions.
Trace
 

PhotoPete

Well-known member
...How serious are you about this? When?

I think i am 50:50 at the moment. I am still pondering time tables. I figure we would drive for an easy day. say 300 miles. knock around for two then repete the process. That will put us at 3.5 months. naturally we will get tired of that pace and mix it up some. so lets call it 6 months. leave MI May 1 and head east and go south. that puts us through the southern US while its still coolish. Back up around and over the top when it's warm and turning fall. Home in time for the holidays!

I could see doing this next May. We have a wedding this summer, won't be another for a couple years i imagine. If the wedding this summer spawns a kid 9 months later, that would put a damper on my plans for a may departure.

Still working through the permutations

Pete
 

Peteandsharon

Well-known member
Pete,

I see that you went to the trouble of calculating the number of miles in this trip but you didn't speak about the next logical calculation.... fuel cost. That part might be a little too painful to calculate.
 

ncc1701e

Well-known member
I had thougth 6 to 9 months on the road and running counter clockwise. Go up through Minnesota across ND and down the west coast first.
 

PhotoPete

Well-known member
Pete,

I see that you went to the trouble of calculating the number of miles in this trip but you didn't speak about the next logical calculation.... fuel cost. That part might be a little too painful to calculate.

Good point, here are the relevant numbers. Fuel cost, at our current local price of $4.05 per gallon would be ~$4500.00

More important is the often overlooked Vodka cost. I calculate approximately $1071.28 in Ketel One consumption over the 6 months. FYI, this number really opened my vodka drenched eyes. I wonder if there are frequent buyer discounts I can get in on? ;)
 

PhotoPete

Well-known member
I had thougth 6 to 9 months on the road and running counter clockwise. Go up through Minnesota across ND and down the west coast first.

I had initially thought about going over the top first as well. When I decided to start in May, i figured it would still be quite cold along the top and by the time we got south, quite hot. So i flipped the direction to try to achieve a more harmonious climate experience.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
More important is the often overlooked Vodka cost. I calculate approximately $1071.28 in Ketel One consumption over the 6 months. FYI, this number really opened my vodka drenched eyes. I wonder if there are frequent buyer discounts I can get in on? ;)
You might have to lower your standards some and switch over to Vinny's Vodka. I think Flying J has a pump out back somewhere. And with the card you get a discount.
071.gif


Peace
Dave
 
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