Muswell Hill

Will be moving to Phoenix, AZ soon from Charleston, SC and have to drive there. Anyone got any ideas how long it might take? I know it's about 2100 miles, and was thinking about 2 days???

Cheers,
MH

ian-mstm

According to Yahoo Maps, 32.33h. Two 16+ hour drives should do it... but that doesn't take into account traffic, what sort of vehicle you're driving, or your risk tolerance for speeding!

Ian

fatbrit

I'd give yourself three. Two is pushing it.

Noorah101

+1.

Rene

joto

Definitely take 3-4 days. We moved from MA to CO and that is around the same distance. I did get AAA to do a route for us and said about 500-600 miles a day was doable for me as I hadn't driven long distances before. We did have to take into consideration that we had our 2 dogs with us that would need breaks in the journey and dog friendly hotels. Make sure you get the car serviced before you go, so it is fit for the journey.

avanutria

How many drivers have you got on the trip, and what lengths of driving are you used to doing? I used to do loads of long trips and 8-10 hours of highway driving in a day was NOTHING to me, but I am out of practice now and find that four to five hours is pushing it - my attention wanders and my muscles get stiff. Two 16-hour driving days is a LOT for a newbie - even three 11-hour days is asking a lot.

Also, are you doing this because you MUST get to AZ as soon as possible, or you want to actually enjoy your trip? If you want to enjoy it (or at least not hate it), give yourself 4-5 days. If you find you make better time than you'd planned, then it's a bonus, and better than running yourself into the ground (or into another car!) trying to force yourself to manage the schedule.

SarahG

I'd also err on the side of 4 days. When we moved from Indy to SC we drove and did that over 2 days, Almost 800 miles door to door. I was in the car with the kids and OH had the truck with all our crap in it. We had to accommodate stops for eating, mulitple loo breaks and just stretching our legs. I won't say how many times we got lost but lets just say my sat nav doesn't like me!

Google maps reckons I could get there from Mount Pleasant, SC in 1 day 11 hours. I don't think I'd want to do that!

penguinsix

I drove from Chicago to Washington, DC in one day. That's about 700 miles, and I was easily doing 65-70mph through long stretches.

However, it didn't work out to 10 hours--it was more like 13-14. Between gas stops, food stops, bathroom stops, slow traffic or construction, the ride was much longer than I anticipated.

Two 16-hour days driving is a great deal, and you'll be a bit surprised how many stops and delays you'll encounter. Three is a minimum I'd say, and four more likely (worth noting each day you continue driving your maximum limit for driving starts to diminish).

If you are in a hurry, fly and pay someone to deliver the cars. I'd honestly recommend taking a week and spending a day or two in a few cities along the way, just to see a bit of the US you might not see otherwise.

Good luck.

Imnothavinit

I've done Chicago to Naples Florida many times in one day, thats about 1500 miles door to door and I always did all the driving. We'd leave early in the morning and usually get in around midnight. I used coffee, diet Mountain Dew and Slim Jims to make it happen..

Beaverstate

In the early 70's, my mom drove with three kids aged10 to 15 from Vancouver Washington to Whittier CA. non stop except for food and fuel. That was about 1,000 miles. I seem to remember leaving at 6AM and arriving around midnight. Mom was/is very frugal and saw no reason to pay for a motel. I wouldn't want to try it myself.

Imnothavinit

I hate stopping..One time I made my wife piss in a bucket and when she held it out the window to dump it, it blew out of her hands.

Muswell Hill

Cheers everyone...i'd take my time doing the drive but have a dog to transport too. Just a little 11 pound mutt, so 4 days 3 nights is what it looks like.
Off to find dog friendly hotels now.....are there any chains that have a common dog friendly policy you know of?

MH

Michael

Extended Stay America. Good prices, clean, kitchen, and pet friendly. However rooms with dogs are usually on the top floor with the smoking rooms.

Scouse Express

If there is no need to push yourself, just take your time. Figure on about 600 miles a day, and it will be 3 and a half days.

No point in beating yourself up, when you can have a nice drive and throw in all necessary/scenic rest stops along the way. For example, you can visit Graceland, in Memphis, en-route, just to give yourself some time away from the car.

Jim.

cxx

Red Roof Inns are usually very pet friendly hotels and don't charge anything extra (in fact if you're travelling in April you'll save $$$ - http://www.redroof.com/red-hot-deals...ril-pets-month).

If you're desperate some Residence Inns are pet friendly but charge $100 - $150 / stay in pet fees