Hi all i'm coming to the US!! Well me and my best mate are planning a road trip which we have been hoping to do for some years now. We are really looking for sights and people to meet along the way. Our schedule is quite tight with many one night stops but we are hoping to cover as much ground as possible in the 6 weeks we have. Got to see a few 914 on my travels too...
A link of our planned route can be found by throwing this in google maps! (Cant get it to link...)

**UPDATE**
from:los angeles to:san francisco to:South Lake Tahoe, CA to:Las Vegas to:Flagstaff to:beaver, UT to:Park City to:rock springs to:rapid city to:denver to:poncha springs to:pagosa springs to:Albuquerque to:amarillo to:oklahoma city to:dallas to:houston to:new orleans to:panama city to:Atlanta to:Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina to:Washington to:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to:New york



Any comments on the route and places we should be stopping or staying at (very limited budget!!) would be great. Basics are heading out 2nd March returning home 13 April. Major stops are NY, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, LA and Orlando for at least 3 days each.

Cheers,
Fabian & Nick ( )

Welcome to the states!

IMO, you're missing out if you don't come through Colorado to go over the Continental Divide through the Rocky Mountains.

Stop by some race tracks... Lots of Porsche club events!

My family has been traveling the states with the kids for the last 24 years, and we've still not made all the sites! You won't believe how big the states are in comparison with the UK. I think you need to concentrate on some of the more scenic places, and avoid the big cites (Toledo, Youngstown, Chicago). They are OK to drive through, but you'll spend more for everything and may miss some really beautiful scenery in the meantime.

I'd also vote heavily on Colorado. The eastern part is basically farms and feedlots, but the Rocky Mountains are about as nice as it gets. In California, I'd go for the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to LA. Las Vegas is certainly something to see, but don't miss the Grand Canyon!

I think you'll have a gas, best of luck on your voyage.

You're heading home on the 13th assuming you make it out of Vegas:)

Good luck with the trip, should be a ton of fun!

Thanks for the replies and the comments!

One thing we are struggling with is how to buy and insure a car/suv/truck while in the US . Any guidance would be awesome. Our vehicle budget is only $1500 but we are figuring on a Jeep or crew cab of sorts also thinking along the lines of ex cop car as they seem pretty robust. We looking into rentals but at 24 most companies are killing us on the young driver excess...

Cheers.

when in new orleans - do not do not - appear to be a foreign tourist and do not do not stray off of the main areas - this is a dangerous place only a few blocks from the main tourist spots.

be sure to stop by stone mountain in atlanta for the laser light show.

be careful - have fun

jim

Tell us when you'll be in Flagstaff and I'll make a roadtrip up there weather permitting

Have a great trip! Now tell us about your Bugatti Type 35 !!! Cheers, R

I'll add my two cents:

Best road trip I ever did was with my brother through New England. After the first day, we swore off interstates. Pulled out a map each morning, looked for some interesting places to go, and took the twisitiest back roads we could find to get there. Really a blast. We even figured out how the map designated unpaved roads, and sought them out. With such a robust itinerary, you'll need interstates to get around quickly - but try to go a few days on the back roads instead - you find some really spectacular sites and fantastic towns along the way.

My other advice... if I had six weeks to road trip, I would hit as many National Parks as I could. Cities are cities, but the natural beauty of some places in this country is breathtaking.

I live 10 minutes from Stone Mountain and would not recommend it personally. You might stop by Automobile Atlanta and maybe George would give you a tour.

You really should try to make a detour through Atlanta to see Automobile Atlanta. I feel sure George would enjoy talking with you and showing you the best collection of 914s in the world.

Hehe, mine i wish! While i was at uni i competed in Formula Student or FSAE as it is in the US. One of our best sponsors was the Bugatti trust over here and my main lecturer is a keen racer of these cars he also owns the land speed record car BABS. This particular car has a really extensive history and this photo was taken in the museum where the curator just said 'jump in' was super sweet seeing these things running up the hillclimb.





Yep, would love to, George as already been in touch!



Current dates for Flagstaff are arrive 30th March and leave 1st April with a view to head up to the grand canyon on the 31st

Being engineers we have assembled a momouth spreadsheet detailing most things so i hope to be able to share this (if that is ok?) bit more work and we'll be onto a winner we hope.

Cheers guys.

Youngstown to Toledo you could go right through Ontario, Canada.
Toronto is right along the way.

You should just come to Moncton, eat some lobster, drink some beer and then go on your trip! You guys have a great time, looking forward to seeing your pics posted here.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

There has to be a reason you are going to Souix Falls and Pennington South Dakota. These are not tourist spots although the people are wonderful.

The Badlands are amazing. The people are terrific. Wall Drug is amazing if only for the fact that they promote it beyond belief for what it is. The Corn Palace in Mitchell is a joke. I have a picture of myself standing in front of it somewhere doing an 'I don't get it pose'.

Are you looking for natural beauty? Want to see the great cities? Are you visiting friends?

In a word no...
We wanted to go to Chicago and also Mount Rushmore and sensible stops for average amount of driving per day meant that Souix Falls would be a good place for an overnighter...

The route is open to modification as long as we don't add another 1000miles to the current 6k!

In terms of what we want to see/do is pretty much open.... We are just looking to see as much of the US as we can and have as much fun meeting lots of different people as we go
I have only ever been to LA with a little road trip to Las Vegas & San Fransisco (i have 2 aunts who live in Redondo and Torrance) and Nick has only been to Florida to do the touristy thing...

Other than the stop in LA and Park City, when i have a friend working a ski season, we are looking to generally wing it everywhere else!

Really nice to get input from people like yourself!

Thanks

Ahhh... That explains it.

As you leave Minneapolis/St. Paul area which is one of the nicest cities in the country, you will drive through lots of rural farm land. You will be struck by the number of lakes. Minnesota license plates say "Land of 10,000 Lakes" but if you count ponds there are probably 100,000 bodies of water left over by the ice age land sculpting. Lots of rocks left behind too. You will see piles of glacial dropped rocks that the farmers have dragged off the field to make room to plow.
Sioux Falls is a moderate size city built around a river. Rent a bicycle and find your way to the bike trail that circles the entire city. It is about a 20 mile ride and next to the Sacramento American River bike trail it is probably the best I have seen. The East side is fairly oldish and has the industry including the stock yards and prison that have been there since the 1800's. The drive from Sioux Falls to Mt. Rushmore is LOOOOOOOOOONNNNG. You can break up the monotony by stopping by the Corn Palace which is just a local auditorium in a small town where the high school basketball games are played. On the outside they use unshucked corn to do a mural. They advertise it every other mile practically on the freeway to get you to stop. When you see it, your first thought would be why in the world did they go to all that effort to get me to stop? It is no big deal. Wall Drug is the same way. Old 1800's drug store that they advertise incessantly on the freeway as you drive. Fun to say you were there and take some pictures. The Badlands are amazing. Get off the freeway and drive the little loop into Badlands National Park and you will see the deer just stand on the road in front of you. You have to drive slowly through them because they apparently are aware they are protected.

I have always loved Mt. Rushmore. Be sure to spend some time in Deadwood which is just about 15 miles away. Kevin Costner owns one of the casinos there. I guess he bought it when he was shooting a movie there. Think actual 1800's buildings that have been preserved and are being used as tourist traps. There is another mountain sculpture just up the road from Mt. Rushmore. The same sculptor Gutsum Borglum was commissioned by the Lakota Sioux to carve their legendary chief Crazy Horse into a mountain. Mr. Borglum died before it was finished but his family and the Native Americans have continued the effort. I last saw it 20 years ago so maybe it is close to completion.

Just a short ways into Wyoming is a natural rock formation called Devil's Tower. Well worth the trip.

The weather in March can be "unsettled". Take that to mean it can change in just very short time. I remember riding my motorcycle down to see a friend in Winona from Minneapolis and having the temperature drop 50 degrees on the way back. It can and does rain some part of every day in the spring and tornadoes are not out of the question. It is generally warm and humid. Do not fu*k with the tornadoes. Get somewhere safe and stay there until they punch out for the night. They will mess you up.

Be sure to visit as many 914World citizens as you can and bring a laptop to update us on your travels...

Thank you so much that is an absolutely awesome write up! I will be adding these points to our ever expanding itinerary....

We are a bit worried about the weather but hopefully we can get a robust vehicle and i think our average of about 200miles on the driving days shouldn't be pushing it. We generally wont be in a major hurry so if we do have to stop fair enough!

Will defiantly have the laptop aboard and will keep in touch with the board during the journey. One and all will be welcome to share a beverage of their choice with us! Hope we can meet and greet along the way... might also look into picking up some '14 bits and pieces along the way , i love how many member vendors their are making parts for our cars.... (oh no this could get expensive!!)

p.s. As the world is always in need of another progress thread i will eventually get round to adding mine..

I think you may find that 200 miles a day is going to be leisurely. American Freeways are designed with 70MPH speed limits. In many places, if you set the cruise control at 70 you will be passed by everyone else who is doing 80. There is very little sign of lane discipline. I joke with my Asian wife about the number 1 lane being renamed the Asian lane because she heads right over there and camps in that lane. So don't really expect people to drive on the right and pass on the left as it should be.

I hope you will not have too much trouble with the steering wheel on the left and driving on the other side of the road!

Bottom line is that if you are doing mostly freeway driving, 200 miles is a 3 hour day +or-. Plenty of time to get off the freeway and explore the little towns and stuff. That is the real America. That is where the character of America lives. If you are going to hold up at a hotel and use the pool or go to corporate restaurants you may as well stay home. Outback Steakhouse is the same everywhere. Near Deadwood is a place called Sturgis. It is the location of an annual motorcycle rally. On the main drag through town there is a place called the Roadkill Cafe. The sign states "you hit it we cook it". Not true but it is an indication of the character and culture. If you want to experience America stay away from any business that is owned by a corporation.

Please do keep us informed of your travels and try to meet up with as many of us as you can. This is as much fun for us as it is for you...

While in Salt Lake City be sure to meet up with Eric Shea and others who are local. In Las Vegas be sure to make time to see Renegade's operations. Lots of 914 "options" to be seen there. In LA meet up with the NARP (Not A Real Porsche) gang.

In New Orleans be sure to ride the street cars and go to Bourbon Street. The Garden District is great for old mansion viewing. You are pretty safe on Bourbon Street, well except for your liver. I have personally never seen so much drinking going on with out a fight in my life. Watch the girls walking down the streets because they show their titties for beads thrown from the balconies. You don't say when you will be there but Mardi Gras is around that time. The music is amazing. Blues, jazz, zydeco, it is all there. Be sure to go to a cemetary. New Orleans is at or below sea level so bodies are buried above ground. The monuments and gargoyles are truly amazing. As someone has already said, be sure to stay in the tourist areas. Before Hurricane Katrina it was pretty safe to walk around especially in the daytime but the devastation from the hurricane has made for some desperate people who will do things they might not have thought of before the hurricane.

Take a tour at NASA when in Houston. I was assigned for a time to NASA while I was in the military and if you guys are engineers you will appreciate the amazing tour at Johnson Space Center.

You guys are driving I-15 south from Salt Lake to Vegas, via Beaver? You must know someone in Beaver? A must stop and see is Zion National park. Leaving Beaver, you will drive through Cedar City. Between Cedar City and (just before you get to) Saint George is the turn off for Zion National Park. It is only a 50 mile detour off I-15 and back, and well worth the stop. I would highly recommend staying a day or two and doing some of the hikes in the park, such as the narrows...very impressive. March should be late enough in the season for the snow there to be minimal. At very least, stop there for lunch and drive through the park, you guys will not regret it.

I'm halfway between Memphis and Nashville, and have a spare room. We are about 15 miles south of I 40 which is a main east/west interstate, if that works out for your travel route.

You can do a very easy 300 miles in six hours. I did 600 miles and picked up a car two weeks ago using primarily state two lane roads in 13 hours, if that gives you any point of reference.

600 miles in 13 hours?

I do San Diego to Salt Lake and back several times a year. Its 750 miles each way, I do it in 11 hours regularly (with stops).... going 5 mph over whatever the posted speed limit is.

Wow! What a trip you have planned.
I will put a plug in for Seattle.

300 miles is only 4 hours of driving. So, depending on where you are at, you might want to up that. Like, oh, Nebraska and Wyoming and South Dakota. traverse much at night and wake up to some great views.

Wyoming. Gran Tetons. Devils Tower, Yellowstone.

Utah. Vast beauty. Check out
http://www.utah.com/stateparks/coral_pink.htm
a short drive through Zion National park, then off to Vegas for you.

If I was driving, it would be:
Colorado: I 70 through the mountains.

Utah. MOAB, Salt Lake. Stop in Windover and check out the salt flats.
A night drive through the desert to San Francisco. You won't miss anything.

California, S.F to L.A on the 1 (hwy 1). Overnight in Montery or by Hurst castle.
Pismo beach, Santa Cruz (fish and chips on the pier)

Nevada. Vegas, then a day trip north to Utah again.

Utah for Zion National park and the Coral Dunes.

Arizona. Grand Canyon, Flagstaff then west on Rt 66 to New Mexico. (my wife loved this drive)

I am in Memphis and have room for you to stay if you feel the need to go visit the home of Elvis. Dinner is on me if you make the stop.


Shoe

I am in Hershey, PA where the Hershey factory is. Its a tourist trap of sorts and not far from NYC, Philly, Baltimore. I even have a place to crash, maybe. Need help purchasing a car? I am sure one of us can help. Mini vans are pretty cheap in my area and are recycled often and in good shape. There is also Amish country not far from here if you wanna see how the technologically unhampered live. Too bad you wont be here in April for the largest Porsche only swap meet. PM me if I can be of any service.

Wow.
Thank you so much, i think we will be taking you up in the offers of a meet or place to crash! Our budget is a bit limited but it is one of those once in a lifetime trips before we settle down to our careers so you guys really would be helping us out and it is uber appreciated!

Car wise we are hoping to purchase one around NY as that is where we are starting, insurance is still the big unknown but we have budgeted about $1600 for it so hopefully a few calls today should get that sorted/ outlined. (insurance over here is very expensive if under 25 and works very differently so we'll see what happens
)
Nick and i are having another 'trip planing meeting' (read: few beers with laptop +google) next week adding in all these details so there will be a thorough plan added soon!

Thanks for all the input so far!

good luck on the trip- i'm sure we'll have the welcome mat out when you swing through minny-stp.
it would be a capital investment, but i'd add yellowstone after seeing mt rushmore from the window of the car. then across to san francisco and down the pch to l.a. then up to vegas. you could hit beaver if it's vital, then come back down (good luck seeing everything...) to flagstaff and points east.
i would also skip chicago, but the lake michigan ferry's aren't running yet, so speed around... actually speed across the north after leaving pennsylvania/ohio, and save time for california and across to the southeast states.

I getting a bit too excited about this trip now... can i go pack my bags... better not still 2-and-a-bit months away!

Bass Islands in Ohio, near Toledo. Good side trip. Go to the Boardwalk in Put in Bay. Post your pictures, please.

Happy New Year everyone!

Well it's on like Donkey Kong...

Flights are being booked Wed and we will be in the US having the time of our lives by 9th March!

The route has taken a bit of a battering since the original post... Now starting in LA as we have an address for getting the auto insurance (thank you progressive!) and finishing in NY.
Mileage is now 7000miles but planned stay is now up to 7 weeks!

Car of choice is now late 80's Mercedes Benz 420SEL or any V8 variation. They seem to be going really cheap and will make for effortless cruising and fun.

The Benz is a great choice IMHO ...
Spacious, comfortable, cheap.

Here in the US, we consider them gas-guzzlers.
But with the gas prices you guys are used to, this will seem like a Renault Twingo to you.
Gas here is still less than half of what you pay.

Andy

Quite the trip plan!
Just a suggestion, you may want to re-evaluate your driving stretch from Salt Lake through Wyoming, to the Black Hills.
March/April can be a bit iffy with snow and it's looking like your map will take you across I-80 to Rawlins, north to Casper and Sheridan, then east on I-90.
Do you have an alternate route, a "plan B" per se?
Mike

I just missed this thread somehow! It looks like you'll miss the Mall of America in Minneapolis. I was thinking as I was reading this I would drive the Alien down to meet you guys'.

What a great trip! You will love the US. I agree about staying away from the corperate food joints. Find the mom and pop places.

SirAndy:
Yeah, i love the thought of the Merc. I currently drive a 190e over here but it does 30mpg being a 1.8! But you touch on a good point... want to cry a little? Our current gas price is roughly £1.20/Ltr and US price works out at £0.46/Ltr.... Yes, really! Fuel cost is our smallest budget.

Kirmizi:
No current pan b for that part of the route... will snow chains and slow progress be a issue? Any suggestions welcome!
(We are stopping in Park City area to meet up with a friend working a ski season hence the route up that way.)

rick 918-S:
Shame we can't stay for longer or get everywhere but i think if we keep adding to the trip we'll be very broke and won't want to leave! We are already up to 7 weeks from what was planned to be a month away... :-)

Thanks again for the encouragement and kind comments! See many of you soon i hope!

While heading in from the east to SF, might as well stop at Lake Tahoe or Yosemite. I really suggest taking HWY 1 down to L.A. like was mentioned. Takes a little while longer but it's a way nicer drive. Remember, Northern CA and Southern CA are almost like two different states. I wouldn't live in Southern Ca for nothin !

And try and avoid L.A. during the week, and S.F. bay area during commute times. That will add A LOT of time on the road.

Ya, Along the Ocean! You won't regret it!

Since your route brings you so close, from Atlanta might try to run up US 441 north through Cherokee, NC and into Great Smoky Mountains Park to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge TN I live near Pigeon Forge so we could meet up.
The towns are MAJOR TOURIST TRAPS but the Smokies are awesome! Then take I-40 east to Asheville, NC and you should be able to pick up at your point V without much problem.

As the token Albuquerque member these days (which pretty much makes me the token New Mexico member, though I probably just don't know anyone from the southern parts of the NM), I would like to at least meet up with you folks and perhaps pick up a dinner tab and a pint at my favorite locally-owned (and 914 fan/owner as well as Atomic Ramble 2007 sponsor) brewpub / restaurant.

PM me and let me know when you think you'll be in the Santa Fe - Albuquerque area and I can help make recommendations if needed or possibly even put you up myself, if you don't mind roughing it a bit. (i.e. your own room but on a futon).

Cheers, and hope it's a great trip! Love it when people tour my part of the country!

- Nelson

I just wanted to put that into American terms so we can really appreciate what you're paying in the UK. According to google, the exchange rate is currently $1.618 to £1. So if you're paying £1.2/L that would be same as £4.542/USGal or about $7.35/USGal. Current prices in NM right now are hovering around $2.69/USGal so that will be a nice change. Of course, you will be driving a LOT of miles!

- Nelson

Been there

Click to view attachment

It could be snow chains and no progress, or it could be beautiful and dry...
It's Wyoming!!
http://www.wyoroad.info/
Might want to keep that website handy when the time comes.
They've got weather and road conditions, in addition to web-cams.
Mike

We do several road trips out of SoCal with our Porsche buddies every year. Please don't miss Hwy 1 from LA to San Francisco. It even gets more beautiful as you go north. Stop at Nepenthe in Big Sur for lunch. Google Big Sur. Your map looks like you are taking Hwy 5 North from LA. Please don't, Hwy 1 will tke your breath away. Frankly, having traveled all over the US by car, I think it is hard to find more beautiful driving than the west coast. Colorado is certainly stunning as well

Are you going to have a cell phone when your here? A Blackberry could be handy for that link above.

Just an update on our travel plans (see below).... We will be grabbing a couple of cell phones when we arrive and will share our numbers on here, so if we are in your area and anyone is free on an evening

Looking at some nice roads now and refining the Google auto route maker as it has missed some gems like highway 1... shame most of the Yosemite roads are closed this time of year maybe next time! I like the fact you can use Google street view on laguna seca and there are racecars going round! Anyway, back to it i go... hostels, pubs and fun stuff to sort still!

Hope to meet a few people in less than a month or so! (you can also Facebook me @ Fab Pillay)

p.s. this timetable is not set in stone we will be flying by the seat of our pants most of the time.... but does get us to our homebound flight in time, which is nice!

Click to view attachment

Dude, you are gonna be 1.5 hrs away from the Hershey swap meet and Porsche show on April 24-25. We have an event that happens at the same time called the Mid Engine Invasion. Last year we had like 30 914s parade in together. There were even more there that were not yet associated with us.

You should consider it being so close. You can crash at my place

Sounds great... but date are off? we'll be back in the UK by 24-25 April... Thanks for the offer though!!

As somebody who spent 25 days and 8k or 9k miles on the road in 2009 traveling the back roads of the 4 corner states and the Appalachians - I think you're going to be missing most of the beauty of America. And that your plan will fall to pieces when you realize some places really do suck and you'll want to move on to the next.

What are you coming for? The geological beauty or to see the cities? Or both? 7 days between Alb, NM and Houston? You will be very dissapointed, it's an ugly part of the country. I would drive straight from Alb to New Orleans only stopping to sleep. You're missing the national parks of Utah and the majority of Colorado - a major loss. I spent an entire week in Colorado - and desperately want to go back for everything I missed.

Sorry for being a negative nancy - but while driving across America sounds great, you'll end up missing most her beauty from the main freeways and interstates as you speed from one city to the next.

For researching routes, google the All American roads. There are some amazing drives, specifically the skyway that will get you up into Maryland from the Carolinas.

Bit of both really, don't take the auto Google road map to heart. We have always planned to get off the highway and explore the parks and forests, even the trip to Grand Canyon isn't on the map but we are going there (ran out of destination letters on the Google map thing)!

We are a bit unsure about the alb to Houston bit but don't want to over do it with the driving. Houston is a definite stop as we want to see the space center (being engineers and all!)

Stuff like that and anything different is what we want. After 5 years in one small (tiny by US standards) city for university we just need to explore