Planning cross-country trip from CA to TN

[NumberJohnny5]

Heavily edited, it was rather wordy to begin with.

Had a new baby, so we're going back to the US for a 3+ month visit. Plane tickets from Melbourne to Los Angeles and back. Final destination is in Tennessee.

Currently looking at three main options to get to Tennessee. #1, Buy an older car for $1k-$2k, hope it makes the trip. If it doesn't...fly the rest of the way? #2, Buy a newer car, leave it with my mom to use for the next 1.5 years, or try to sell. A GenII Prius currently can be had for less in the general Anaheim area than back home in Tennessee...perhaps we could sell for a profit? At the very least, we shouldn't lose a lot of money on the deal (unless we end up with a $6k lemon). #3, Just book four tickets on Southwest and be done with it.

I'd like to drive cross-country, wife and I are leaning toward option #2.

Assuming we drive, we need to find low-cost family-friendly things to do. I'd want to see Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, and the Petrified Forest. Hoover Dam should be along the way too. Still looking at more things to do; route would (probably) take us through Flagstaff Arizona (Phoenix a bit out of the way), Albuquerque New Mexico, Amarillo Texas (no idea what's there), Oklahoma City Oklahoma (plan on going to DoubleDave's pizza buffet, really liked the one in Houston), Little Rock Arkansas, and Memphis Tennessee.

May buy camping equipment and camp some nights, would need to check temps first (not gonna camp with a newborn if it's 90 degrees at night).

Thoughts?

[Thegoblinchief]

I'm a big fan of road trips, but can't offer many specifics on your particular route. Depends on how feasible you think car camping will be with a newborn.

With only two tickets to buy, I'd be surprised if flying isn't by far the cheapest option, but you do miss all the sight-seeing stuff.

[NumberJohnny5]

With only two tickets to buy, I'd be surprised if flying isn't by far the cheapest option, but you do miss all the sight-seeing stuff.

Four tickets. Five people total, but one would be a lap baby. Fuel costs alone would be quite a bit less than flying (of course there are other costs such as motels/campgrounds, but that'd be more of a vacation expense than a "get from point A to B" expense).

[tooqk4u22]

If the car is needed just for the drive from CA to TN (a week or two) then just rent a car.  Actually, some of the car rental companies give pretty good rates for long term rentals. 

The hassle of trying to buy and sell a car and whether or not you could actually sell it is not worth it.

[AlanStache]

Along the way is also Roswell New Mexico - hear it is a total tourist trap but still might be worth an afternoon at an alien museum.

[Jamesqf]

You don't say what time of year you're going, but if it's more towards summer I would suggest a more northerly route.  From Las Vegas take I-15 to Salt Lake City, then I-70 east.  Takes you close to the Utah National Parks (and you can detour to the North Rim of Grand Canyon), and through the Colorado Rockies.

[NumberJohnny5]

Along the way is also Roswell New Mexico - hear it is a total tourist trap but still might be worth an afternoon at an alien museum.

Hadn't thought of that. Will have to consider it.

You don't say what time of year you're going, but if it's more towards summer I would suggest a more northerly route.  From Las Vegas take I-15 to Salt Lake City, then I-70 east.  Takes you close to the Utah National Parks (and you can detour to the North Rim of Grand Canyon), and through the Colorado Rockies.

We leave in just over two weeks, but will be spending nearly two weeks at the house of mouse. So the car trip would be in the middle of April. We have gone through the Rockies, but not in Colorado. From reading I did prefer the North Rim, since the views should be just as nice, and not as crowded (I detest crowds).

I figure that some day, we'll make a cross-country trek on a more northerly route (and go to Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and other sites along that route). I'll probably stick to a southerly route for this trip. If I dip far enough south I can visit my brother in Louisiana, though he'll be coming to Tennessee to visit while we're there.

[senecando]

Ok. Open this up in another tab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZeYDBY4fw (a very mustachian song in some ways)

Imagine drinking a beer, playing some horse shoes, and eating a frito pie. There is not a more lovely location between our two beautiful coasts than Luckenbach, Texas.

You can also visit Kreuz Market in Lockhart for Barbecue.

I drove LA to DC a few summers ago and this was my favorite stop by far.

[NumberJohnny5]

I'll be honest, never had a beer in my life. Now...a cold Mountain Dew...I'm listening.

I'm from rural Tennessee, so at least some of that won't be anything new. Horseshoes will likely be played at my wife's family reunion. There may also be guitars involved. Fritos will definitely make an appearance at some point in our trip.

Current route has us skimming the very northern tip of Texas, but if it ends up being more southern, I'll definitely look into it.

Another note, I think I may find a cheap-ish membership to a science museum, and stop at a few along the way.

[NumberJohnny5]

Found what I think is a decent deal on a car, put a deposit on it, we'll see how it goes. I've run the numbers, and even if we end up selling and taking a bath on it...we should still be ahead of renting a car. I'll keep you guys updated, though it might end up in the Antimustachian Wall of Shame section.

Good choice on the science museum membership.

Got a two year family membership for $70 at AMSE.org. Apparently, I can even use it a couple places in Australia (literally two places), and a bunch of other places overseas (even Petrosains in Kuala Lumpur...which we've been to and found interesting).

So, you're going I-40, yes?

Probably. If there was a really good reason, I could drop down, visit Houston again, head into Louisiana to visit my brother, then head north...but straight through I-40 (with maybe an occasional detour on Route 66) is the current plan.

I won't comment on everything, but awesome suggestions. I'll have to research them. I did lookup Heifer International as I had not heard of it before. I'll research it some more, I think it's something my (oldest) son might be interested in.

Memphis-You're from TN, so I guess you know enough about it, probably more than me.

Been through there more than once, but as for actually staying, only did one trip as an adult. I believe I went to the zoo as a child, I remember they had vending machines with molds of different animals, and it'd make the plastic toy right in front of you. Thought it was really cool at the time.

1. Memphis Zoo- very, very nice zoo.

If you've been to the Houston Zoo, how do you think they compared?

Whereabouts in TN is your final destination?  It must be before Nashville?

A tiny town that I have to zoom all the way in for Google Maps to show its name. Ok, not ALL the way in...but it was showing the names of local businesses before it'd show the name of the town ("Oh look, there's a grocery store, zoom in again and see what else we find. Well I'll be darned, there's a town there!"). We live on the western edge of Middle Tennessee. Nashville's a couple hours to the east.