Planning to drive from NJ to CA next year

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
09/30/2016 at 11:53 • Filed to: None

Fellow Oppos, I am planning on moving next year to California and taking my Miata on a one-way journey across the US. This trip should be happening sometime in the September 2017 time frame ideally. One of the major things that I have started to think about is how exactly to get there. There are many routes to take and I only have one priority: Maximum fun roads. I would really like to avoid interstates as much as possible and am hoping to take about 2-3 weeks to get there. Anyways, I would like some suggestions about some routes I could take. Right now, highest on my list of options is to take “The Great Northern” route (Route 2) primarily but I open to just about anything. My number one priority is fun roads to drive on and I will be minimally packing my Miata and camping everywhere, so the more desolate the better!

Picture even has NJ plates, how relevant!

LA/Socal is my eventual end destination most likely. And ideally my trip would end by coming down the PCH but isn’t a must since I have driven that already and will certainly being doing that often once i move there.

DISCUSSION (21)

PS9 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 11:58

Sell the Miata and do the road trip with an XJ12.

Pros: Think of all the interesting things you’ll be able to write here during the trip!

Cons: Might not make it out of NJ, and DEFINITELY not gonna make it to CA. Hitchhiking will be needed to complete the trip and get help, so chances of being murdered go up significantly.

For Sweden > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 11:58

Gonna need a start and end point brah

wiffleballtony > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 11:59

Where in Ca?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > PS9
09/30/2016 at 12:10

Well I do love Roadkill. So I might as well do it Roadkill style then...

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > For Sweden
09/30/2016 at 12:12

Well I am so open to different routes anyways. So it’s kinda irrelevant (I will gladly take a 1000 mile detour for a fun road). But I am in Central Jersey and will be going to LA most likely.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > wiffleballtony
09/30/2016 at 12:13

Really up in the air. I have explored the LA and SF areas a good bit so I am open to either for jobs. My girlfriend is pretty set on staying in LA for now though so I will be shooting for that. Socal is my favorite kind of paradise, every trip out there has felt like home but better in every way.

For Sweden > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 12:16

US-2 is going to be flat and boring, other than the Rockies. I’d shoot a little south, such as this not-at-all-vetted route .

Warning: it crosses Nevada.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > For Sweden
09/30/2016 at 12:18

I wonder how bad Nevada is. I have been trying to avoid that state in route simulations but maybe there are some interesting places there. In my mind, I picture the whole state as a desolate wasteland.

Did you just plug in avoid highways into google maps lol

For Sweden > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 12:19

There’s a reason the USAF bombs it.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 12:56

I guess you’ll have time for one more Miatas at the Gap before you go.

Roundbadge > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 13:16

I’m never not going to suggest Carhenge as a potential stop for inquiries like this...but it does require entering into the 5 or so hours of no turns that is Nebraska.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
09/30/2016 at 13:26

One of my considerations for routes is to align my move date with MATG and just go to that on the way. I just don’t know where to go from there to get out to LA in order to make it interesting. That is the dead of summer so driving through the South sounds sweaty to me.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Roundbadge
09/30/2016 at 13:32

Do you think Carhenge is worse post-graffiti or better because of it? I am more interested in natural wonders than anything manmade generally though. I have considered routing through a bunch of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho for all of the awesome stuff there. I am more concerned with how to get through the “flyover states” without being bored. Obviously straight roads are the devil to me lol.

DynamicWeight > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 13:45

Kinja'd!!!

I made this for a different OPPO, but the top circle as you’re coming down the PCH is ALL fun roads. The best road in there, imho, is La Honda. Skyline is also super fun.The bottom circle is beautiful camping/nature stuff.

Ignore the star, that is an awesome mountain biking spot.

Drive through NOT on a weekend. HMU if you’d like, I too drive an NA miata.

Roundbadge > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 13:45

Well...that’s a fine question. I was there in ‘98, so that may have been pre-graffiti as I don’t recall seeing any. I haven’t been back since...I suppose if it’s been heavily tagged ala Cadillac Ranch, perhaps my feelings would change.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Roundbadge
09/30/2016 at 14:23

Shit, I was actually thinking Cadlillac Ranch when I said that haha

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > DynamicWeight
09/30/2016 at 14:27

I drive an NB miata, but all Miatas are awesome to me! I definitely enjoy roads in those areas. I have driven LA to SF via the PCH twice now. First time in a Ford Fiesta rental and then a Mini Cooper S (manual) rental and that was much more fun. Some great roads outside of Big Basin. Also a little more inland, Highway 33 in Ojai I have done in a 2014 Camaro and that was a ton of fun even in that tank. I very much look forward to all of those roads many times in my Miata. 200TW tires and a little more power from header/exhaust/intake are my planned upgrades as soon as I get there so that I can enjoy it even more.

TahoeSTi > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 14:36

I highly Recommend Highway 50 from Colorado to California. Long stretches of open road with no one. Nearest gas station at times is 120-180 miles out. I’ve set my cruise control on one stretch at 100mph it took 2 hours before I saw another car on the road.

wiffleballtony > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 15:04

I grew up in the SF area but I live out of state now. I spend more time in the LA area now. Naturally my preference is the SF area but both are nice if you can afford it.

RallyWrench > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/30/2016 at 15:12

PCH isn’t as good as the internet thinks it is, and that’s where all the tourists drive. Come down Highway 49 from Sacramento to Mariposa, cross the valley, then pick up 33. Loads of hidden gems from the valley to the coast, including 58. If you’re going through the Bay Area, take 25 past the Pinnacles back to 101, it’s great. In general, you’ll have more driving fun if you avoid 1, but 1 wins the beauty contest most of the time.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > RallyWrench
09/30/2016 at 21:04

Totally agreed. I enjoy the PCH because of the scenery. Slow moving RVs are the worst. At least the second time I drove up that way, I went on a weekday in February nice and early so I got in enough spirited driving to make my girlfriend feel a bit sick. But yeah Hwy 33 is probably one of my all time favorite roads so far in California so more of that would be excellent.