<p>H and I will be driving from Purdue to Central Ca mid May. When H and D did the drive in the past it was dead winter so they went the southern route I 44 to I 40. It wasn’t the most scenic trip.
We could go the same way but are considering taking a more northern route. Mapquest suggests I-70 or US 54 to I 40. The third route is similar to the first. I- 70 route goes through Colorado which might be prettier.
Anyone have any advice on different routes. We have visited most of the western National Parks so don’t need to detour. Plus we will have D’s dog with us.</p>
<p>I-70 in Colorado and into Utah is spectacular, particularly Glenwood Canyon, and Glenwood Springs is a fun place to spend the night.</p>
<p>If you have an interest in engineering, that stretch of highway construction is pretty amazing.</p>
<p>I’ve done several of the routes and most of them end up within a couple of hours of each other.</p>
<p>The I-70 route through Utah and Colorado is the most scenic and a nice drive.</p>
<p>I 70 west of Green River, Utah has spectacular scenery for 100 miles. Make sure your gas is full. There are no gas stations, or any other services on that stretch. It is gorgeous red rock country.</p>
<p>I prefer the southern route through Texas, NM, AZ–better local foods along the way.</p>
<p>We just drove to San Diego from Chicago via the southern route (I-40 etc.) at the end of December, and back via I-70 in early March. Our return trip was with our cat. A lot depends on the weather - we kept an eye on the forecast along both routes and finalized our choices a couple of days before leaving. We took the southern route going out so DH could visit an old friend in Phoenix. Because of the cat, we limited our driving time to about 9 hours each day.</p>
<p>The I-70 route (until we got east of Denver) was much more scenic and a tiny bit faster. Agree that going through the Rockies and the eastern part of Utah were spectacular. We even took an hour to run through Las Vegas and grab a picture at the iconic sign, and DH and the cat let me off at the Bellagio to catch the end of the fountain show.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I drove out with DS to San Jose via I-80 a couple of years ago. Now if I could only find a reason to go to Seattle via I-90, I’ll have covered all the routes!</p>
<p>Marilyn-funny you should post on this thread. I think I used advise from you on where to stay with a pet when my D moved from Florida to Indiana. She is now finished with school in Indiana and we are driving the same car and the same dog back to Ca. She has a job outside of the US for 6 months so we will have the dog with us.</p>