I will taking I-70 all the way. What will be the best way to break up the driving? Plan to take 3 days, driving 8-9 hours a day. Better places to stop for the night? Safe rest stops along the way? Pickup lunch?
One of my kids is currently doing this drive for a job move. He chose to stop in western PA the first night to visit friends, but then did a very long day to outside of Kansas City MO (more than 12 hours) and is now on his way to Colorado.
Before I knew that, it seemed like stopping between Springfield and Dayton OH and then Kansas City MO would break up the trip most evenly. As to hotels, on a trip like that I tend to stick to chains in areas with restaurants/stores nearby. Sorry to not have any concrete suggestions for you.
I recently drove from Florida to Denver, and picked up I-70 in St Louis. Really, it’s all the same. Gas is cheap in Missouri (don’t get it in Illinois), a little more in Kansas, and most expensive in eastern Colorado.
All the rest stops were nice and clean, but some didn’t have things like vending machines open.
Hotels are cheaper if you use one of the Apps like Bookings or Hotels.com Even if you are standing in the lobby of the hotel, you might get a cheaper deal online and the hotel won’t give it to you (one did in Paducah KY, but the rest did not)
@twoinanddone Great tips. Did you eat on the way?
I am looking at Springfield OH and Kansas City KS as possible stops.
When you cross over into KC, KS it’s from Downtown KC Missouri and of course I have the gift of hitting towns just before rush hour. All I wanted to do was get out of the metro area so wasn’t looking at the number of motels on the frontage roads but I’m sure there are some. I stayed in Hays KS which is farther. Hays is a small town, it was a Friday night, and that meant HS football on the radio
Most of the motels I stayed at had grab and go breakfasts so I took extras and snacked on those. I did take out for dinners and can highly recommend the Qdoba in Hays KS.
By the time you get to Colorado, most of the counties are going to be in ‘level orange’ which is one before red (stay at home). Most counties are requiring masks any time you are outside with other people or inside at all times in businesses. I don’t notice it much but I don’t go out much.
Trip report. Arrived with any incident. The rest stops were super clean. I did my usual wipe downs at hotels but felt safe. They all posted safety measures they are taking. At restaurants, they blocked out seats to keep the safe distance and wiped down the tables thoroughly after each use. The staff were super friendly so glad to have a customer.
I was about to recommend a Hampton Inn in Salina, Kansas but saw you are already at your destination. That hotel had more hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes than any place I saw on the road. If you’re driving back, I’d also recommend the Drury Inn chain. We stayed at 2; O’Fallon, Illinois and Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Both had hot served breakfasts, handled by servers behind plexiglass. Very nice, reasonable prices and friendly staff.
My friends always recommend Drury Inns if they are in your destination. They think that they are very well run.
Never heard of Drury Inns. I kept to Hilton chains mostly. I read about their cleaning practices. I saw them wiping down constantly.
On my cross country drive, I found that the chain brand didn’t matter so much as how the individual property was run. However, both Drury Inns were very nice. They are primarily in Illinois and Missouri.
For our short Sept vacation in Moab, we intentionally picked an old motel (with good reviews) with outside entrance … to avoid other travelers in lobby/hall/elevator. But for a cross country trip, not I’d do that - in some locations they can be dives. Also for overnight stay, not as much back/forth through the public spaces. Thoughts?
On our last drive requiring overnight stays, I didn’t mind going (quickly) through public spaces, but tried to stay out of elevators. I also looked for hotels/motels with through the wall heating units, & avoid any central heating/cooling.
Some hotels (and other buildings) discourage the use of stairs (e.g. you cannot go up from the ground floor using the stairs, or the only way out of the stairs on the ground floor has the fire alarm), so if elevator avoidance is desired, that can be an issue.