mjaf

I live in Baltimore and will be accepting a job in San Francisco in October. My wife and I are considering to drive our 991.1 C2S and make a memorable trip out of this. I was wondering if you guys could assist me with finding a fun route that satisfies a few of the criteria that I have here:

• Prefer total duration to be less than 7 days.
• Each leg to be longer than 300 miles (required to be reimbursed for the trip by the company).
• Not too indirect. The detour stops will not be reimbursed by the company.
• Would prefer to visit friends/family in Cincinnati (OH), Columbia (MO), and Denver (CO).
• We like to take scenic routes (and non-interstates) as long as they don't sacrifice too much on driving duration. I am willing to go all out for cool alternate routes or exceptional natural monuments.

Here is a google map link to my tentative route. It is mostly based on the tentative stops so far.

Also, I appreciate if you have any recommendations on preparations for the trip. My yearly service will be in a few weeks, so I will have that done before leaving for the trip. What are the biggest challenges that might come our way and how do you suggest us to prepare for them?

We are so excited about this trip, and thank you so much for your help!

Cheers
mjaf

thesaintusa

Just get the regular maintenance done and drive.

Paper towels / micro fiber towels and Windex / solution to get the bugs off the windshield.

IF you use a radar detector / WAZE then you may want a good phone holder if you do not use an iPhone (built in Car Play).

Something to clean the bugs off the front of the car if you care to do that during the drive. I just deal with it once the road trip is over.

Enjoy the drive.

chuckbdc

I used much of your route last fall driving to Rennsport Reunion from Rockville MD. One detour that proved to be a lot of fun was to head south out of Salt Lake City, down to Highway 50, the "Loneliest Highway in America". It is a well paved 2 lane road across the Great Basin, with fantastic western vistas, long open stretches to stretch a cars legs- miles and miles of open empty road. Let's just say you won't lose any time on this route.

Around half way across (70 miles or so from anything in either direction) is Cold Spring Station, originally a pony express station. It is an inexpensive, rustic "RV Resort and Motel" with friendly folks, good food in the dining room and passable rooms (in double wides). We arrived when it was empty, and the next morning it was full, including Porsche folks headed to Rennsport, who told us they "always stayed there". Rustic but solar powered. We made a reservation by googling and calling.

Typical. Mountains are miles farther away than they look and as you can see, traffic is uhm, light. Eventually you slow back down to speeds you are used to speeding up to, grinning.




We initially wondered what we had gotten into, but the cowboys at the bar were watching the rodeo until the NFL game started, dinner was better than expected, and the place was packed for breakfast. Not fancy, just perfect.

usccharles

I did route 50 from NY to LA and i second that recommendation to the loneliest highway in america. I must have had my tripod and camera up in the middle of the road for at least an hour goofing around and taking photos. nobody but me. was an amazing experience.

If your travel can take you to Moab, Utah, I recommend a drive through there. some of the best twisty desert roads i experienced during my road trip. Your 911 will love you for it and the red rock formations are just breathtaking.

Wujohn

Just....WOW !

bkrantz

As for interstates, I-70 in CO and UT is much more scenic and fun to drive than I-80 in WY. And to continue west, US50, as others have said, is one of the best long distance roads in the country: little traffic, incredible scenery, and really fun winding mountain sections separated by fast, straighter valley segments. And WAY better than I-80 min NV.

S S

^^^ This. And you can't go wrong working on visits to the North Rim and Zion National Parks. Worth the detours, especially driving through Zion. Magical.

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mjaf

Thank you so much for all the recommendations. Here is my updated route.

I would appreciate any suggestions on hotels to stay in my stop cities (Cincinnati, Columbia, Denver, and Moab). I am planning to stay in Cold Spring Station between Moab and San Francisco. I would not be able to detour in this trip for Zion NP, but I am sure we will be back for it now that it is closer. We have already done most of the NPs in Colorado during a long trip two years ago, and really enjoyed it.

I was wondering how would the weather be around the end of October in the ares between Denver and San Francisco. I hope to get lucky and skip any possible major snow.

MiamiBlues

You're very unlikely to hit snow in the Sierras at that point, I don't know Colorado as well though.

If you're going to go through Utah, you have to have to have to take Utah State Highway 12 from Torrey to Escalante. It's the best road in America, and nothing else compares. It's a little out of the way, but it's easy to get to via Highway 24 off of 70. Then once you're past Escalante just follow it past Bryce Canyon, then take Utah 20 (another fun road) and then Utah 21 back to the Northwest to meet up with 50 East of Ely I promise you won't regret it. Plus you can really make great time on these roads with nobody out there so the detour won't take too long!

Also at that time of year, I'd recommend just giving yourself some flexibility when it comes to hotels and where to stay. Hotels won't be crowded so you can just find something as you pull in or at worst one night ahead of time.

Pwannabe

Amazing trip and congrats. Did you ever get non-welcoming comments about the car or had to worry about overnight parking in places that are not as used to seeing 911s?

mjaf

I have just received positive comments, although I should mention that I have not used it as a daily driver. One of the big motivations to move to SF for me was the good weather to daily the C2S and also the fact that it does not look as a wow-look-at-that-fancy-car to general public. I really enjoy driving it, but you are right, in some towns/neighborhoods it might make you uncomfortable driving/parking your Porsche, which takes away all the fun.

What city are you in and do you have issues with your negative comments? Have you feared safety of your car in daily basis?

GoldenGorilla

We are starting to see some snow in Colorado, but rare still at this point. Keep an eye on the weather. You won't have fun on summer tires on snow. I'll be switching to my winter wheels within the next couple weeks, but I daily drive my C4S in the Denver area.

Don't drive I-80 to Salt Lake City. Its extremely boring. I-70 is much more scenic and almost no difference in time where you're going. If you take I-70, continue on US 50 and make sure to stop in Baker, NV at Great Basin National Park. Stargazer Motel has an great restaurant called Kerouacs. Seriously. The owners are very cool and the food and cocktails are excellent. It is about 9.5 hours from Denver to Baker.

Your call on whether to go through South Lake Tahoe or Truckee, but I prefer the route from South Lake to San Fransisco on US 50. A very pretty and low stress drive compared to I-80 Donner Pass, but maybe a bit slower. You can stay in Carson, NV for much cheaper, but the lake is really pretty, if they're footing the bill.

Shame you can't deviate more, because this is an amazing part of the country, but this route will give you a really cool experience of the western US. Moab would be worth a stop on your own dime on the way over. I know it is over 300 miles from Denver and I'm pretty sure it is 300 miles to Baker.

Great Basin NP

GoldenGorilla

Missed your updated route, but it sounds like you are on the right track.

There is major construction on I-70 in east-central Denver and morning traffic is kinda rough. It will save you some headaches to start you day past the construction. Not sure where you are going to meet family, but you probably want to either stay downtown or west of Denver. Table mountain inn in Golden is kinda cool, and has a parking garage. Have a barmen pilsner while you are there. There is a story behind it, but the short version is it a Coors family recipe with very limited availability. Otherwise there is a Marriott and lots of newer chain options in an area called Denver West, which will put you clear of morning traffic. Downtown Denver, Brown Palace is a nice historic hotel and there are the usual chains. The Hyatt by the convention center has outstanding view and is very nice with a secure garage. I stayed down there a couple times last year because I stay in Hyatt properties when I travel for my work.

sc532j

I did Minneapolis to San Francisco on October 30th last year - amazing experience, especially Highway 6 from Highway 375, Warm Springs to Tonopah. Weather was good all the way, although not sure if I just got lucky, there was no snow west of Denver, sunny skies, went Denver to Grand Junction. Not sure if you are open to taking Tioga Pass through Yosemite but it is worth the detour rather than Donner Pass / highway 80. US-80 is just a commute / truck route and no fun for driving. Check if it is open and historical closing dates.

JustSlummin47

"V" and I started doing cross country's in 2007 in the Z06 from Long Island to the Black Hills (Corvette Treffen??), with plenty of stops in between. ("Three weeks in a Corvette with your wife? How did that go?") It went fine, BTW. We did that trip without booking rooms. We drove until late afternoon and ALWAYS found something.
Second time (2010), same trip plus an IPad, I think. We would pull over at the last gas/rest stop of the day and book a room electronically for later on and a hundred miles or so ahead.
Never missed and always got a great rate.
There are many great suggestions on the replies above. If you want to feel really adventurous and "retro", buy a big ole' 12"x15" Hagstroms Map of the US and some highlighters and plot your trip. Way more engaging than watching a little screen, while opening up so many more options to explore. I have a Technicolor record of motorbike, P-car and C-car trips of about thirty years.
Try to add the Beartooth Pass to you route if the weather holds up.
Just my 2c.....