Drive from Houston to San Francisco and back within a week ? Any idea ?

Hi y'all , hope everybody here doing well and safe during this panmedic .

Here is my question : any suggestion for driving from Houston to SF and back to Houston , all for within a week ?? Because I only have 1 week vacation off only . Need to do some paperwork for my family overthere , but little scared about get a flight during this time and Covid ...

So , did y'all drove long distance and how long was it ?

 

I know DFW to Tucson is about 20 hours and isn't a bad drive at all. Google maps says 28 from Houston to San Fran. Is it just you driving or will there be people you can trade off driving with?
If you don't want to drive your truck that whole way, you can probably rent something a little more economical to drive for the week.

 

Figure at least 8 hours just to get across Texas. Not sure beyond that, never been out that far from here.

If taking I10, know it's tore up and under construction from Katy pretty much all the way to Sealy. More construction a few miles west of Luling (this is a short stretch, maybe 2-3 miles), and even more in San Antonio out the west side. We were just out to Kerrville/Fredericksburg last weekend, and those construction zones won't be going away any time soon. That said, we went through during the week in off (non-rush hour) times and didn't have any major delays.

I don't think driving would be bad - I'd prefer it to flying right now myself. My guess is maybe 3 days travel each way unless you do two really long days.

Google Maps says 1 day 4 hours (so 28 hours). It also notes the route may be affected by the Bighorn fire out by Tucson, AZ.

Safe travels however you decide to get there.

 

4 weeks ago went from from Minneapolis to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and back in 3 days, 1300+ miles each way. Leaving next week for 10 days in the Coeur d'Alene/Sandpoint area.

Is fine. Get take-out food, eat as healthy as you can, no dining in. If you stay in a hotel, take your own disinfecting wipes and wipe down everything you are going to touch in the room. We checked in during off hours so no one else was around.

For gas use the diesel gloves they have at gas stations or a paper towel to touch the pump handles. We also took a big cooler and food with us, so for 2+ days we ate chicken salad for lunch and dinner.

Be careful....people are numb nuts when it comes to this. We know 2 people (not in our state) that have died from 'the Rona'.

 

Depends on you really, 2 days if you want night of rest. 2 drivers can can hit it straight, Ive done 20-30hr drives. Might want to try to hit the desert portion at night if possible.

 

where you sleeping? Personally, I'd put on an N95 mask and risk taking the plane than sleep in a motel and stop at 10 gas stations.

 

I drive long distance like this all the time.Last Week STL to South Florida and back.
It is cheap to rent a car or minivan for the week unlimited miles for a round trip and like you I would not willingly get in a plane right now!

The thing is that some are cut out for this kind of driving and others are not.
Might help if you decided in advance as you will need to be on the road for long stretches every day for sure!

Also I found that traffic was dead on the way there but then just like old times on the way back on the Holiday weekend.

People are crazy out there on the road and that is no lie!

 

It's really more about yourself personally, I've driven straight from NH to TX, WA to TX/NM twice. I do most of my driving at night, but don't push yourself, military got me used to operating for long hours with little sleep. 2 drivers makes things easier, as one can nap from time to time.

 

i would just fly..especially for business related things

 

the tundra will do fine but i'd look into a rental in case you run into issues or hit something. if you just want to take a long ride in the the tundra just check your fluids and make sure service is current. not in the tundra, i've driven to and from SF Bay Area to Chicago and SF Bay Area to Denver many times. each time with at least two drivers and we would do 10-12 hrs per day. some stretches of any long road trip can be super boring so staying awake and safe is your biggest challenge, versus tundra related. if you're lifted take a full size spare and an appropriate jack if your stock one isnt long enough.

 

I don't mean to pry, but what kind of paperwork do you have to do that requires you to be there in person? I routinely sign contracts without leaving my bedroom office. On rare occasions I may have to have a notarized seal affixed to a document, but even that can be done locally.

 

This will give you some perspective. They probably use 55mph for speed of driving, so if you like me it would be significantly less time
I would add; check traffic reports for big cities that your route takes you through. You could drive into a construction zone and get mired in bad traffic.
...I mis-read. I thought you wanted to do this in a weekend. You could easily drive this in a week, though careful planning would still be advised

 

I've gone from Dallas to LA plenty of times driving. Not a bad drive, the hardest part is getting out of Texas.

 

Never had any legal documents that couldn't be done via DocuSign or using a notary and FedEx. Why not save the miles?

 

I have done it a few times from the bay area. Probably have to do it again next month. Bay to Flagstaff, flag to amarillo, then amarillo to houston. Lots of nothing out there so make sure your tires are good including your spare. Check all your fluids before you leave and check oil/coolant at every gas stop.

 

Get into southern CA and then drive up the 395. It takes longer but the views are well worth it. Lots of mountain towns, ghost towns and camping. Some epic mountain biking if your into that stuff.

https://goo.gl/maps/NsH7u52oYpqrTKPj8

 

This. Most documents can be signed remotely or mailed, no? Especially nowadays due to corona.

And this too. I live in the Bay and I say stay as much time as possible away from here.

For most long haul drivers I’m sure it can be done but my driving limit is around 6 hours before I call it quits.

 

Did Lafayette La. to San Diego and back in a weekend with 2 drivers. Not bad when you are young.

 

yeah I’ve signed multi million dollar agreements (for work) on DocuSign, it would be a fun drive without the time pressure though

 

I've made that drive one way, round trip ? Fook that in one week, I'd be flying.

 

I 2nd this. Driving through the desert during the day this time of year is miserable.

 

Take a plane.

I have flown several times in the past few months (I have to for work). You'll never have a more relaxed flight than now. The airports and the planes are cleaner than any of the takeout restaurants we've been encouraged to keep ordering from, or from the grocery store where you get your apples that everyone has touched.

If you're platinum or better you're almost guaranteed to get a first class upgrade unless you're traveling to a hub.

You're going to make a lot of stops at a lot of rest stops, gas stations, restaurants, etc on that long drive.. In my opinion a quick flight is far less risky.

 

Just take the flight. I have had Covid, didn't even know I had it.

 

I think I would take a plane...Even if I had to wear a hazardous materials respirator the entire flight and keep my hands wet with sanitizer. I'm too old for that beating.

From Houston to San Diego, the half-way point is about El Paso (790-800 miles). Figure 12 hours from Houston to El Paso. Then, the next day, another 12+ hours from El Paso to San Diego. Now the bad news...it's a long damn way from San Diego to San Francisco. Maybe with good trip planning you can find highways on the hypotenuse of that triangle, but nice high-speed cruising interstates seem to run east-west, or north-south. See the google map:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hou...01367f076adff!2m2!1d-122.4194155!2d37.7749295