# Topics > Planning Summer RoadTrips >  summer basketball game

## carbone22

Hey guys im planning on travelling to los angeles california from niagara falls canada to go watch a summer league basketball with some of the top nba players playing in it admission is free. I already checked the website. I will be driving a 2006 honda element that has just over 95000km with 3 other friends. i dont have to worry about hotels for at least half way of the road trip becasue my cousin has space in his condo in chicago and my aunt in wichita kansas is letting me and my friends crash at her place. me and my friends dont want to spend anytime site seeing. our stops involve. getting gas which is an obvious, food, and maybe a mall or two. we would book a hotel in los angeles for 4 or 5 days we are trying to time it so that when we arrive in los angelas we arrive in the morning so we can check into the hotel. sleep for a couple of hours then go and watch the games. last time i planned a road trip i didnt have a purpose lol but this time the purpose is to watch a basketball game and relax on the beach. money is not an issue

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## AZBuck

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Your trip starts out OK. On your first day, you just need to cover a relatively standard 550 miles (880 km). But then already on Day 2, your trying the (nearly) impossible by attempting to cover 700 (1100 km) miles in a single day. That is more than anyone can drive safely. Note that having multiple drivers does not let you cover ground faster. Quite the opposite in fact, as every stop for gas food, or malls will take longer than with just one or two people and, like a convoy, you can only get through a stop as fast as your slowest member, Everyone else will be left to wait, stew, and resent. You may think that you can drive through the night, thus saving time, but there is no way, *no way*, that anybody is going to get any useful sleep with four adults (plus luggage and other gear) crammed into a Honda Element. Also, think for just a second about what you are asking of your cousin and aunt. You are going to descend on them with three people they've never met, use up their hot water taking showers, almost immediately go to bed, take off very early the next morning (after sponging four breakfasts?), and leave them a bunch of dirty towels, linens, and dishes. Do you really think 15 minutes or half an hour of your company is worth that price to them? The final leg of your journey from Wichita to Los Angeles is over 1400 miles (2250 km) or three days of safe driving. That also puts you in L.A. on the evening of the 5th day of your journey. That's as soon as you can reasonably expect to be there. Trying to do it in less time is a recipe for a terrible and terribly unsafe trip.

AZBuck

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## glc

Welcome!

You don't even want to try to get into LA in the morning - the traffic is absolutely awful.  Plan on getting there the evening before.

First day - Niagara Falls to Chicago is about a 10 hour drive.  Take 403/401/402 and cross the border at Sarnia.  Take I-69 to I-94 into Chicago.

Second day - Chicago to Wichita is a lot longer drive than we recommend you try to drive in 1 day, but you could do it in about 14 hours following "speed run" procedures.  Take I-88 to I-80 to Des Moines, then I-35 to Wichita.

It will then take you 2 very long days - again about 14 hours - following speed run procedures to get to LA, with an overnight in Albuquerque.  Take I-35 to I-40 to I-15 to I-210 or I-10.

Please note that this should really be a 5 day drive, but with you wanting to stop in Chicago and Wichita - neither of which are along the fastest route - you could do it in 4.  Don't even try to make any diversions such as going to a mall.  You have to look at this drive like a job, not something fun - because keeping that kind of pace is decidedly NOT fun.

You WILL need a full night and part of the next day in LA to recover from the drive.

If money is not an issue, why can't you take your time and enjoy some sightseeing?

EDIT:  Buck makes some very good points - I was only making my suggestions based around your desired stops and my sense that you were trying to get out there quickly with a minimum of hotel use.

A lot more sensible way of doing this is take 5 days and the following routes:

Day 1 - same as above, but overnight in Benton Harbor MI.
Day 2 - I-94 to I-80, overnight in Omaha NE.
Day 3 - I-80 to I-76, overnight in Fort Morgan CO.
Day 4 - I-76 to I-70, overnight in Richfield UT.
Day 5 - I-70 to I-15 to LA as per above.

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## carbone22

AZ Buck and GLC thats great help and AZ buck my aunt and uncle are well off and becaase of the weather we wouldnt be taking hot showers. my aunt and uncle met my 3 friends when they came to watch us play basketball and after the gaem when we ate food at my grandmas. we would clean up after ourselves and good point i think staying a day would be good for us and give us time to rest. my aunt and uncle wouldnt have a problem with that my friends are well behaved. GLC we would be saving money staying at my relatives for free

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## carbone22

and glc i just want to spend more time in LA it wouldnt be inconvient for us site seeing between kansas and LA i would have to look at some intersting tourist attractions what comes to your mind

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## carbone22

whats an adventurous route to take from wichita kansas to los angeles califronia. Involving some desert, mountains, valleys , lakes /rivers

*Mod note]* _Please do not start other threads regarding this trip._

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## Southwest Dave

How long are you planning on taking to get to LA from Wichita ?  You have a number of options, one would be to head across Southern Colorado, perhaps 160 over Wolf creek pass to Pagosa Springs and on towards the Four corners and through Monument valley and possibly the Grand canyon.

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## carbone22

two days southwest dave i was planning on one day but two is more reasonable

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## Midwest Michael

As has already been stated repeatedly, Your need *THREE* days to do this safely. And that's if you just take the direct interstate route.

Two days for a drive that's more than 1400 miles is not in any sense of the word "reasonable."

I'm sorry, but I'm also confused about your repeated contradictions. On one hand you say that money is not an issue and you want to get to LA as fast as possible, but on the other hand you've rejected the advice on how to get to LA as fast as possible, because you want to save money by staying at relatives.

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## carbone22

maybe i can ask my friends if they are intersted in taking their time to site see on the way back home  so if they agree to that.. what if me and my friends stay at the half way point between wichita and los angelas is that even possibel to do in 2days and a bit

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## Midwest Michael

Halfway requires more than 700 miles of driving in back to back days, being on the road for more than 14 hours on each of those days.

No. You can not safely "stay at the halfway point" and make this driving in 2 days. Period.  

This is not a discussion about "taking your time" or "seeing things along the way" We're talking about the minimum amounts of time you need to safely complete this drive - doing nothing but driving - and for that you need 2 overnight stops. Anything less will be putting your lives and the lives of everyone else on the road in danger.

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## Southwest Dave

If you stuck to Interstate you could make it to near Grants NM and perhaps Barstow and finish the short drive next day. I wouldn't recommend it and would look at perhaps spending a night in Albuquerque and Lake Havasu City and continue on from there on day three.  Don't expect to sight see or make it 'fun', it will be a gruelling 2.5 days in the car. You really are pushing the limits though and as has been repeatedly mentioned, 3 days would be the minimum we would recommend and thats not going to change.

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## carbone22

is it possible to drive from rockford illinois to wichita kansas in roughly 9hrs?

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## carbone22

after im visting rockford il i plan on surprising my cousin who lives in wichita. whats the fastest time from rockford to wichita???


Moderator Note: Merged Threads Again. See Note Below.

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## DonnaR57

Via the shortest distance and the shortest time, it's still 680 miles. That's going to be at least 14 hours on the road, with stops for food, bathroom, snacks and a break.  That's a little long for one day.  You might think about breaking it up into 2 shorter days. Perhaps drive from Rockford to about Columbia, MO (via I-39, I-55, to I-270, to I-70).  Then the next day, go from Columbia, MO to Wichita (via I-70 to I-35). BTW, I-35 is a turnpike but it's NOT very expensive.  


Donna

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## Midwest Michael

Traveling to Wichita is on the very upper limit of what you can safely do in one day, but there's no possible way you could do it in 9 hours.

The shortest/fastest route would be to take I-88 to the Quad Cities, I-80 to Des Moines, and then down I-35. That is 680 miles, which in an all out sprint is going to take you 12-13 hours when you factor in just the bare minimum of stops. (9 hours would require an average speed of more than 75 mph, to do that in real world conditions would require cruising speeds in the triple digits!)

This is a very long day on the road, and you should plan to get a lot of rest before you leave, and expect to be pretty exhausted when you arrive and even the next day. If you had to get back on the road and drive again the next day, it really would be too far to travel.

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## Midwest Michael

I have once again merged your threads back together. You have already been asked once not to create multiple threads about this trip. If we have to ask again, you may lose your ability to post.

And now noting that this trip is a part of a multi-day trip, it really is too far to travel, unless you are planning to spend a couple days both in the Chicago/Rockford area and a couple days "surprising" your cousin.

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## carbone22

i dont know how im merging the threads im clicking start new thread

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## Midwest Michael

Yes, you are starting new threads, which you have now repeatedly been told not to do.

Its the moderators who have been merging them back together. However, if we have to continue to do so, we will be revoking your ability to create any posts at all.

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## carbone22

midwest michael im in rockford august 4th-8th then im leaving the morning of the 8th so i guess it would be smart of me and my friends to drive 6hr-7hrs find a hotel then drive the rest the next day?

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## carbone22

ok i see were i messed up i apologize for that

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## Midwest Michael

> midwest michael im in rockford august 4th-8th then im leaving the morning of the 8th so i guess it would be smart of me and my friends to drive 6hr-7hrs find a hotel then drive the rest the next day?


You can drive more than 6-7 hours, but trying to do more than 10-12 is what becomes problematic. 

As was stated, getting to wichita is going to be in the 12-14 range. You can do that in a very long day, but then don't plan on doing another long day in the car the next day.

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## carbone22

ok thanks for the help and is it okay to drive 5mph over the speed. for example if the speed limits 75mph is it ok to do 80mph

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## Midwest Michael

It would be fairly unlikely to be stopped for doing 80 in a 75, but its not impossible. Doing just 1 mph over is all an officer needs to write a ticket that will hold up, the more over the limit you are, the more likely you are to get stopped.

Keep in mind the minimum travel time estimates you've been given already expect that you will be doing the speed limit or slightly above. Even if you set your cruise at 80 mph, by the time you factor in basic stops, your overall average for the day will be 60 mph or less. 

Also note, that the faster you go, the worse your gas mileage will be which means more time stopped to refuel. I'll typically find that if I'm going 80, I'll get 3-4 mpg less than if I spend most of the tank doing 70.

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## glc

Yes, you can drive from Rockford to Wichita in one day, fastest route is what Michael has posted.  Leave Rockford no later than 6am and you will arrive in time for a late dinner.  If you do this, please do NOT plan on doing another long drive the next day.

I set my cruise control at 3 or 4 mph over the limit and verify the speed with a GPS.

Stop and switch drivers every 3 hours and make sure at least one passenger stays awake, preferably the one in the front seat.

Do not try to go through downtown Kansas City, you will be getting there in rush hour.  Take I-435 around the east and south side to rejoin I-35.

Your toll on I-88 will be $1.90 and on the Kansas Turnpike from Emporia to Wichita will be approximately $4.00, depending on which exit you use.

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