Route back to California?

I'm in the process of ordering a X1 for PDC delivery - hopefully sometime in March. Any recommended routes to get back to CA? I live in the Bay Area but probably going to try to stop in Phoenix to visit family on the way, so southern routes seem more likely. What type of weather related issues should I be expecting? I'm thinking 700+ miles a day should be ok. My wife thinks driving across the country is insane and my dad jumped at the chance to go with me. He loves to drive, so I could see hitting more that 700 miles a day.

That's awesome! What about the famous Route 66. You can head north from PCD, run through North Carolina towards the Tail of the Dragon, then head west through Tennessee towards Missouri where you can catch Route 66 and take it all the way to California.

That would be a killer road trip.

Originally Posted by ddk632

That's awesome! What about the famous Route 66. You can head north from PCD, run through North Carolina towards the Tail of the Dragon, then head west through Tennessee towards Missouri where you can catch Route 66 and take it all the way to California.

That would be a killer road trip.

My wife and I thought we would drive route 66 last summer but when I started studying it I found...well, there is no route 66. It was decommissioned when I-40 was put into service and the existing roads were turned into county and state roads. You can get maps of the old route 66 but it's not called route 66 anymore.
Having said that the most direct route is to take I-40 to LA then "the 5" to the bay area.

Very interesting. But you can still drive those county roads can't you? That's a bummer. I'd still drive the old Route 66 regardless of what they call it now, as that's the "great American road trip" in a sense.

However, if the goal is get back as fast as possible, then I-40 seems most plausible. And to be fair, I've driven parts of I-40 in North Carolina as well as from Sedona, AZ back to Southern California, and it's actually quite nice and scenic and even slighly curvy (more curvy at ludicrous speeds) in its own right in those areas.

Btw, I am sure you've driven the I-5 from Bay Area to LA, but for those who haven't, it's the most boring goddamn stretch of 5 hours of freeeway driving one can imagine. I would take the 101 as its a much more pleasant and scenic drive, still plenty fast compared to taking PCH through Monterrey.

In most cases you can still drive the old road. You'll need the map, though. In some cases the old road is I-40.

Originally Posted by ddk632

Btw, I am sure you've driven the I-5 from Bay Area to LA, but for those who haven't, it's the most boring goddamn stretch of 5 hours of freeeway driving one can imagine. I would take the 101 as its a much more pleasant and scenic drive, still plenty fast compared to taking PCH through Monterrey.

Originally Posted by ddk632

Very interesting.

Btw, I am sure you've driven the I-5 from Bay Area to LA, but for those who haven't, it's the most boring goddamn stretch of 5 hours of freeeway driving one can imagine. I would take the 101 as its a much more pleasant and scenic drive, still plenty fast compared to taking PCH through Monterrey.

After living in CA for something like 49 years, there is no comparison that I-10 between San Antonio and El Paso (533 miles) is 10x more boring than I-5 from Lebec to Las Banos, a distance of 194 miles. Fortunately, the speed limit is 80 mph part of the way.

Originally Posted by Dave 330i

After living in CA for something like 49 years, there is no comparison that I-10 between San Antonio and El Paso (533 miles) is 10x more boring than I-5 from Lebec to Las Banos, a distance of 194 miles. Fortunately, the speed limit is 80 mph part of the way.

Haha, I have driven that stretch of I-10 in Texas and they are certainly comparable. However, I now live in Florida and if we were to get into a death match of the boring freeways, I just might have the upper hand

One of my favorite drives into California was actually the I-40 from Flagstaff, Arizona, until you hit the I-15. I also really enjoy driving stretches of I-40 in North Carolina, it's beautiful up there. Going back in May as I actually won a free one day driving school after my PCD in January!

Looking at doing I-20 to I-10. Not sure if better to go through Texas and down to the border through Tuscon to Phoenix or to go through OK, Albuquerque, Flagstaff to Phoenix. Car is in 112 right now, so hopefully starting production soon.

Originally Posted by jblackburn

I'm in the process of ordering a X1 for PDC delivery - hopefully sometime in March. Any recommended routes to get back to CA? I live in the Bay Area but probably going to try to stop in Phoenix to visit family on the way, so southern routes seem more likely. What type of weather related issues should I be expecting? I'm thinking 700+ miles a day should be ok. My wife thinks driving across the country is insane and my dad jumped at the chance to go with me. He loves to drive, so I could see hitting more that 700 miles a day.

We did PCD in October We took our time 12 days. Lots of sightseeing. We did the southern route. First night in Atlanta. We then drove through Georgia , Alabama then Florida & stayed in Pensacola day 2. Met my cousin's family for dinner. I drove all 3,200 back to San Diego. My lovely wife navigated ! Our next stop was New Orleans for 4 days Then Nawlins to HOUSTON overnight. Houston to Norman Oklahoma. That was 400 miles ! Our longest day was Norman to Santa Fe , New Mexico. About 11 hours & 600 miles. Stayed in Santa Fe 2days. A beautiful city to shop & dine & explore. Albuquerque for one night. Our last stop was Albuquerque to Scottsdale . My wife & I visited friends relatives there. Last day was across the desert to San Diego. We stayed on mainly the interstates. I think 65 & 85 through Georgia & Alabama. Then 10 across Mississippi, Louisiana & Texas. We drove 40 from Norman Oklahoma to Santa Fe. It was a wonderful experience. Check one off "The Bucket List". You & your Dad will have a fabulous time. The PCD Experience is Awesome ! Spend some time in Greenville Cute Southern Town. ! Enjoy your new X1.

I've made the trip from Los Angles to Bay Area many times on both the 5 and up 101. I'll probably take the 5 on this trip since it will be near the end. I'm tentatively scheduled for March 21st pdc. X1 is currently sitting at port waiting for the boat.

Well, it is getting a lot closer. I've booked the flights - coming in on the later side - 11:25PM arrival time. I sent off my travel information to the PDC just a few minutes ago. The car is already at the PDC - made it at least a week ago. The ship carrying it (Georgia Highway) didn't have the super cool GPS, so I only saw one weather checkin during the crossing.

Well, if you are going by way of Phoenix, it's pretty much settled that you will take I-10 most of the way. You can see New Oleans, drop by to see me in Houston, San Antonio, Van Horn, maybe Bend Nat Park, El Paso, Las Cruces, maybe Santa Fe, Tuscon, Phoenix, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Sequoia Nat Park, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Mammoth, Lake Tahoe, Placerville, Sacramento, and to the Bay Area.

I don't know I'd go out of my way to pick up I-10 so soon unless the intent was to hit some of the places Dave mentions. Your quickest route to Phoenix is probably I-85 to Atlanta, then take I-20 westbound, its terminus is with I-10 in western Texas. It's still fairly southern and doesn't go through much in the way of mountains, so weather shouldn't be an issue.

That said, Dave's route probably has more sight-seeing opportunities. I-20's major cities are Atlanta, Dallas, and maybe Shreveport and Birmingham depending on how major you want to think of major. It depends, I suppose, on how many days you have to to get to Phoenix and what you want to see on the way through.

I've driven both routes, though, and 700 miles a day's actually not too painful on either route: you pick up three hours from time zone changes on the way through, so there's a bit of extra daylight to work with. You won't get to see much that you can't see from the driver's seat of the car as you cruise by at 70ish miles an hour, but it's certainly do-able. And much easier than going the other direction.

I made it back from PDC yesterday. We had a great time - looking forward to going back there again. My trip computer was reset during the orientation. When I got home:
45:27hr
2795mls
28.0 mpg
64.6mph

The route I ended up taking:

Interstate 85 to Atlanta.
Interstate 20 from Atlanta to around Pecos, TX.
Interstate 10 to HWY 210 near Redlands, CA
Interstate 5 to HWY 152
HWY 101 to HWY 85.
HWY 17 to home.

Left around 4PM (3/21) from the BMW Museum and headed to Tuscaloosa, AL. About 350 miles.
Left around 6AM (3/22) from Super 8 in Tuscaloosa and headed to Odessa, TX. About 940 miles. (It started raining when getting coffee before we left Tuscaloosa). Rain finally stopped around Dallas. This was a long day.
Left around 7AM (3/23) from Holiday Inn Express and headed to my brother's place in Phoenix. About 730 miles. (but 2 hours of time change advantage)
3/24 - hung out in PHX. Some in-town driving.
3/25 - left around 5AM to get to Surprise, AZ to get windows tinted. Had breakfast and got to the tinter's place at 6:30. Used All Pro Window tint. Dave had done an excellent job on my brothers 535 in January. He did a great job on the X1. Left the tinter's around 8:45 or so. Got home around 9PM.

I'll do a more detailed trip report in the future.

Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for the follow up.