Coachella - Austin - New Orleans = Musical Road Trip!

Hi Jamie!

I am from Western Australia (Perth) and myself and a friend are coming over to the states in April – we are flying into LA, heading out to Coachella for the music festival, then on to Vegas. From Vegas we wanted to hire a car and head on a road trip over to New Orleans. We are SO excited about the whole thing that I think we may be being a bit ambitious in terms of how much we can do in the time we have! I have done heaps of researching on the web but differing opinions abound of course – so maybe you can help!!

We were thinking about heading from Vegas over to see a bit of the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, then head via Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon way…then into New Mexico (Santa Fe maybe, then down to Almorgordo? Not sure where would be good to go here – advice appreciated!). From there we would head across to Austin, then across to New Orleans. We are both serious music lovers hence wanting to include both these places!

So, the downside is we will leave Vegas on the 20th of April and ideally want to be in New Orleans by the 26th at the latest in order to spend a couple of days in NO before flying back to LA on the 28th – please tell us if this is a totally crazy idea?? Obviously we don’t want to spend all day every day in the car, and would like to stop off at some interesting places!

The more we think about it the more overwhelmed we get and have now lost all sense of what is realistically achievable – so please help!! Any suggestions or recommendations you could give would be AWESOME.

Cheers!
Kate
>>

Hi Kate ! --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- I hope there's still time for me to help with your road trip!

My first impression is that it could be better (more fun!) for you to get a car and do a nice road trip around the beautiful environs of Las Vegas (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, Santa Fe even). This is a great part of the country to travel around, and the weather is getting nicer every day.

However the thing about traveling around Texas is just how darn BIG it is -- the drive from Santa Fe to Austin is very long (around 700 miles, which is more than a very full day on the road). Though driving to Austin would bring you thru New Braunfels, TX, which has a great old music hall ( http://www.gruenehall.com/april2011.html )

And then to head on from Austin to to New Orleans is another 500 miles, each way.

So I think, with less than a week for all this, you need to make a choice between New Orleans and Austin -- then again, you could do your Las Vegas loop, then hop a flight to Austin, then another to New Orleans, and do it all. Just don't do it all by road -- or you will end spending too much time in the car.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

(in case you're wondering, I sent this message months ago but didn't post until after the trip...)