July 2004 we took a road trip, without a trailer, and drove from San Jose to Sandpointe, ID to Yellowstone to Aspen, CO to Las Vegas, NV to San Jose in 10 days. I don't think Enterprise car rentals likes me. That was over 4 thousand miles in 10 days.
We spent 3 days in Yellowstone. 3 days is enough time to drive all the roads. If you want to get out and walk around then you will need more time. Some people are happy with a short visit because they don't want to walk much. As a backpacker, I could spend a month there if I could afford the time.
I have driven a 1997 Dodge Dakota V6 truck from Salt Lake City, UT to San Jose. It was 777 miles and it took 10 hours (noon o 10 pm on a Sunday) *WITH NO TRAILER*. I was driving at an agressive speed most of the time.
San Jose to Elko is 550 miles. I don't like to tow faster than 60 mph. I would be able to drive that far in a day while towing my TM, but many people would not like to do that.
I love to drive. In 2002, after working all day I drove non stop (except for gas) from San Jose to Albequerque, NM, arriving at 6am. I don't consider that to be excessive, but it depends on the individual.
Unless you really like to drive, I recommend you consider a little shorter distance for one day. I'm sure others here will have more reasonable advise than I do on reasonable distances for a day.
|