Help me plan a 10K trip

[NWI_Irish96]

At this point this trip is theoretical and far from reality, but I would like your help in planning a trip with the following constraints:

1) The trip begins and ends at the intersection of I-64 and I-65 in Louisville, KY.

2) The length of the trip is as close as possible to 10,000 miles (maximum variance of +/- 500 miles)

3) The trip route consists entirely of US interstate highways, with as little of it as possible on 3di interstates.

4) The trip route never backtracks nor crosses itself

5) The trip route minimizes the use of interstate segments I have already clinched:
    http://cmap.m-plex.com/stat/system.php?u=cabiness42&sys=usai&du=mi&sort=ra

[agentsteel53]

what are you attempting to do exactly?  the "precisely 10000" and "must not cross itself" constraints are quite odd, to say the least!

[NE2]

Make your way up to the I-87/587 interchange and go around and around the roundabout. You'll neither backtrack nor cross your path.

[agentsteel53]

Make your way up to the I-87/587 interchange and go around and around the roundabout. You'll neither backtrack nor cross your path.

would this work for any segment where you arrive and depart from the same side of the freeway?  

for example, in southern California.  start on I-5 in San Diego.  note 805 coming in, but stay to the left.  go to Los Angeles.  take 101.  

do a bunch of things.  somehow end up on 805 northbound in San Diego.  come into the 5 merge on 805.  try not to get over too many lanes.

at 5/101 split, take 5.

congratulations, you have managed to not cross your own path or backtrack.

[NWI_Irish96]

OK, I guess I should be more specific than "never backtracking" by saying that I don't want to cover any stretch of interstate more than once, in the opposite or same direction. 

The purpose of the route "not crossing itself" is that it would make it easier for someone to follow my progress on a map. 

[hbelkins]

General boundaries would be I-65 south to I-10, west to I-5, north to I-90, east to I-94, east to I-75, south to I-90, east to I-95, south to I-75, north to I-64, west to Spaghetti Junction. Tweak as needed.   

[2Co5_14]

Here's a possible route that totals almost exactly 10,000 miles, only has one short 3di, and contains only a small proportion of your clinched interstates:

I-64 W to St Louis, I-55 S to Jackson, I-20 W to Dallas, I-35E N to Denton TX, I-35 N to Kansas City, I-29 N to Council Bluffs (Google says sections might be closed), I-80 W to Echo UT, I-84 W to Odgen, I-15 N to Butte, I-90 W to Ellensburg WA, I-82 S to Hermiston OR, I-84 W to Portland, I-5 S to San Diego, I-8 E to Casa Grande, I-10 E to Slidell LA, I-59 N to Wildwood GA, I-24 E to Chattanooga, I-75 N to Knoxville, I-40 E to Asheville, I-26 E to Columbia, I-20 E to Florence SC, I-95 N to Baltimore, I-695 N to Towson MD, I-83 N to Harrisburg, I-81 N to Scranton, I-84 E to Sturbridge MA, I-90 E to Boston, I-93 N to St Johnsbury VT, I-91 S to Springfield, I-90 W to Cleveland, I-71 S to Louisville (of course this route could be reversed.)

Obviously, to travel that far and stay within the US, you'll need to meander around a fair amount. Hopefully you'll take some time to enjoy the attractions along the way and take pictures of more than just road signs!  

[Sykotyk]

At this point this trip is theoretical and far from reality, but I would like your help in planning a trip with the following constraints:

1) The trip begins and ends at the intersection of I-64 and I-65 in Louisville, KY.

2) The length of the trip is as close as possible to 10,000 miles (maximum variance of +/- 500 miles)

3) The trip route consists entirely of US interstate highways, with as little of it as possible on 3di interstates.

4) The trip route never backtracks nor crosses itself

5) The trip route minimizes the use of interstate segments I have already clinched:
    http://cmap.m-plex.com/stat/system.php?u=cabiness42&sys=usai&du=mi&sort=ra

http://www.sykotyk.com/supertrip/

10,473 miles. I never technically crossed my route, although I did drive both directions on US22 from Steubenville to Pittsburgh. Had I not stopped at home, I would've just stayed I-71 to I-271 to I-90.

It's a rough idea of the shortest ways in a circuitous route to drive to all 48 states in about 10,000 miles.

[oscar]

At this point this trip is theoretical and far from reality, but I would like your help in planning a trip with the following constraints:

1) The trip begins and ends at the intersection of I-64 and I-65 in Louisville, KY.

2) The length of the trip is as close as possible to 10,000 miles (maximum variance of +/- 500 miles)

3) The trip route consists entirely of US interstate highways, with as little of it as possible on 3di interstates.

4) The trip route never backtracks nor crosses itself

5) The trip route minimizes the use of interstate segments I have already clinched:
    http://cmap.m-plex.com/stat/system.php?u=cabiness42&sys=usai&du=mi&sort=ra

http://www.sykotyk.com/supertrip/

10,473 miles. I never technically crossed my route, although I did drive both directions on US22 from Steubenville to Pittsburgh. Had I not stopped at home, I would've just stayed I-71 to I-271 to I-90.

It's a rough idea of the shortest ways in a circuitous route to drive to all 48 states in about 10,000 miles.

See also http://www.barrystiefel.com/50_states_in_a_weeks_vacation/50_states_in_a_weeks_vacation.htm, in which he covered all the lower-48 states in eight days of driving round-trip from San Jose.  Stiefel also went to 21 states in one day on a legendary separate trip, recounted elsewhere on his website.   

Of course, he covered much less than 10,000 miles, did some backtracking, and went nowhere near Louisville KY (which given the foulups from the closure of the Sherman Minton bridge, sounds like a good idea for anyone who doesn't live there).

[hbelkins]

I like to drive as little interstate as possible, unless I am trying to get to someplace that I've been before in a hurry or have the express purpose of clinching an interstate.

[SteveG1988]

I have worked out your route using google maps, there is no crossing of the roads, and no backtracking other than heading up to a state and down on another road.

9,988 Mi.


http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Butchertown+,+Louisville,+KY&daddr=37.52527,-77.42854+to:New+Jersey+Turnpike+Extension+to:Seattle+WA+to:san+an,+TX+to:30.32155,-92.0337+to:33.20352,-97.15031+to:Sioux+Falls,+Minnehaha,+South+Dakota+to:43.68462,-93.32948+to:34.75595,-92.26104+to:32.09868,-81.32086+to:33.28456,-80.56253+to:34.05722,-83.99223+to:36.05961,-86.67916+to:Butchertown+,+Louisville,+KY&hl=en&ll=35.353216,-84.874878&spn=1.19621,1.766052&sll=33.838483,-83.095093&sspn=2.43637,3.532104&geocode=FVHDRwIdNeTj-ilLVdZj4HJpiDHSeeP14qlqxw%3BFRaXPAIdxIhi-ynbLsm8HBGxiTG2hJdz_Ohrvw%3BFZLVYwIddqiL-w%3BFcJp1gIdWVy1-ClVM-iTLBCQVDGa1URpRmUlEA%3BFaM8wQEd8x8h-iFyiX9tdbeoxSmpds6fW19chjEftAVpq4F6Qg%3BFY6rzgEdXK2D-ikr3l2ce5okhjETIrTw0N5_xA%3BFUCl-gEdmpo1-ikjI3_7RMpNhjF46JEOmSYuYQ%3BFReFmAIdWXg8-inXrL3gmLSOhzHP_LKoOv-V3g%3BFQyTmgIduOdv-il5MT3W8jPxhzFoTB0AgLS4_w%3BFW5VEgIdUDWA-imV8a1SfrzShzEgXVlZZrzyDQ%3BFXjJ6QEdZCQn-yl37490zKf7iDF6dVHN0szgUA%3BFdDh-wEdnrYy-yn9tv0UQNv-iDF08zSiO2WU3w%3BFQSsBwIdWmH--inPwERbSZT1iDGXDNQ1HgDlMw%3BFdo5JgIdiGHV-inh0OVBBW5kiDHyA1L96E2QJw%3BFVHDRwIdNeTj-ilLVdZj4HJpiDHSeeP14qlqxw&vpsrc=6&mra=dpe&mrsp=12&sz=8&via=1,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13&t=h&z=9