My little family (husband, me, and our pup) are packing up and leaving the west coast for the east coast. (SF to NYC/Brooklyn/Queens). Our rough plan so far is to take the most direct route: 

San Francisco, CA -> Salt Lake City, UT -> Denver, CO -> Des Moines, IA -> Chicago, IL, -> Philadelphia, PA - > Brooklyn, NY

Have you done this drive before? What are your pro tips? 

If you've traveled along our route or you live nearby, what are your recommendations? We'll be taking our time and want to see as much as we can!  

Thanks!! :) 

 While I haven't traveled across the country, I have done quite a few roadtrips in my time. Reststops will be your best friend, stop periodically at them to get out and strech your legs! I also suggest taking a cooler full of drinks and packing snacks instead of buying them everytime you stop somewhere, it'll save you lots of money! It looks like you'll be traveling through northern Ohio, I definitely recomend stopping at Lake Erie. I used to go there all the time as a kid! Cleveland is also a great place to stop, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Zoo are both great places to visit if your into that type of thing. Also it looks like you'll be close to Gettysburg PA, which is a great tourist destination and very historical and educational. Theres tons of monuments, museums, ghost tours, and in general is a very pretty town. If you stop there definitely check out the Dobin House/Springhouse tavern, its a very interesting place to eat and the house was used in the underground railroad, if you go upstairs you can actually see where they hid people in the walls and such! This is a really long reply but I hope I was helpful haha!

I literally have zero input because I don't live in the US so wouldn't even know where to start (despite reiterating rest-stops and a cooler full of drinks and taking it easy as Bandit said), but this is SO EXCITING. You'll have to keep us posted! Are you packing up entirely and moving permanently? 

I did cross country when i was younger...CA to VA beach...we did it by bus though...

If u are taking your time id stop alot and get out(we usually stop when we get to half a tank of gas)....me and my mom just did a "drive straight through to CA from TX" which is about 22 hrs and we did minimal stops because we wanted to get to where we were going....it was rough!!!

Oh, yay! You'll be coming right through Omaha! :). I'm from Omaha, so I have a lot of recommendations for here, but also for Des Moines I have some since that's my "second home".

Depending on when you're here I'd love to meet up for lunch or something! Lots of dog-friendly restuarants here :).

Omaha:

My fave restaurant is 1912, they have a rooftop bar, and the food is amazing. Block 16 is also really good (you can stalk them on Facebook for their daily specials which are crazy!), Alton Brown ranked their burger as one of his all time favorites. So is Dudley's, they have my favorite wings. Brix is cool, too. They have wine on tap, and it's all self serve, if you're into that sort of thing.

Benson Brewery has amazing food, too, and they're dog friendly on their patio (since you said you're bringing the pooch!).

I would also recommend checking out the Old Market and all the shops. You could spend all day or just a few hours looking around and eating. We also have one of the best zoos in the country if you have time for that! There's a lot more, but that's just off the top of my head!

Des Moines:

Zombie Burger and Fong's Pizza! Des Moines also has Adventureland which really is worth a stop because it's fun. If you're there during the time of year that the fair is, the Iowa State Fair is incredible. I could go on and on about the food, but if you go definitely get a Gizmo or Jennie Grinder. And a turkey leg.

Denver:

I only have had a few weekends in Denver, but Voodoo Doughnut is really good. And so is Bad Daddy's Burger Bar!

I hope that helps!

You could detour down to Arizona and see the Grand Canyon?

I have the worst anxiety in a car and just looking at that map I had to take a minute. LMFAO least year I did a cross country short way (ft. Lauderdale to Detroit) and thought I was going to die.

That being said though.

I like... third or fourth the 'pack snacks and drinks'. Non carbonated will uh. Work better than just pop. 

Pandora. Because you WILL get tired of listening to the same music after about state 3.

If possible, look at turning on one of your phones as a mobile hot spot temporarily. No free Wi-Fi at the motel? No problem.

Outdoor access hotels = pet? What pet. We don't have a pet. Granted we had three cats not a dog.

As for sight seeing... Toledo zoo is pretty cool. BUT. There's a drive thru safari in the area too that is way cooler. Why just look at a giraffe when one can stick its head RIGHT IN YOUR CAR AND YOU CAN FEED IT TREATS.

Link Tree

Thank you SO much everyone!! This is so so so helpful! I'm writing down all the recommended eats and visits. YUM!

Bandit, my husband is excited about seeing Gettysburg and I would love to see Cleveland. Sam, having several recommended eats along the way is really helpful. We're born and bred Californians, so unfortunately we don't know anything other than our own state! Chao, so helpful, thanks! One quiet dog ~ 3 cats? * covers eyes * I don't think so, haha. 

Adei - This is a semi-permanent move. :) I'm starting an MFA program in August and we'll be there for three years, maybe longer if we love it!

I'll keep everyone posted on our progress when we start in August! Thank you! 

One more thing about Gettysburg, if you plan on spending the day there consider taking the morning to visit the Land Of Little Horses. It's a farm where they have a ton of mini horses(along with other animals), that you can pet and feed. They several have programs throughout the day such as a parade of breeds and a performance show which is actually pretty cool. I think they have about 50 horses so its bassically a horse lovers dream location. They also have peacocks, goats, alpacas, pigs, and a few other different animals.

http://www.landoflittlehorses.com/

Not sure if you'd be interested but there's a wolf sanctuary in the bottom half of PA... I've heard great things about it.. but I don't know if they have specific dates for tours..

https://wolfsanctuarypa.org/

That's the only recommendation I can give since I haven't travel in the other areas lol PA is filled with a lot of horses & agriculture.. so you'll enjoy traveling through the state.. lots of trees there though..

We audibled and went to Kansas City, MO on Day 3! Looking for two stops between here and Philadelphia! Frantically googling right now haha. We don't want to drive more than 8 hours a day... Anyway, just writing to report that things are going well! We haven't stopped much to do things, mostly barreling through every state, but having loads of fun and the puppy is being so so so good. :) 

I live between Kansas City and St. Louis, so I'll wave as you pass along I-70! xD

St. Louis Zoo is free entry!
There's also the City Museum, basically every grownups dream of a jungle gym! Lots of fun!

I can second the St Louis Zoo idea. I love going and you can't beat free entry!

!! Darn, just saw this! We just passed St Louis but are en route to Lexington, KY. Sending waves from I-70!!

i would say just stop if something catches your eye.
im an almost trucker wife so know all about traveling. 
truck stops are your friend

and please dont cut a truck driver off, they cant stop fast.
also dont ride in their blind spot (it drives them crazy)

if you see one coming on an on ramp move over, and if one has a turn signal on let them over

:)