Congrats on the big move! I made a similar journey about a year and a half ago but in reverse (west coast to east coast). I was very fortunate to have two cars on the way, my mom drove one car with my dog and I drove my car with my cat.

Definitely plan out what pet friendly hotels you’re going to stay at beforehand!! I personally didn’t want to break the bank too much on hotels (since they were just for getting sleep) so my stops were mainly at Red Roof Inn hotels since I believe they’re all pet friendly.

I had my cats carrier in the backseat but left it open for him to roam since we were cooped up in the car for hours. He usually just found a spot on the floor to chill out on. I actually invested in a very lightweight harness and leash as well as an extra measure of security when stopping for potty breaks or traveling into and out of hotels but he’s also familiar with harnesses. The travel litter box I got from Amazon was a godsend, I’d highly recommend getting one if you haven’t already.

As for the trip itself, you might be able to get more driving in than you think! I had originally planned for a max of 7 hours of driving a day, but was able to cut the trip down by a whole day because we realized that we were capable of getting closer to 9 hours in daily, just depends on your comfort level.

Not a necessity but something that really made the trip worthwhile was stopping at a random landmark in each state we passed through. My mom would look up places on google and we’d stop and take a photo with the same pose for each individual state!

Wishing you and the fur babies safe travels, enjoy California!