How much time do you plan here, and do you already have any “must see” places in mind? If you have 2 weeks, and you want to see New York City and Washington DC, you will not have time to do a drive down the west coast! I’m in Northern California and can attest that the west coast is incredibly beautiful, and the cities (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, San Diego are fascinating and unique). But the Rocky Mountain West is also spectacular, with incredible national parks like Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. But unless you are going to spend 6 weeks or so here, you can’t “do it all” - you are going to have to make some compromises, especially if you plan on driving rather than flying once you are here.