Flying coast to coast tips and advice.

First and foremost, do not push how many hours a day you will be flying! Saving money is great but fatigue creates conditions similar to intoxication. When I am flying long distances on part 91 regs, I limit myself to 8-9 hours a day. Saving $100 bucks on a hotel is great, unless you kill yourself doing it. Okay, now onto more fun tips. Take time to enjoy the trip and don't be scared to borrow the crew car to check out the local attractions. Most people never get to do a trip like this so make the most of it. When you are planning the trip, do not treat it as one big long flight. Treat it as many small trips. This makes it more manageable and in line with the training you probably received. Besides that what it really is, a bunch of small cross countries strung together.
As for oxygen, it is not a bad idea but not necessary. Especially if you are VFR. It will take some more planning but it is possible to make it coast to coast without oxygen. If you do bring oxygen bottles, make sure you can get it filled when you need it. How long it takes to go across and back will depend on your route and weather. 3-4 days each way is probably a good ball park answer to go from one coast to another. With two pilots, you can do it faster but then you will miss out on a lot of the fun. Be safe, have fun, and take TONS of pictures!

It sounds like you haven't done much XC before, which is OK, but you'll probably want to play it safer than if you did.

I had a 150 before I picked up the Mooney and I flew it everywhere. I'd knock out 900 nautical miles in a day. That's like 4-5 fuel stops and 14-16 hours depending on winds. Lots of ups and downs, lots of bouncing around, no autopilot. It can be done. I've had friends who have done further, but they stretch their fuel reserves more thinly than I care to. I've encountered too many airports that ran out of fuel or the CC machine was busted. Always carry about 2 tanks of gas in cash on a long trip like this.

Your personal endurance will depend on many factors. A friend just brought a bird back from CA to TX up at 11.5. All of them got hypoxia and O2 sickness. They also had a 7 hour endurance shooting at 150kts. You don't realize how taxing multiple stops are until you do a lot of them. Climb-outs are tiring, especially in the heat loaded up. Chop is tiring. 1-2 hours on the $100 burger is one thing, but after being up at a reduced O2 level for a long time, and only coming down briefly having to muscle the plane around, get gas, check everything, fire up, and do it again. You get the point.

While O2 might be a nice thing to have, it would definitely push your budget. I picked up a big bottle on ebay, but getting it filled on the fly will run you a lot of money when it runs out. FBOs know you're cornered and reflect it in the price. The equipment that can save your O2 will cost you 5-6 FBO O2 refills, times two for your copilot.

Is the goal "A to B to A" as quickly as possible or are you on the leisurely schedule? Do you have funds for when (not if) you have a mechanical issue? Do you have a plan for when a front comes through and shuts your pathway down for a day or two, especially in the mountains.

A number of small airports will let you camp on the field with a tent. If you do your due diligence you can schedule your stops to land at uncontrolled airports with small pilot's lounges that have showers and couches that open with a CTAF code. We have many you'd never expect here in Texas. You'll have to do a lot of calling and some you just find by accident. The amenities for lack of a better word are rarely listed.

Another option is looking at private grass fields. Call the owner and tell them what you're up to. A lot of them love this kinda stuff and might be welcoming to you. An Archer should be able to get in and out of most 2-3k' strips I think.

[This] (http://www.vintageflying.com/vintageflying%20photos%202013.htm) guy flies his cub coast to coast or similar pretty much every year, but his budget and pacing seem different than yours, but he might be worth reaching out to.

I think you have much more research to do and many decisions to make. Until those are outlined here, we'll all be shooting in the dark trying to give you advice.

Looks like 2500-2700 miles each way. If you pushed it I bet you could do one coast to the other in 2 long 3 tolerable days. I'd plan for 4-5. 6-7 would be more enjoyable though. You're passing through a lot of cool territory. I'd schedule 2-2.5 weeks for there and back.

One suggestion I have is BRING ME