Road Trip!

[tickerrose]

I am so excited for this trip! I now think we will be taking a northern route back to New York by going North out of Colorado into eastern Wyoming, then hanging a right to South Dakota to check out Mt. Rushmore.Other than that we have no plans for our trip back.

Also, what are some other favored road trips. Route 66 is an obvious one, but what about some others.
One of my all time favs is coastal Rt. 1 in Maine. Conjected in the summer months, yes, but well worth it. I always end at Mount Desert Island for a trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia Nat. Park.

I know Route 20 goes pretty much through my home town in New York all the way to the west coast. Is there anything interesting along it's expanse?

[Google]

 

[tickerrose]

Originally Posted by justCoz

MrC just told me that Table Rock Lake is one of the best bass lakes in the country. They have a lot of pro tournaments there.

Can you tell me where this is? I can't find it, but that's not saying much. I hope my navigating skills get better before we take off! Thanks, so much, again!

[MamaC]

Tickerrose, do you have AAA? I think they still to make TripTiks - detailed maps of travel routes. You go in and tell them where you are going and add in what you want to see along the way. They take down all of this info and make up this triptik for you. It takes a while and then they call you to come in and pick it up or they mail it to you (so don't wait until the last minute!)Last time I used one was way before the computer era, now I just use mapquest, etc. But you might want to see if they (AAA) still offer this option.
I think they were free to AAA members back in the day.

I, too, live in upstate NY and am familiar with Rt.20. Sometimes it is much easier to just stick to the Thruway (I-90) or take the other interstates.

[tickerrose]

Thank you! I have done mapquest and trip advisor and a bunch of other stuff but I am really not interested in a direct/quick route. I will be taking 88 to 86 to 90/80 on the way to Chicago, because I know New York and just want to get some ground under us before we start meandering.
I am hoping to make this more than a cannon ball run to see how far we can get on a tank of gas and a dream...I AM going with my husband though and he likes a challenge.

[doxie]

Just a few hints... I hope you have a great time on your road trip!

If you do go to Mt. Rushmore - the Crazy Horse monument is about 20 miles from there. I've not been there but my parents said that Crazy Horse is a "don't miss".

Check out the National Park System website: National Park Service - Experience Your America This site has info on ALL of the National parks - and it has a map where you can click on each state and find out about the parks there.

Buy a small road atlas and make sure that you know how to read it. I bought one for about $10 at Wal-Mart before we did our cross country trip. I still think that if I hadn't had that thing (and if I hadn't been able to read a map), we would probably still be driving around in circles in Arizona.

If you see a sign for something that sounds interesting - stop to see whatever it is.... How many times are you going to have the chance to do this? We stopped at a restaurant in New Mexico (Route 66 - close to Gallup, N.M) only because we saw a sign that said that they had 1,000 stuffed animals... we just had to check that out. Turns out that a taxidermist owned the place and it was FULL of dead animals (rattlenakes, skunks, armadillos, deer, etc...) that he had killed and mounted. Needless to say, we did not eat there - lol - but the experience was interesting.

Have fun! We had no plans and no hotel reservations during our trip. We just drove until we got tired and then looked for a hotel.

[justCoz]

Originally Posted by tickerrose

Can you tell me where this is? I can't find it, but that's not saying much. I hope my navigating skills get better before we take off! Thanks, so much, again!

Table Rock Lake is the lake that Branson MO is near. I found this map:

Directions & Maps | Branson Missouri (although I'm not trying to promote Chateau on the Lake.)

or this one which shows Table Rock a bit to the west of Branson:

TRIPinfo.com - Branson Missouri Map

Once you are near there, it's not a very far trip. I just did a search on *Branson Missouri map* and came up with those maps, and some other info. Hope that helps.

[tickerrose]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[tickerrose]

Okay, this is it. We leave early tomorrow morning! If you see a very cute couple cruising along in a Subaru Forester across the scenic routes of Illionois, Missiouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota in the next few weeks, make sure you wave! Wish us luck!

[RealityDiva]

I hope you have fun! After I graduate high school, my boyfriend and I will be doing 2 European Backpacking trips, and a U.S. winnebego road trip. All for a month each.

I love to travel, and I think road trips are such a great way to experience new cultures.

[G.G.]

Originally Posted by queenb

I'll be doing two this summer; in June I'm flying to Seatttle, and I'll be visiting Olympic National Park, Northern Cascades NP, and going up to British Columbia (Vancouver Island).
Then in September, wonder of wonders, I finally talked L into taking a trip with me. We will go to Billings Montana, then over the Beartooth Mountains and into Yellowstone for a few days, then into Idaho. I've already been to Yellowstone once, but didn't give myself nearly enough time there--I made sure to take plenty this time.
I can't wait for either trip!

Woooo...I was born and raised (lived there for 31 years) in BILLINGS, MONTANA!!!! I know Yellowstone as well (or maybe better) than I know my hometown. You're lucky that the Beartooth Pass is open this year - last time I was home during the summer, the Pass was not open due to mudslide repairs and one of my favorite drives was unavailable and I was bummed.

That said, I love road trips and have driven across country from coast to coast by myself four times, as well many thousands of miles of mini-trips. I love road trips by myself and actually can get a little gritchy if I find out I'm going to have a driving partner.

At the end of June, I'll be driving from SoCal to Denver (where I lived before SoCal) to spend a week working at one of our facilities there, then up to Billings for a family wedding and my neice's 2nd birthday over the weekend, then back to SoCal via Salt Lake City/St. George/Vegas.

My only sadness is that my faithful travel partner of almost 17 years (my dog Bailey) will likely either not be up for the trip, or will not be around for the trip. Bailey has traveled nearly as many road miles as I have, including 3 of the cross-country drives. I myself have driven through 41 states; Bailey has driven through more than half of the 50 states. He's a well-traveled pooch.