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Back in 2008 and 2009 I took a trip to East Tennessee and hit up the Cherohala Skyway and Blue Ridge Parkway. They were blast. I was 21 and free back then. Not so free anymore with work and school now. Plan on doing it again someday. I did those trips alone and loved being able to just drive and stop when I wanted to. I think traveling alone is great and makes you become more interested in the locals and learn more. I just took a 300 mile trip on April 15 through Western Wisconsin from Madison along the Mississippi River on the Great River Road. It was fun and was a day long trip. Funny thing was I normally get 22 mpg in my Infiniti, I achieved 28 mpg on my trip. No too shabby! I told my fiancee whom I'm marrying in June that we need a road trip soon as I can do a week for around $1000. As others said, stay at older motels off the beaten path. Pack lunches and only eat out sparingly.
I envy a lot of you guys who've done the cross country trips, those sound like fun.
Over the past 6 or 7 years I have logged I would estimate around 15k miles in cross country road trips. That does not include frequent camping trips I take every year in and outside the state. I love exploring the country, experiencing the different landscapes, scenery, roadways, attractions, cultures, etc.... things that are missed when flying.
Nope. Last one I took was in the mid-90s when I graduated college and went to visit my brother in Kentucky. No time anymore and driving long distances just isn't as fun as it used to be.
I used to do this. Come home from work and exclaim "Road Trip, get in the car" My wife woudl ask where are we gong? how long? where will we stop? when and where will we eat? where will we sleep? " To which I would reply "North, or maybe East; until we get tired of it; wherever we see something that looks interesting; we will eat when we get hungry wherever we see someplace that sells food; we will sleep wherever we are when we get tired. Let's go"
I did not get away with that for too long. My idea of a nice vacation is to pick a direction and go. Her idea is to have a plan for every 15 minutes of the trip. After a while we balanced each other out. Now we remember to bring some pillows, water and snacks and maybe choose a specific destination or two. We bring a computer and just look up things that are neat in the areas we go through instead of driving around looking for them at random.
Those are the best kind of road trips. My wife and I did that on are first trip. Throw a dart at the map and go.
In the summer of 1987 I drove with my then-girlfriend from Oregon, up to BC and across Canada, down to NJ and then across the northern USA back to Oregon. We avoided the main highways for the most part ... parts of it were long stretches on gravel roads. We took about 5 weeks. It was a blast!
We roadtrip with (gasp!) kids!!! And dang it... they like it!
Currently our kids are 13, 11, and 8... but we've been doing it since they were babies. Our biggest tip for success is that we drive 300-500mi per day. That's 6-8 hours. But we don't do it all at once... because that would get boring. For us the trip IS the destination.
For example, last year we were entering New Orleans near lunchtime. (Destin was our final destination that night) We took a couple hours off to eat a muffaletta, enjoy cafe du monde and walk the French Quarter. It wasn't just a gas station pitstop & Denny's.
So that's how we roll. 6-8 hours of driving might take 12 hours depending on what to see along the way. Not only do we research our nightly visits, but we research potential pitstops mid-day too! And my kids still ask to play roadtrip bingo, and search for license plates (albeit for cash!)
This summer we are going on a 5000 mile odyssey in 15 days. We just bought a new van and need to break it in! Houston, up through Grand Tetons/Yellowstone, Helena & Missoula MT (where my dh and I lived when 1st married) through Spokane to see the g'parents for 2 nights, Seattle, Portland, down the Oregon Coast, California Redwoods, San Jose (husband's boyhood home) Hollywood, Tuscon, and back through some dusty West TX back home to Houston. Lots of variety to look forward too!
I just took a 300 mile trip on April 15 through Western Wisconsin from Madison along the Mississippi River on the Great River Road. It was fun and was a day long trip. .
That stretch can be gorgeous in the fall as well. Any luck spotting eagles by the river or was it past their time there?
not sure if it constitutes a "road trip" as it's a planned route each time, but i have to admit i enjoy the drive back to Wi when we visit our daughter and her family. The mountains in TN never cease to amaze me, and KY has some beautiful sites as well.
Of course the other half of the trip, thru IN and IL........ ok, i really enjoy "half" the route each way lol
We did a planes, trains, and automobiles trip last winter. Took train from Mpls to Portland, rented a car and drove the coast down through redwoods and flew out of San Fransico. We found a rental car company that didn't charge for a one way rental, many do though.
This fall we cancelled our St Maarten honeymoon trip to fly to Denver and rent a car and go to Aspen, Telluride, Silverton, Crested Butte, Black Hawk, and Denver. We both would much rather drive and see awesome mountain scenery then be stuck on a tiny island!
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