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In my opinion, to have a truly great road trip you have to get off the "I's" (interstates) as much as possible.
I took a trip from STL to Big Bend TX, up through Carlsbad, to White Sands, small roads up to Canyon de Chelly, farther up into Utah (Monument Valley, Hovenweep), into CO (San Juan region), up into the mountains, (we had a jeep so we could go on roads rated 3 & 4, which I had never done before. It is absolutely phenomenal), down to Sante Fe, Taos and corner to corner Kansas, back to STL.
I may as well add in that I recently did a huge trip around the southwestern part of the United States and central and Southern Plains. Will have the details tomorrow.
Ok...here it is...it's the trip that I posted in my first post, except there were drastic changes to it. This time I avoided many interstate highways...well...they were used on a lot of the routes but we gave about 300 miles to other routes. We did about 9 to 10 hours of driving a day. We started out doing I-44W to Oklahoma City, stopped and viewed the Mura Building memorial (I can only imagine what the Freedom Tower memorial will look like when it is built, it will be spectacular compared to OKC) then I-40W to Elk City, Oklahoma. THat was the first day.
The second day, we took I-40 further west to Elk City, Oklahoma, just outside of the Texas Panhandle. The second day, we took I-40 to Amarillo. Just east of Amarillo where we stopped at an absolutely spectacular rest area situated on a high hill in the middle of the rolling Great Plains, then we had lunch at Amarillo. Next, we drove I-40 further west into New Mexico, (we were paralleling Route 66 the whole time at this point), marking the first time I'd ever been to New Mexico. Drove through Albuquerque just west of where I had the best Mexican food I've ever tasted, along the old road that was once U.S. 66 (it's very sad to see all of these historic places on Route 66 out of business due to the interstate highways) and then stopped in Holbrook, Arizona. When we entered into Arizona, the sun was setting and an ENORMOUS thunderstorm overtook us...lightning was striking within a mile of me every second it felt like and the rain was coming down in torrents. I was too afraid to stop in the middle of the desert so I just went all the way to Holbrook, which is about a quarter into the state. By this point I had crossed two time zones...I have now been to all four time zones on the lower 48, well at least, the four time zones in the summer. By this point, I had amassed a spectacular amount of photographs, but the trip was just beginning. THe next day we drove I-40 further west to Flagstaff, where we finally stopped following the path of Route 66.
At Flagstaff, we got onto U.S. Highway 89 north and drove a short 51 miles north to Arizona State Route 64, which I think may at one time have been U.S. Highway 64. Then we got on that and headed west to the Grand Canyon...unfortunately there was a thunderstorm but we got what we could...amazing to see a bolt of lightning strike the Little Colorado River from thousands of feet up in between all these red cliffs. Then we got back on Arizona State Route 64 and headed east back to U.S. 89, where we stopped in Tuba City, hehehe...we bought T-shirts for the occasion...Northern Arizona is really beautiful...they have the Vermillion Cliffs, which if I remember correctly are these huge, big red cliffs...I used all three gears on the car going through these mountains...spectacular driving with no railing to keep us from going off the road to our deaths! THis was all on Alternate U.S. 89, north of Tuba City. Then we crossed into Utah and ended the third day of the trip at Mount Carmel, where I had more great Mexican.
Next day: U.S. 89 north to Utah State Highway 12 east. Here we drove through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and then got onto Capitol Reef National Park. THe most scenic driving I've done thus far...wound through more mountains, this time in a thunderstorm 10,000 feet up!!!! Scary. THen we finally began to head back towards St. Louis, driving Highway 24 east to Hankville, just about 40 miles south of I-70.
Next day: we drove 24 to its end, got on I-70 east, and then crossed into Colorado, where the beautiful Rocky Mountains greeted me. We drove I-70 through Glenwood Canyon I believe to Vail. between 60 and 100 miles west of Denver. Here we got on U.S. Highway 24 I believe starting at its west terminus, which is apparantly at Vail on I-70, and we drove U.S. Highway 24 all the way to Colorado Springs from there..very nice city btw, Colorado Springs...new and booming. Enjoyed a nice drive through the rockies, many memorable photos.
Next day: Really pushing the boundaries this time. We got onto U.S. 24 east from Colorado Springs and drove it I-70 at Limon, Colorado. THen we drove I-70 east all the way to Salina, Kansas, where we stopped at the Brookefield Hotel, around since the 1870s...served the finest fried chicken and vanilla ice cream i've ever tasted...i consumed so much of it I thought I was going to undo the effect of the diet I was on (I'd lost ten pounds at this point, was about to the right weight for me at this point, luckily meal did not undo effect of diet...hehehe). After Brookefield, we drove I-70 further east to Junction City, where we called it a night.
THe next day....we drove into Kansas City, where we bypassed the downtown area on its southern edge on I-670, which is kind of like the equivalent of I-270 in St. Louis except that its several miles closer to downtown Both highways are nice alternatives for I-70 through traffic, slightly shorter in length and taking traffic straight through both of these cities without any curves or bends. still get a very good and large view of downtown. In any case, from Kansas City we drove back to St. Louis, thus concluding the most scenic trip around the United States I've ever taken. And I'm still not done yet...but I have now effectively crossed 35 states off my list...i have now seen almost every state in great detail.
Just a few weeks ago we left Virginia Beach and headed to Ft Lauderdale on 95. We stopped in St Augustine, Ft Lauderdale, Savannah and Myrtle Beach (overnights) and saw much along the way. We only had a week but we saw so much along the way.
About 7 years ago my SIL and I (we were both recently separated) took a 'Thelma and Louise' trip to the West. Flew to Albuqurque (sp) and drove to Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Seeing the Grand Canyon was just amazing.
The absolute best roadtrip I ever took was a 3-week tour of Eastern Canada/North Eastern US.
Started in Toronto, which is now one of my favorite cities. I was expecting something completely different, maybe Buffalo-ish given the proximity. Then headed to Montreal, which was also a fantastic city. Mixture of old and new. Next stop was Old Quebec... fabulous... Better than France, IMHO! Then it was off to New Brunswick, which had some interesting small towns and a beautiful national park: Kouchibouguac, which means where land meets the sea. Then we crossed the long bridge to Prince Edward Island. The landscape was georgous. The farmers had just plowed the fields and the soil was a beautiful red color, which contrasted nicely to the bright green trees and grass. The dunes were also red. However, the pace of life on the island was just a little slow for me, especially after being in Montreal and Toronto.
The highlight of the trip was driving the entire Cabot Trail around Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Breathtaking scenery, but sadly no moose sightings Stopped in Halifax, which was a cool, old port town with lots of character. The lighthouse towns of Nova Scotia were very quaint, but there wasn't much to do other than snap a picture and move on.
We headed back home to the good ole US of A and stopped in Acadia National Park in Maine, which was very beautiful, but didn't compare to what we'd seen in Canada. We should have done this trip backwards... We stopped in little coastal towns, like Portland, ME, Portsmouth, NH, and Newburyport, MA. Great little towns, loved the architecture.
Did I mention that we took our bikes on the back of the car? Well, yes, we did, and unfortunately as we were driving around downtown Boston we hit a huge pothole near the Big-Dig construction and the rack came flying off the back of the car!!! It was so embarrasing. I'm sure thousands of people formed opinions about Ohioans that day!
But after we got the bikes situated, we spent two days in Boston and loved it. It was my first visit to the city and since then I've been back a few times and it is now one of my favorite cities. Lowell, MA, was very interesting because of its history: its rise, fall, and rise again. Hoping my rustbelt hometown will one day do the same...
Providence was a neat old town and we spent a day there. I was very surprised by it as well, especially after coming in from the east and seeing all the shuddered factories. It was surprisingly very nice... Much better than New Bedford and Fall River, MA, that we had just driven through. Mystic, CT, was neat to see. We finished off the trip with a drive into Times Square at night. The people I was with had never seen it, so I drove down into the city from CT. After getting lost in Queens, we somehow ended up driving right past Times Square and found ourselves in a lane going out the Lincoln Tunnels... We had to turn around in NJ and come back into the city!!! And pay an extra $6!!! But it was definitely worth it...
So yeah, great trip. Would recommend it to anyone. Good way to get a feel for New England and Eastern Canada.
My favorite road trip:
The drive from my house to JFK, then my walk from my car to my seat on the plane, then my walk from the plane to my bag, then my walk from my baggage to the rental car, then my drive through Chicago. What a great day. Honestly, though, that was a great trip.
I also liked the drive through Indiana. The inside of my eyelids have some great scenery.
Mine was my first trip across the U.S. from D.C. to Los Angeles. I did it twice but the first time was special. Me and my best friend went through Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and of course southern California. This is one beautiful country. It was a trip I will never forget.
My favorite road trip had to of been the many times i've taken the backroad all through southwestern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and eastern Tennessee from Michigan. (by way of I-75S to Findlay, OH to Columbus heading south)
Second favorite is drove all around the state of Arizona. An amazing state to travel in its own right
Third favorite is traveling along Lake Michigan in the northwestern part of the state. A hidden jewel!!!
Honorable mention:
El Paso to San Anotonio along I-10 at night-it is amazing of the solitude along that road and the moon shines ever so bright and so close too!
Las Vegas to north rim of the Grand Canyon-it is surreal to go from driving in the desert to come upon this alpine forest (about 30 miles of it) just before hitting the canyon, never in a million years would you expect something like it
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From Chicago area to Santa Fe is a 20 hour drive for me. 
Stopped in Halifax, which was a cool, old port town with lots of character. The lighthouse towns of Nova Scotia were very quaint, but there wasn't much to do other than snap a picture and move on.
