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First let me start by saying that what I propose might sound challenging or seem like I'm cramming too much in, but I took a month and a half off from work this summer, and drove around the country. In the first thirty-one days, hitting Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and back to New Jersey. I called it the "Grand Loop". Saw Charlottesville, Richmond, Asheville, Winston-Salem, Mt. Airy, Charleston, Savannah, St. Augustine, Pensacola, Mobile, Vicksburg, Natchez, St. Francisville, Jefferson, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Tombstone, Sedona, Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, San Diego, Disneyland, Los Angeles/Venice/Hollywood, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, Tillamook, Portland, Mt. St. Helens, Seattle, Coeur d'Alene, Kalispell, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Cody, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Madison, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.
I came back home and to work for a few days and drove straight from Northern NJ to Memphis. Hit Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and back up north. Saw Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Fort Collins, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Springs, Ouray, Durango, Mesa Verde National Park, Taos, Lafayette, and New Orleans.
My point in all this is that I have become intoxicated by the grandeur of America and wish to do it all again next year.
I was planning to drive straight to Chicago, stop in Michigan to see Detroit and to the Upper Peninsula for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the area around Copper Harbor, Isle Royale National Park, and Mackinac Island; Minnesota to see the Twin Cities, Duluth, Bemidji, and Voyageurs National Park; North Dakota to see Theodore Roosevelt National Park; Montana to see the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, cut down to Sun Valley in Idaho and some scenic spots along the Snake River; go to North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, Port Townsend, and Leavenworth in Washington; come down to Astoria, Seaside, and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, come down to Redwood National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Carmel in California, go east to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead in Nevada, do a loop into Arizona to see Saguaro National Park, Moab and Bryce/Arches in Utah, and Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado; then cut back across the country to the Northeast.
I made my last trip successful and it was the experience of a lifetime, but it took much hard work and planning. The reason I am posting this here is to see if anyone has any suggestions as to the best possible way to go about this, any general advice, and most importantly, anything interesting to see along the way.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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sounds like you enjoy driving as much as I
But with the high costs of fuel (I get 50 mpg on free fryer grease) and time required, I have been fly / driving with SWA ($89) and priceline ($12/day).
I have been taking more leisurely drives and stopping more often (My 'grease burner' goes 1250 miles between fill-ups)
Denver has been a cheap destination for SWA so I have done that a few times this yr and taken road trips from there.
As usual I will check these routes and talk a lot to locals.
Enroute to Sun Vally take WY 14 and 14A through the Bighorns and be sure to visit the Tetons and take a raft or canoe trip on the Snake.
I rarely travel interstate highways except for 'night-driving' between destinations and of very low scenic value. (Moonlight can make nice driving conditions). I stay in $10 / night private guest homes so get lots of travel ideas there (as well as superior food and lodging)
If you're in the SW again make sure to take a drive across the new bridge they've got over the Hoover Dam. The wife and I just took an indirect route back from Nevada just to check it out, that is one impressive feat of engineering man, built right out from the rock walls almost 900 feet above the water.
There is a walkway you can cross from Arizona to Nevada and back, it is not for those with fear of heights.
I don't know if you saw this last time you came out the west coast but I strongly recommend when you go north from San Francisco you hit the Point Reyes National Seashore and continue north up the Mendicino Coast on HWY 1 through Bodega Bay and Ft Bragg. It is such a beautiful coastal area there.
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