Cross-Country Trip
I am leaving tomorrow morning, 10:00 a.m., for a cross-country round trip adventure. I am traveling with my friend (and somehow-cousin-through-marriage relative) Tom. I didn’t think I’d have anyone to go with, so that’s why I didn’t say anything until now. We’ll be gone for roughly 4 weeks, maybe less, probably not more.
I could use any and all suggestions. I’ll also try to accomplish any and all requests.
Any albums I should definitely put on the iPod?
Check out a list of the major stops after the jump. It’s mostly National Parks, with some cities thrown in. Though, we’ll probably be camping at National grounds just outside of those cities as well.
- Cherry Springs State Park, PA
- Chicago, IL
- St. Paul, MN
- Badlands National Park, SD
- Yellowstone National Park, WY
- Portland, OR
- Redwood National Park, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Yosemite National Park, CA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
- Arches National Park, UT
- Denver, CO
- Ozark National River, MO
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN
- Shenandoah National Park, VA
Perhaps, you’d like to meet us in Virginia upon our return? Tom is bringing his laptop, so we can arrange.
Comments
Don’t go to Denver. Go to Boulder. It’s hippie land. And visit Woody Creek Tavern while you’re there.
Got it…
oh i’m so happy you’re finally doing this and sad that i can’t tag along. you know you need to take a ton of pictures. do you plan on blogging while you’re traveling?
I’m definitely taking pictures. I’m not going to blog, I think Tom might. I was gonna keep a small journal though.
i suggest you stop in cabazon, california to see the dinosaurs pee wee-style.
Very jealous of this J-Man, you are in for an amazing time. Some suggestions:
- Visit Eddie!
- Sledding on the dunes in White Sands, NM.
- Roswell, NM. It’s a ridiculous place, but just to say you’ve been.
- Drink as much Fat Tire as possible.
- Go check out the oil spill first hand.
- PCH
So jealous. I’ve done some variant of this about 4 times and I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to do it and appreciate it rather than hating having to spend so much time driving around in a car.
Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park (I think those are their formal names although I may be reversing the Canyon and the park) were awesome. If you’re going through, Aspen is pretty nice in that “Holy crap, people live this way?!?!?” type of deal.
The Elvis Is Alive museum (somewhere in Missouri is all I remember) is pretty great in that roadside ridiculous kind of way.
Are you not going to Seattle? I see you’ll be in Portland so I wasn’t sure if you just had already been and don’t want to be redundant or if you just hadn’t thought about it. Either way…highly recommended, as are the surrounding areas (Bellingham in particular).
All I can offer is this:
www.roadsideamerica.com
to capture pictures with the most ridiculous roadside sights. The site is kind of klunky, but on my long drives (MA to NC), it’s nice to have places to stop and stretch your legs. And, it makes the trip seem like a scavenger hunt!
Jay, I’m definitely going to see Eddie, and definitely driving California 1.
Kevin, those two National Parks are on the list for sure. There are some others that we’ll just be stopping by as well, such as the Devil’s Tower Monument (from Close Encounters).
Before you go to Shenandoah, try to go to Harper’s Ferry in West Virginia. It’s the headquarters for the Appalachian Trail, full of history and beautiful. It’s worth a two hour stop, especially if the wax museum is still there.
I also suggest driving through Eastern Kentucky. If you stay off 64, it’s really nice driving, and truck stop eating. The Red River Gorge area is great and hopefully by the time you come through the bear who attacked some camera happy guy last week should be caught. Or long gone.
Please be careful with your camera. I am positive you will see bears in Yosemite and just as sure that you will see dumb people chasing after the bears with their cameras. Don’t be that guy!
Wow, what an amazing trip! I hope you have an awesome time. One day I want to do a family trip out to Yosemite and see more of the Grand Canyon.
I’ve been to a few of your stops.
1-San Francisco. Walking over the Golden Gate Bridge is very cool. the Alcatraz tour, by boat, is great. I wasn’t that impressed by their famous soup in bread bowls n Fisherman’s Wharf. That place was too touristy for me. The Golden Gate Park is really nice though.
2-Las Vegas. Lots to do, but make sure you get to Old Vegas, and try In-n-Out burger
3-Denver…I didn’t visit, but I liked Colorado Springs a whole lot. I think it’s about an hour away from Denver.
4-Grand Canyon has different rims and sections. I saw the Western rim which was alright, and run by one of the indian tribes. I bet getting down to the bottom of the canyon would be awesome, so do that!
If you can, I also recommend that you drive the PCH. It’s so scenic and beautiful, right along the coast for a lot of it.
Enjoy! I’m so jealous!