Calgary to Florida spring road trip 2012...

[pinkaholic88]

Hi

We are planning a road trip from Calgary to arrive in Sarasota, FL by 20th May 2012. Pretty much the whole journey is planned to be non-highway driving so that we pass through all the little towns on the way.

So far our plan is:

Day 1: Calgary, AB - Lewistown, MO. Taking in Waterton lakes National Park on the way.

Day 2: Full day of driving. Lewistown - Custer, SD. Cannot really find anything we find worth seeing on this route. Would really like your input if you know something worth while.

Day 3: Harney Peak at sunrise, Mount Rushmore and gold mining in Keystone. Stay over night in Rapid City, SD.

Day 4: Rapid City - Dunning, NE. This is a pretty full day of driving too, with our planned route going through the heart of the bad lands and then visiting Carhenge in NE.

Day 5: Dunning - Topeka, KS. Full day of driving stopping off in Cawker City on the way to see the world biggest ball of yarn.

Day 6: Topeka - Willow Springs, MO. Full day of driving passing through Fort Scott, KS and Springfield, MO.

Day 7: Willow Spring - Columbia, TN. This part of the day if a full day of driving without any sights on the route. It is also our only section of highway driving.

Day 8: Columbia - Gadsden, AL. Short journey allowing us time to spend at Lynchburg and the Jack Daniel's Distillery.

Day 9: Gadsden - Perry, FL. Full day of driving, no sights on the way.

Day 10: Perry - Sarasota, FL. Short day allowing a nice early arrival in Sarasota.

This plan is in its very early stages, we have only been thinking of it for a couple of days so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

As far as a return journey is concerned, we have not really got to it yet, however, our ideas are to follow the East coast:

To pass through Augusta, GA as I’m a big golf fan.

To visit Raleigh in North Carolina where we have family.

To be in Montreal around Sunday 11th June, the weekend of the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Spend time in Québec and Toronto.

Visit Niagara Falls


Thanks for taking an interest in our trip! Hope we may have inspired some of you guys to do your own!

[Lifemagician]

Hi, and Welcome to the The Great American RoadTrip Forum.

Day 2: Full day of driving. Lewistown, MT - Custer, SD. Cannot really find anything we find worth seeing on this route. Would really like your input if you know something worth while.

'Worth seeing' is very much a personal judgement. You might like to check out the Big Horn Mts and Canyon, on Alt 14 through WY or Little Bighorn Battlefield Nat Mon. on route 212 in MT. Closer to Custer there is Devil's Tower Nat. Mon. in MT and north of Belle Fourche you have the Geographic Center of U.S. I am sure you will find lots more sites which may interest you on any good map, or in a road atlas.

Reading through your itenary, it strikes me as quite optimistic if you would like to stay mostly off the Interstates. Some of those days will be very long indeed. You might find that a mix of Interstates and minor highways a better way to go. Or at least leave open the option of hopping onto an Interstate when time runs short.

Lifey