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I'm driving with my fiance from San Diego to Connecticut in a few weeks. We are planning to take drive through the middle of the country- through Colorado, etc. Any suggestions on specific routes or places to see? we want to stop by the Grand Canyon for sure, so any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
Once you're at the Grand Canyon, I would head out on the 2 lane roads to the Northeast towards Durango, CO. That would take you through Monument Valley, 4 corners, and Mesa Verde NP. From there head north on the Million Dollar Highway. Then you can either keep going North to Grand Junction and hop back on I-70, or you could turn east again and head over the rockies on US 50.
I concur wholeheartedly with Michael's recommendations for southern Colorado. Once done there, you can choose one of several journeys across the plains and Appalachians depending on you interests and the time you have available to you. A couple of routes that you might consider:
1) From Mesa Verde National Park, do as Michael suggests and head up the Million Dollar Highway to Montrose and use US-50 west(!) to connect with I-70 through the Rockies. Alternatively from Montrose, use US-50 east and US-285 to the Denver area. Both of these will put you in shape to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Then head out onto the plains using I-76 and I-80. This will let you follow the old Oregon Trail and North Platte River. You would then cross the Midwest through Chicago and Cleveland before using I-80 to cross the Appalachians through northern Pennsylvania.
2) From Mesa Verde, cross southern Colorado on US-160 through Wolf Creek Pass and then pick up US-50 at Pueblo to use two lane roads such as US-54 and US-400 across the prairie. These will take you to the Ozarks of southwestern Missouri. You could then cross Missouri on US-60 to pick up the Western Kentucky Parkway and a stop at Mammoth Cave National Park. At Lexington, join I-64 over to Virginia and use the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive along the spine of the Appalachians. Then jog over to Washington for a trip up the east coast through Philadelphia and New York to New Haven.
AZBuck