Dallas to Minnesota - any advice?

First time poster, long time roadtripper. Well, maybe not TOO long. Most of my "road trips" have been minor ones across my great state of Texas - my favorite was Dallas to Houston to San Antonio back to Dallas, with a few friends from Chicago.

The only long road trip I've ever taken was from Dallas to St. Louis, with two friends. This trip, from Dallas to Minnesota, will be by myself!

I've used roadsideamerica.com to find some fun roadside stops - I've actually planned out an itinerary and everything, so that I'm only on the road without a major stop for like, 3 hours at a time. My mom, who's financing the trip for me (I'm in my early twenties, totally can't afford a trip like this myself), told me that I have to stop halfway, so I'm stopping in Kansas City and staying a night there.

Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for advice, tips, anything, for this 22-year-old girl heading to Minnesota to find herself.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

I'm glad to see that you've planned for some stops besides just the overnight in Kansas City. Otherwise this trip, which will require two full days to make, could turn into one long Interstate slog. Now, while I too like the occasional off-the-wall spot such as those you'll find on Roadside America, they are about the quirky stop, the oddball, the external. If this trip is truly to be about finding yourself, then you will need to find yourself alone in some more contemplative locations, or at least in places where you can sit or walk, and be alone with your thoughts. Yes, the car will let you sit and think, but try some of the spots listed here along I-35 for some places where you can really turn off the noise and hear yourself.

AZBuck

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Your mom is wise for telling you to stop half way. There is no way you should be making a trip of this length in one shot, especially not if you are traveling solo.

I would be interested in reading your current planned itinerary. Since you've got 2 pretty full days of driving needed to cover the distance, if you stop every 3 hours you could find this trip will take more time than you are currently planning.

I'd look into adding a day to your trip. I did almost this same trip last summer, but starting from Shreveport. It was a good 3 days of traveling with lots of fun stops along the way.

May I suggest taking US Highway 71 for part of the way? Especially the part through Iowa. 71 goes through Kansas City - so this would be a good place to catch it. It was calm and peaceful. I felt like I had taken a step back in time. I found farm reports on the radio and even a show devoted solely to reading people's obituaries over the radio (morbid but still so random it was cool).

Laura

AZBuck - Thank you for that link! I was relying on the drive itself to help me think, but state parks would be wonderful.

Michael - I would post my itinerary, but since the addition of more stops, I suspect it'll be longer and I'll have to rework it.

lhuff - I'll look into taking Highway 71, that sounds lovely.

Thank you for your advice!