My husband and I are planning a trip from New York to the West this summer with our children (12, 8, 5 year old girls). We will be leaving from NYC and want to visit California, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming,and South Dakota as well as any other worthwhile sites. Our thought is to drive (we have 6 weeks) so any suggestions on best route, best sites, etc. are greatly appreciated. Look forward to hearing from the experts.
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Six weeks is actually enough time to take a full lap around the country, combining some east coast and Appalachians, deep south, Texas, southwest, California and Oregon coast, and back across the Rockies, Great Plains and Great Lakes. You could make the circuit either clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on when you actually go and how the weather works out best for you. If you read enough discussions around here, you'll soon come to realize that there is no single 'best' trip, only what best meets the interests of your family. What I'd suggest is that, with the general round trip I've described above in mind that you and your family start to mark up a map with the places you decide that you absolutely don't want to miss. These could be the usual big attractions like the Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Disneyland, Yellowstone, etc, or some others of your own choosing. Then once you've got the major things that you want to see, start looking for what else is nearby as you drive from one to another. Pretty soon you'll have a trip that is perfect for you because you designed it to meet your needs. Certainly we can help you with some of the details, but the beauty of RoadTrips is that they give you the freedom to do what you want, not what somebody else says you should do.
AZBuck