first road from CT to AR and back

My boyfriend and I (23 and 20) are planning a road trip to Arkansas. We will be leaving from Connecticut and driving through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. We want to go through Tennessee, North Carolina and drive along the East Coast on our way home. It would be very helpful if we could get suggestions on what routes to take (I don't want to spend the whole time on the highways), cheap motels or campgrounds to stay at, and any other helpful hints as we plan our trip. Also if experienced road trippers, in their opinion, could tell us what would be the best time to go, how long they think the trip should be and about how much it might cost. Thank you.

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Other than throwing out a list of states, covering hundreds of thousands of square miles, we really know nothing about your plans!

Without knowing about where in Arkansas you are going, why you are going there, how much time you've got, and some idea of what you might want to do along the way (beyond driving through some specific states) it just isn't possible for anyone to give you any specific information about the things you are asking about.

Once you share more about your plans, we can help you fill in the blanks, but we need to see at least something resembling an outline first.

We're going to Arkansas because my boyfriend thinks it would be cool to dig for his own quartz crystals. We want to go to the Crater of Diamonds State Park, and also wanted to go to Blanchard Springs Caverns in AR and Tuckaleechee Caverns in TN, and do some more gem mining in NC. We figured we could get 2 maybe 3 weeks off of work. Other than mining for gems and checking out some caves were not really sure what we wanted to do. Maybe stop at a couple farms and pick some fresh fruits for the road? This will be the first road trip for both of us and were up for anything, were just not sure what to do once we start driving and we don't wanna be driving around like a chicken who's head just got cut off...

First, and this is important, your boyfriend will not be digging for quartz at Crater of Diamonds State Park. You can find quartz crystals at Douglas Dam on the French Broad River about 15 miles outside Pigeon Forge, TN (as good an excuse as any to see Great Smoky Mountain National Park). And there are caves all along the Appalachians from commercial enterprises in northern Virginia such as Luray and Skyline Caverns to state parks such as Kentucky's Carter Caves State Resort Park and of course Mammoth Cave National Park. Finding roadside stands is relatively easy. All you need to do is drive through farm country on a road other than an Interstate. US-11 and US-64 run generally parallel to the main roads (I-81 and i-40) you'd otherwise be following and would make slower, more relaxed alternatives.

AZBuck