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Hello,
I am new to this website, and road trips for that matter. In March I will be moving from Tampa to Denver. My planned route is to go from Tampa to Birmingham. Then from Birmingham to Joplin, MO. Then from Joplin to Denver. I know this is vague, but does anyone have any advice for me? Any good historical places to see? Obviously, I am very new at this so any help/tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Sean
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
I think your plan needs some work. Three days is the bare minimum amount of time you need for this trip, and that would be 3 very long days if you stick to the direct interstate route. Your current path, involves really too many mile on 2 lane roads, and a final day of more than 700 miles which really is too much to do safely.
If you want to do this in 3 days, then I think you need to be looking at a route through Atlanta, Nashville, St. Louis, and KC - with your overnight stops at Manchester TN, and Kansas City. If you up it to 5, then you can play around with your route and start looking for interesting places to stop along the way.
You can use RTA's Map Center to find many attractions that would be along your path.
If you have a particular reason for wanting to go through Birmingham and Joplin, you could do the trip in 4 days but 3 would really be pushing it too much. I'd be looking at overnights in Montgomery, Little Rock, and Salina.
I travel from Joplin toward Denver quite frequently, and the 2 lane stretch between Joplin and Wichita (US-400) is actually a pretty fast road. I can do it in just over 3 hours with no stops, the speed limit is 65 most of the way and it doesn't get congested till you get close to Wichita - where it does become 4 lane albeit with lower speed limits. What I normally do is stop and spend some time with a friend of mine in Hays and head in to Denver in the morning.
Alright, already getting more clarity! I have no qualms with upping the trip to five days. Basically, I am moving to Denver from Tampa and would like to have some fun on the way there. Any other good routes to take besides the one I mentioned? Also, any good historical places on the way to see?
Try the Loveless Cafe west of Nashville.