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We want to drive across country in the spring of 2014 from Las Vegas to Niagara Falls (Buffalo, NY). Any suggestions on planning a route, sites to see, places to stay, Routes NOT to take, and places to eat would be appreciated. We will be retired. so time is not a problem. We would love to see some waterfalls, forest, farms (cows), and covered bridges along the way. Thinking about taking Route I 80 ??
Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!
Before anyone can offer you specific advice, you're going to have to make some initial decisions based on your own resources and objectives for this trip. The first is a basic route. There are several options which are all within a few hundred miles of each other in total length, which is relatively meaningless on a trip of this magnitude. Probably the most direct is to take I-15 north out of Las Vegas to I-70 east, then use I-76 out of Denver to cut up to I-80 east, join I-90 around Chicago and follow that the rest of the way to Buffalo/Niagara.
A completely different route would be to take US-93 south out of Las Vegas to Kingman AZ and get on I-40 east to Oklahoma City, use I-44 to St. Louis and then I-70 to Columbus OH, heading north on I-71 to Cleveland where you'd join I-90 for the rest of the drive.
A third option, if you have some extra time, would be to take some 'back roads' out west and save the Interstates for the more crowded eastern half of the country. This would entail something like heading up to St. George UT initially and then running across southern Utah, northern Arizona and southern Colorado on a combination of state and US highways: UT-9, UT-59, AZ-389, US-89, AZ-98, and US-160. Then when you get on the High Plains at Walsenburg CO take CO-10 to US-50, US-400, US-54 and US-50 into St. Louis where you'd pick up the Interstates listed in the previous option.
As I said, all of those are roughly the same length, and each would take a minimum of four solid days of driving, although the last option might take a little bit more. Each has sights and attractions to offer for almost any interest. But the first decision will be up to you and your traveling companions. So which route(s) appeal to you, even in a most general sense? How much time do you have for the entire journey? And are there any other things you're hoping to accomplish and/or see besides those you've already listed/
AZBuck