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Greetings! I'm new to this forum, so please bear with me, if I make any mistakes. I've read the rules, but I'm not perfect.
A longtime friend and I are moving to Asheville, North Carolina. We're driving out from San Diego and are keen on visiting some sites and camping out in national parks en route. My question is, are there any interesting places off the beaten path that we should put on our "visit list"?
Thanks!
~Tin
Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !
There are literally thousands of interesting places, but those that are of interest to me, could be a must avoid to you. So the first thing you should do is a little research and find things on your wish list. Once you have a few markers on the map you can start to join the dots and fill in the blanks and see a route begin to form. Once you have narrowed it down, told us more about yourselves (interests, how much time you have etc) we can then help you fine tune the details and suggest things along the way that you might not have considered.
It is a bit off the "direct route" to Asheville, but detouring a bit via the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde NP (stay two nights to go on a tour), Great Sand Dune National Monument and then angle your way to the I-40 for Memphis, Nashville and Asheville. Mesa Verde has a large campground so an advanced campsite reservation usually isn't necessary. Makes good sense for reservations at the Grand Canyon and Great Sand Dune. I assumed you are planning to camp out at the national parks.
My biggest piece of advice would be to get yourself some maps or, at the least, a decent atlas (many places in the San Diego area sell the Rand McNally). My husband and I look at the US map in the atlas, decide on some basic places we "have to see", then go to AAA and get the maps that we need. Maps will show you all of those national parks, and will give you a better idea of how it all fits together.
How long do you have for the trip? A point-to-point direct route will take you about 5-6 days without adding in any sight-seeing.
Donna