Two Danish guys crossing the US in 25 days (Aug-Sep '06)

Hi everybody,

Firstly I’d like to apologize for my poor written English.

We’re two Danish guys (25 and 23 years old) who are planning to cross the US in approx. 25 days beginning late August 2006.

We’ll start out in Miami and end the trip in San Francisco.

Our problem is that we don’t really know which cities and places rock and which, well doesn’t.

We’ve never been on a road trip before so we need some general advice regarding how much you want to drive each day, should you stay off the interstate ect.

In average we would like to restrict the travel time to aprox. 2-3 hours per day.

We don’t mind taking a few long stretches (6-12 hours) if it means we’ll be able to relax and enjoy a cool place for a couple of days.

I’ve attached to JPEGs that I created with Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006. They’re very rough travel plans.

But which cool sightings shouldn’t we miss in Florida and on our way trough Georgia, N. and S. Carolina. Is it worth taking the time and extra miles to see Washington D.C.?

What shouldn’t we miss in Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas?
And what about New Mexico and Arizona?

We want to experience both the great American cities and some of the awesome American nature and scenic spots like Grand Canyon and the great Redwood forests ect.

We’ve both been in the US before, but only in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and Chicago.

/Jeppe
Copenhagen, Denmark

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Let's just say that your English is a lot better than my Danish and leave it at that. If you're going to restrict your driving to 2-3 hours a day, you can only count on covering less than 200 miles if you stay on the Interstates (motorways, autoroutes, autobahns, autostrade, don't know the Danish term) or about 100 to 150 miles if you stay on the side roads. The problem is that America is a huge country. Your Trip_1a is about 3370 miles and your Trip_2a is 4460 miles so it would take you 17-22 days at 200 miles per day. So keep that in mind as you plan. But certainly you will have your choice of what roads to drive and won't have to stick to the highways. Other than those general tips, let me just list a few of the highlights along your two routes. There's lots more, of course, but these will get you started.

Worthwhile stops and some cities that rock along your southern route, Trip_1a
Evergaldes National Park: Unique swamplands
Titusville: Kennedy Space Center
Orlando, FL: Disney World, Universal Studios
Gainesville, FL: University of Florida
Savannah, GA: Charming southern city
Atlanta, GA: Vibrant, modern city - site of 96(?) Olympics
Nashville, TN: The home of American country music - Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame
Memphis, TN: Blues on Beale Street, Mud Island model of the Mississippi
Hot Springs, AR: National Park
Murfreesboro, AR: Crater of Diamonds State Park - only place in the world where you can dig up and keep diamonds
Dallas, TX: Kennedy assassination site and museum, urban cowboy night life
Quitaque, TX: Caprocks State Park - Badlands topography
Raton, NM: Capulin Volcano National Monument- drive to the top of an extinct volcano and hike the rim
Santa Fe, NM: Plaza of the Governors
Albuquerque, NM: Petroglyphs National Monument
Petrified Forest National Park
Grand Canyon National Park
Las Vegas, NV: Besides the obvious, check out Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area and Valley of Fire State Park
Death Valley National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
Yosemite National Park

Additional stops and cities along your northern route, Trip_2a
Dillon, SC: South of the Border - a unique American roadside stop
Washington, DC: Smithsonian museums, the Mall
Columbus, OH: Ohio State University
Dayton, OH: US Air Force Museum
St.Louis, MO: The Gateway Arch, Riverboat cruise on the Mississippi

AZBuck

AzBuck has given you many great sights along the way.

Please keep in mind what AzBuck has already said about 200 or less miles per day. You may barely make it to San Francisco! You will want to have time to see all these places along the way. This will mean driving more than 2-3 hrs per day MOST days.

Think of driving from Copenhagen to Madrid Spain AND BACK to Copenhagen. That is about 3,100 miles.
You still have another 500 - 1,400 miles to reach San Francisco! (depending on route Trip-1a or Trip-2a)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jeppezdk

I’ve attached to JPEGs that I created with Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006. They’re very rough travel plans.

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Jeppe, as much as I would like to use MS Streets & Trips maps on this forum, it is a violation of copyright to do so. One of these days we will get our mapping program installed, but in the meantime we can't display them on this forum. Sorry.

Here's a few suggestions in North Florida/ South Georgia

St. Augustine, Florida
Okeefenoke Swamp Park - where you can take a boat ride in the swamp with lots of alligators.
Savannah, Georgia is a must. Charlestown SC is also a great southern city to visit.
Cumberland Island (Georgia)


I use to live in DC and believe that it is worth the trip. Lots to see and a hopping night life; so is Atlanta and Memphis.