The Ultimate American Road Trip

I no longer have a computer at home, and thus must access email by cellphone. Gmail is not working on my cell, so my direct contact should be to cascadia4@aol.com

What a wonderful trip you have planned! How exciting. I am not so numbers oriented as other posters so I have a different method for suggesting a way to plan for your trip. I would suggest you have 3 - 4 places that are MUST SEEs for your trip. Design the trip so that you can, as much as possible, see these places during your first two weeks. Then, the rest of the trip is a great gift to yourself. I think that it is only theoretically possible to plan a journey -- so much of the adventure unfolds while you are in the midst of it. So, you won't be able to make some of your destination decisions until you are actually on the road.

By the way, I do respectfully disagree with one of the other postings. My visit to the Bonneville Salt Flats was a very pleasant experience -- I experienced a feeling of freedom and openess not found anywhere else. And, its as fun as heck to drive out on the salt flats as fast as you can go! :-D So, I recommend going to the places that call to you whether they are "big ticket" places or not.

One last note, 'glad you have the US Air Force Museum at Wright Pat on your list. I live not too far from there and think it is an outstanding place to visit. You won't be disappointed -- and except for the IMAX theater, it is ALL FREE.

'Keep us posted on your planning -- and where you actually go on your trip.

"One last note, 'glad you have the US Air Force Museum at Wright Pat on your list. I live not too far from there and think it is an outstanding place to visit. You won't be disappointed -- and except for the IMAX theater, it is ALL FREE."
Yeah, I was born on WPAFB.

And I believe I'm going to cut back my ambitions for this trip, in the interests of actually getting to DO things, so it'll either be a:

1) New England + East Coast + Appalachians + The South
or
2) Route 66 East, California, The West

I can't decide, but it'll be 1.5 months, still.

I know youth & curiousity are a wonderful thing. But as you get older you will want to stop & smell the roses. I am 57 now & still trying to see America. At 18 my 1st vacation with friends not family was to just FL from NJ. I have tried to plan a bigger trip every other year & just go to New England or Canada on the off year.

Other years I I traveled only to HI. I have also done CA several times & worth revisiting again. Still did not see it all because of not enough time. Did CO,NM & WY on another trip. Another time ND, SD. A few years ago went to OH plenty to do. This year going to OH, IL, IN, WI & MN. Trying to get the Midwest done now & may go to MO next year.

With the trip you have planned all you will get is an overview & see the "lay of the land" from the road. What about meeting the people & having time to "see" the sights.
You will only get to see what you want to come to see again. And thats ok if thats what you want. It is your trip. But think you will miss the culture part that way.

I live in NJ & there is alot of history in NJ. George Washington slept everywhere here too. Ft. Lee has interesting historical park right close to GW BRidge. If you want to see NJ though I would not use NJ Turnpike that is only the worst parts (at least in the Northern section around Elizabeth/Newark Airport) just plain smelly but it is a faster road.

There is the ocean and its crowded beaches here but alot of kids your age will be there. Seaside Heights has the boardwalk.

Congrats on being a Buckeye by birth! It's a great place to live.

Either one of your modified routes would be outstanding. For me, I am hoping to do the Route 66 trip you describe. My husband and I have a dream of driving to Chicago, getting on Route 66 and taking it all the way to Santa Monica.

By the way, if you take the Western route you described, Highway 50 (the loneliest highway) is really fun if you like solitude. Area 51 and Rachel, Nevada are extremely memorable trips.

Hey, my best advice for the perfect road trip is to have fun. Like a couple of others said pick a few places that are a must to see then wing it! Id go as far as to skip the planning too, maybe look up some roads and possible places to stay along the way, but as long as you have a road map and a load of AAA tour books your all set. En-route planning is a blast, adds some excitement, especially with 1.5 months, nothing is more fun than in the middle of the trip to say screw it we are going to .... Along the lines of places to see, hit up a few "unique" places like "South of the Border" nothing gets to you like a 70 foot sombrero when you enter South Carolina (other experienced road trippers know what im talking about). Additionally, your just STARTING college, no use in burning all the fun quite yet. You have another 4 years to be crazy, and once your 21 the real fun will begin with trips and what not. Another couple of other ideas would be to try and stop by a few colleges and see if you can chill there hit up a few parties, coming from someone who lived at school for 3 yrs (including summers) having people stop by in the summer kept it interesting. To maybe help your decision of East coast, midwest or whatever, I've been up and down the east coast multiple times, the advantage its more compact, very historic, and new england has awesome summer nights (ill admit i am from NE, but now reside in the Mid-Atlantic). Below is a short list of cool colleges to stop by, and opinions on some east coast places ive been.

Colleges that rock:
-Univ. of Delaware (Alma mater)
-Univ. of Richmond (in VA)
-Univ. of Florida
-Univ. of Conn (but not much there in summer)

East Coast Places (just a few, and just my opinions)
-Myrtle Beach - Spent a week there it was unreal
-Florida (central) - Thunderstroms like crazy, but UFL rocks
-Florida (gulf coast) - Great, also saw evergaldes which id say is a must for natural wonders
-Atlanta - was there for New Years 2005 and Peach Bowl - it was craziness
-Atlantic City - not impressed, Vegas was much better, which brings me to an important point. Once you and your college buddies are 21 you go to vegas, just do it.
-Ocean City, NJ - again not impressed
-Virginia Beach - was there to short looks like a good time
-Boston - a Red Sox game is a must if your up there, historic city, but best enjoyed if your 21
-NY (upstate) - very scenic, visit niagra falls, and adirondack mts (a place called lake george around there) also copperstown.
-Vermont/NH - VERY SCENIC from my passing through, id suggest lake champlain
-Maine (coastline) - great, visit an island
-Chattanooga, TN - was there for 24 hrs Dec 2003 NCAA Div II football championship, everything is still a blur.
-Blue Ridge Mts (VA,etc) - scenic, not bad
-Baltimore - Camden rocks, inner harbor rules, better once 21
-Annapolis,MD - very historic, tour Naval Academy
-Philadelphia - OK, was there in winter so it was cold
-Gettysburg - AWESOME!!! mainly because I love history

Let me know if you want more!

I have no clue how you would visit 50 states in 8 days -- short of taking the Concorde! ;-D Would you mind sharing both your 43 day route and your 8 day route? 'Not sure I would ever have the endurance for it, but I am intrigued.

Cool, thanks. I live in Ft. Wayne, IN, so it'll be an awesome Route 66 trip right from Chicago if we decide to do it.

Summary: 7532 miles (8 days, 0 hour, 20 minutes)

8/1/03 to 8/8/03

Hyder, Alaska to Seattle, Wa (Various Canadian hwys)
Seattle (Fly) to Maui, return to Seattle
Seattle (I-90 East)( detour to Umitilla, Or)to I-15 South
I-15 south to Utah, I-80 east to Wyoming, return to I-15
I-15 south to Las Vegas, US 93 south to Needles, Ca
Pickup I-40 in Kingman to Tucumcari, NM
US 54, US 385, US 287, US 40 to I-70 in Kansas, crossing Texas and Okla panhandles into Colorado and Kansas
I-70 E to I-29 N Missouri, Nebraska ( quick out and back on I-80 in Omaha)Iowa, S. Dakota, N.Dakota
SR 11,9,79 to I-94 in Minn.
I-94 to I-90 through Wisc and Illinois
I-80/90 to I-94 Mich
I-65 to I-74 through Ind, and Cincinnati, Oh
I-71 to Louisville
I-65 to Nashville, I-40 to Memphis, I-55 to New Orleans
I-10 to I-65 in Mobile, local roads to Florida line and back to I-65.
I-65 to I-85, to I-77 Ga, SC, NC
I-81 to I-70 to I-95 VA,WV,MD,DE,PA,NJ,NY,CT
I-91 to MA and VT
SR 101 to I-95 for NH
I-95 north to Maine, reverse direction I-95 south to RI


I would like to make another attempt at 50 States in under a week. I can improve on this route. Just waiting for the right time and right charity to the raise money for.

Enjoy!

Gary