moving to Colorado

[armaresh]

I'm moving to Colorado Springs from Cleveland. I'll be making the drive in August and would like to make the trip as interesting as possible. I have 4-5 days to complete the trip and would appreciate advice from those who have travelled this route. Is it best to take I70 or I80? Can you suggest good stopping points 350-400 miles along the way. Are there any interesting detours or sights along the way that I should not miss? Any suggestions about travelling with a cat? I've already learned a lot from researching this site -- thanks for being here!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

There is no 'best' way to go, only the way that appeals most to you. The two routes (I-80/I-76/I-25 vs. I-71/I-70/US-24) are less than 4 miles different in length out of a total distance of 1400 miles. There are a few more large cities (Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City) on the southern route as compared to the northern route which, other than going right through the heart of Denver, skirts the south side of Chicago and then has 'only' moderately sized Des Moines and Omaha. Still, if I were doing this, I'd take the southern (I-70) route because some of the sights along it appeal to me. These would include the Air Force Museum in Dayton, the Speedway in Indianapolis, the Arch and Riverfront in St. Louis, and the Truman Home in Independence. But there are other things along the northern (I-80) route as well including the Amana Colonies in Iowa, the old Oregon Trail, and perhaps a side trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. You can pick either way for whatever reason you like and feel perfectly confident that you have chosen the right route. On the northern route, 400 mile legs would have you stopping in central Illinois around Peru/La Salle, Omaha, and say Julesburg, CO. while similarly spaced stops on the southern route would put you in Terre Haute, Kansas City, and extreme western Kansas around Goodland.

As for travelling with a cat, I think the best I can do is to refer you to this thread where the topic is discussed by people who know a good bit more than I do.

AZBuck

[4482]

I drove to Colorado Springs from Cleveland in October of 2002. We drove there via I-80 and drove back via I-70. I thought the northern route was much better than going through the big cities along I-70. The first night we stopped in Grinnel Iowa and the second night in North Platte Nebraska. From there it was an easy run into Colorado Springs.
We are driving to San Diego this October and I'm going to take I-80 again down through Denver, Las Vegas and on to San Diego. I'll come back via AZ,
NM,TX and cut up to I-70 at St.Louis, which I'm not look forward to seeing again.

Take the high road !

Carl