Thanks to AZBuck, Arizona Bob and a load of others who gave great advice in the archives, I have planned out a few stops, but could use some help in between.
[start] New York
1) Pittsburgh, PA
2) Cleveland, OH
3) Sandusky, OH
4) Chicago, IL
5) St. Louis, MO
6) Oklahoma City, OK
7) Grand Canyon, AZ
8) Las Vegas, NV
[finish] Los Angeles, CA
Please recommend some additional places for us to see, especially along Route 66.
A friend and I are leaving on Tuesday and hope to get to LA within 7-10 days. Our focus is to visit national monuments and eat great food along the way.
CAMPING question: we don't have any of our own equipment. Are there rentals on site usually, or should we abandon the idea of camping altogether?
COOLER question: I have a cooler bag. I've found links on Google that recommend using ice packs rather than ice cubes, because ice cubes make the cooler heavier and may cause rips in the lining. What's the consensus on this? I know ice packs are pretty expensive ($3-4 each) relative to regular bags of ice cubes. Are they really worth it?