Trip Plan - Memphis, TN to Settle, WA

[Russ(Bolivia)]

My wife and I will be driving from Wilmington, North Carolina to Settle, Washington during October 2006. We will be delivering a car to our daughter, who is starting graduate school at the University of Washington in September (she is flying out).

We are combining this into a “Road Trip” adventure. We have done the southern route to California (I-10/US-90) in the past and would like to do a more Northern route to Settle. We are allowing three weeks (actually two weeks and four days) for the road trip, we will be flying back to NC.

We are 60 years old and are looking for unusual things; not the standard interstate highway stuff – although we will drive them between long distances. We retired from the Air Force, where we saw much of the world. I now work for the Federal Government as an electrical engineer and the wife does whatever she wants. We can’t hike trails anymore (at least not far, wife has bad foot – I once hiked to the bottom and back to the rim of the Grand Canyon in one day), but do like nature views, farm shows, State Fairs, unusual places to eat, museums, unusual shopping, things you just can’t get or do in cities…

We are starting to plan this trip now and are seeking routes, places to visit, etc… We will be going from Wilmington to Memphis, TN, but from there to Settle is wide open.

Any suggestions on routes and things/places to see would be appreciated. Will the weather be a problem if we take a Northern route in October?

Our plan is to stay in motels and eat out at least twice/day. Other than that, most anything goes.

TKS

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Unfortunately, the midwestern State Fairs are largely in late August through the middle of September, and so will be over when you make your trip. And County Fairs are even earlier. But some southern State Fairs take place in October, such as the Alabama National Fair, the Arkansas State Fair, the Georgia National Fair, the North Carolina State Fair, the State Fair of Texas and others. Perhaps you could visit a few of these either before or after your stop in Memphis.

Otherwise, I think you might want to leave Memphis and generally follow US-62 across northern Arkansas and into the Ozarks before heading up through Kansas. Fort Scott National Historic Site would make a great stop and is typical of the better preserved old cavalry forts. You can then continue up towards Grand Island, Nebraska, where you can join either US-30 or I-80 to follow the Platte River westward along the old route of the Oregon Trail.

Once you reach the Rockies, US-287 will take you to places like Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Glacier National Park. By the time you get as far north as Glacier, weather may start to become a factor. Many park services will close for the winter in late September, and temperatures will be cooling off rapidly, but most years the roads through the mountains should still be open, and the Interstates certainly will be. My own last visit to Yellowstone was in October and it was glorious. I practically had the park to myself on some days.

You've left yourselves lots of time to explore, and I've suggested one possible general route, but it's only one of many. Once you have a clearer idea of how you'll proceed across the continent, check back and maybe I or some other contributor can help fill in some details.

AZBuck