It is time…
The Summer of 2017 brings another family roadtrip escapade. On Friday, August 11th, my parents and I will be jumping on a flight once more, bound for St. Louis, Missouri. From there we will rent our minivan and spend 16 days in a clockwise motion around at least 9 central eastern states (possibly more). This thread will keep the usual journals logged as our days unfold, provided we’re graced with an internet connection. There won’t be much speed-running this time around. In fact, only half of our travels will be in “roadtrip mode” while the other half will focus around visiting Dad’s extended family, concentrated in Kentucky and Alabama.
Normally we make a point to avoid traveling during the hot summer and opt for spring or fall instead, but this is a special exception. The primary and highest-priority goal will be the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21st. This entire road trip has been designed around those 160 seconds of dwelling in the moon’s shadow, which none of us ever had the privilege to bear witness. Our destination for this event is the small town of Spring City, Tennessee, which sits on the eclipse centerline, and where they’re expecting up to 10,000 people. This target could change depending on weather or traffic, so we’ll need to be on alert in case contingency plans need to be executed for maximum viewing odds.
Secondary goals will be the St. Louis Gateway Arch, visiting everything Abe Lincoln in Springfield, IL, and the Ford Museum in Detroit, MI. Tertiaries include all the state capitols as we come across them. It’s quite possible this will be our first major roadtrip without hitting a single National Park or Monument, as you can see by our proposed route on Google Maps.
Here’s what’s in store:
Day 0 (Aug 11) - Travel Day, fly to (STL) St. Louis - Gateway Arch - stay in Troy, IL
Day 1 (Aug 12) - Springfield, IL (Abe Lincoln Day 1)
Day 2 (Aug 13) - Springfield, IL (Abe Lincoln Day 2) - stay in Danville, IL
Day 3 (Aug 14) - Indianapolis, IN - stay in Goldwater, MI
Day 4 (Aug 15) - Lansing, MI - Jackson, MI - stay in Livonia, MI
Day 5 (Aug 16) - Detroit, MI - Ford Museum - stay in Marion, OH
Day 6 (Aug 17) - Columbus, OH - arrive in Whitesburg, KY (4 nights)
Day 7-9 (Aug 18-20) - Family visits in Kentucky and Virginia
Day 10 (Aug 21) - Spring City, TN - Solar Eclipse - arrive in Madison, AL (4 nights)
Day 11-13 (Aug 22-24) - Family visits in Alabama
Day 14 (Aug 25) - Nashville/Memphis, TN (??)
Day 15 (Aug 26) - Sikeston, MO
Day 16 (Aug 27) - Travel Day, fly home (SAN)
I’ve been struggling to come up with a plan for Days 14-15 after leaving Madison, AL (near Huntsville). We all visited Memphis, TN some years back so we’re not itching to go there again, and no one has much interest in country music so Nashville isn’t exactly on our A-list either (although it is another capitol I could knock off the bucket list). Could there be something in the fringes of Mississippi and Arkansas to check out (any excuse to mark off more states for my folks)? There’s also a Land Between the Lakes NRA straddling western Tennessee/Kentucky, although from what I’ve researched I can’t tell if it’s a worthy highlight or just a meh place to drive through. I’m truly stuck with this one. Whatever is decided, we need to be in Sikeston, MO by the end of Day 15 in order to launch us back to St. Louis for our flight home. Any of you with ideas for this area, we’re open to hearing it!
Ah yes, and of course where would you be without our vast collection of past roadtrips:
RT01 - Summer 2005 - 48 States in 30 Days [Website] [Pics]
RT02 - Fall 2006 - The Great West [Thread] [Pics]
RT02a - Spring 2007 - Las Vegas, NV and back [Pics]
RT03 - Spring 2007 - The National Parks of Utah [Thread] [Pics]
RT03a - Fall 2007 - San Francisco, CA and back [Thread] [Pics]
RT03b - Spring 2008 - Cambria, CA and back [Pics]
RT04 - Fall 2008 - New Mexico and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival [Thread] [Pics]
RT04a - Spring 2009 - Sedona, AZ and back [Thread] [Pics]
RT05 - Fall 2009 - Washington, D.C. and the New England states [Thread] [Pics]
RT06 - Fall 2011 - Victoria, BC and the Pacific Coast [Thread] [Pics]
RT06a - Spring 2012 - The CA Mojave Desert and back [Thread] [Pics]
RT07 - Spring 2013 - Alaska and the Arctic Frontier [Thread] [Pics]
RT08 - Fall 2014 - The Upper Midwest [Thread] [Pics]
RT08a - Spring 2017 - The Hawaiian Islands and back [Thread] [Pics]
The show will begin momentarily…