Road Trip From Philadelphia

[lostoros34]

Hi all,

My wife and I are from Philadelphia and after having to cancel two vacation flights due to COVID, we are trying a safer, more 'grounded' vacation idea in September. We are thinking about a 2-3 week road trip from here, but I'm unsure of what is realistic. We want to take our time and enjoy ourselves, but also want to see some sights we're been hoping to see for a while. The things on our list are: Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Voyageurs NP, Theodore Roosevelt NP, Badlands NP and Arches NP. Obviously we would be taking a northern route, but haven't thought much about the route back yet. Is this doable in 2-3 weeks? Both working from home we can be a bit flexible and work on the road can happen as long as there is wifi, so we're not super concerned about a hard return date. We're sticking to natural sights to keep it safe from COVID and have been taking it seriously. We will also have our pup with us!

Any thoughts or tips are appreciated! Thanks!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Yes, it is possible to do the trip you envision in two to three weeks, although three would make it much more relaxing of course. And while there are no guarantees of safety being out and about during a pandemic, if you take sensible precautions such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and washing your hands often, it will certainly be safer than confining yourselves in an aluminum sausage, especially now that some airlines have started trying to fill every seat on the plane again.

Since you've included Arches NP in your list, the obvious return route would be a 'central' one through, say, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky and then up along the Appalachians back to south-central PA and home. Just a few of the highlights of such a routing might be the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Dodge City, the Ozarks, Land Between the Lakes, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Since you're just looking for rough ideas at this point, I think I'll leave it there, but I will just say that I often took long RoadTrips with my own dog and he loved it. I also enjoyed the fact that he caused (I won't say 'forced') me to make many pleasant stops in forested settings for short walks. Don't hesitate to come back for more advice as your plans firm up.

AZBuck