Need Summer Cross-Country Road Trip Advice

[NateDee]

My family and I are moving from Tampa, FL, to Salem, OR. A couple weeks ago we completed a 3-week road trip with our 3 boys in our Class A RV - due to the time of year we had to take a southernly route to avoid snow and ice as much as possible (though we were faced with a manageable amount of snow at times). Our path took us through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and all the way up California on I-5.

I have to make a second trip to get my F-250 and two dogs there sometime in early to mid-June.

I have very little knowledge west of the Mississippi. I am hoping to do a completely different route to see new areas (and avoid Texas). I would prefer to take a more northerly route and am hoping that it is safe enough in mid-June. I would like to take as many "scenic" routes as possible without going hours out of the way. Elevation is totally fine with me as long as it doesn't require chains - which I assume to ok in June.

I would appreciate any recommended routes or points of interest - keep in mind I will have two dogs so that may prevent me some being able to do some non-pet friendly things. Thank you!!!

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There are probably an uncountable number of ways to get from one corner of the country to another, so I'm going to give you just one that I would find reasonable in length, and possessing scenic, historic and maybe even quirky attributes. But your restriction that don't want to go "hours out of the way" is actually pretty significant given that the shortest possible route clocks in at around 45 hours of driving time, a minimum of six days.

Fortunately that route is fairly scenic and historic in its own right. It would be I-75 to Chattanooga, I-24 to I-57 in western Kentucky, I-57 to Mt. Vernon IL, I-64 to St Louis, I-70 to Kansas City, I-29 to Nebraska City, IA/KS-2 to Lincoln NE where you'd use US-77 to connect to I-80, I-80 to I-84 near Salt Lake City, I-84 to Portland OR and finally I-5 to Salem. Atlanta, St. Louis and Portland are the only large metropolitan areas you'd have to negotiate and all have beltways that would let you avoid driving through downtown.

A few stops, scenic areas or short detours along that route would include several Civil War battlefields between Atlanta and Nashville including Resaca, Chickamauga, and Murfreesboro/Stones River. You could then Use US-68/I-69 between Cadiz and Calvert City KY to explore Land Between the Lakes. St. Louis has several places worth visiting, my favorite being Grant's Farm, home of the Budweiser Clydesdales, but your next big stretch of interesting road would be I-80 through Nebraska which follows the Platte River and the old Oregon Trail. Just off your route north from Salt Lake city is Willard Bay State Park for a chance to experience a unique body of water. In southern Idaho I-84 follows the Snake River, but this is also a chance to get off the Interstate and follow the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway. Most of the rest of the trip would be through the Blue and Cascade mountain ranges and the scenery should take care of itself.

For smaller stops all along the major Interstates, check out these listings.

AZBuck

[Southwest Dave]

How much time will you have available for your second trip with the dogs ? As Buck mentioned, there are too many options and combinations to count so a good place to start might be to look over the maps and see what places appeal to you and see how you could include them in the time you have. Personally, Colorado and Utah would be calling to me with the great and diverse scenery and amazing scenic drives on offer. Around this site you will find some great sources of info from searching the forums to checking out the maps and other planning links in the tool bars at the top and bottom of each page. Once you have some ideas put together we can help with the finer details and answer any questions you may have.