Roadtrip #1: The Lower 48 States in 30 days

[Kinless]

Hey roadtrippers...

Some of you who have been on these boards for a while may remember my old post last summer about taking an extensive roadtrip through the 48 contiguous states in 30 days. Gen and Gary may remember it.

Well the time has come for my formal announcement. I have my 2 best friends prepped to go and our launch date is Sunday, July 17, 2005 at high noon. We have finalized the route as much as we can plan for. My month of vacation time has been put in, and I've got the reservation for renting a minivan with unlimited mileage (thanks to a friend who got me a great discount).

We have about 10 complimentary overnighters (thanks to friends and family spread out across the states) and the rest of the destinations are subject to spontaneous decisions. (Sounds more fun that way.)

The top highlights of this roadtrip will be (for me) the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, New Orleans, Washington DC, New York, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Seattle.

Now, for those of you who might be interested in tracking us, I have developed a a page on my website dedicated to this roadtrip. It has an XML-fed interactive map that I'll be updating on the road, tracking where we are. It also has a dynamic blogger and picture gallery that I can update from anywhere. If you rollover our destinations you can read about the city, mileage and descriptions.

I am still accepting all kinds of advice on what to see and pointers for this trip. I have budgeted $5,000, with almost half of it being for gas and the rental. It's kind of conservative, but the goal isn't to be spending money. Most of the highlights for me will be free endeavours.

I'm anxious to hear feedback from all of you. If you have problems viewing the site, let me know (as I haven't had a wide audience viewing it yet and there could be some bugs). Looking forward to it!

[PNW Judy]

I love your website! Can you give me any hints on how to build such a great site. What software you used? Other? Wow!!

I'm thinking that gas could easily be 1/3 of your budget. Are you sure you've budgeted enough? I think it's doable but you will have to be extremely careful. I'm just curious how you came up with that budget. Maybe some of us can give you hints on that if we know what you're figuring with.

I love your route. Of course, you're missing some great stuff but I'm sure you know that. You will definitely be dipping at least a tire into every state. Do you have any sidetrips or specific stops planned? Maybe I should check out all your pop-ups on your site. Maybe you've covered that?

I envy you. Hope to hear more about your specific plans before you leave.

[Kinless]

Thanks Miss Judy

Actually that's my profession for the day job, programming websites (front end and back end). I've been doing this stuff for 8 years, and it's taken me a long time to get where I'm at. I hand-code all my stuff because I hate WYSIWYG editors. I use Dreamweaver's text editor because it knows what language you're working with and autofills tags and values as you type.

According to all the mileage calculators, my gas expense shouldn't be more than $1500. I'm only paying half of that. My other 2 friends are splitting the other half.

I know I'll be missing some places, but the primary goal is to set foot in all 48 states, even if I have to make sacrifices for what I want to see (if we fall behind schedule). No sidetrips really, what you see on the route is what I'll pretty much be doing. The path, of course, is tentative but I'll be able to change it on the fly if something diverges.

[Quebec Gen]

Hi Joey,

I'm glad to see you finally made the trip work! Pretty cool site you got there! I'll have to go back later when I have more time. I saw you plan to go through the Black Hills. You could take the highway that goes through Badlands east of there (I believe it is route 44, but I'm not sure), if you follow this route all the way, you'll end up in Rapid City and then you can make it to Mt Rushmore. In Nebraska, SR26 follows more or less the path of the original Oregon Trail so there are plenty of sites to see if you're interested in history. There is Chimney Rock (between Bridgeport and Scottsbluff), the Courthouse and Jailhouse Rocks, Scottsbluff Nat'l Monument (if you run out of time, just drive up the hill, the view is beautiful from up there). Further west on that route is Ft Laramie, WY and Register Cliffs in Guernsey, WY.

If you go to 4 Corners, you have to drive SR163 through Monument Valley (AZ-UT). If you stay overnight in Joplin, MO make sure your motel or campground is located far enough from the railroad because trains are really noisy and they keep whistling and whistling even at night (many hotels are near the tracks). In RI, the Marble House is great if this is your kind of thing. In NH, if you go through the White Mountains and don't have any time for some hiking drive to the top of Mt Washington. In Lincoln, there is a nice campground called Country Bumpkins.

Maybe more ideas will come later, I got to get going!

Gen

[PNW Judy]

Joey, I didn't realize you were sharing expenses. In that case, $5000 should be more than ample.

When I have more time, I'll try to look more closely at your route to see if I can offer any suggestions for quick excursions.

Off the top of my head, the main advice I would give is to check out Mt. St. Helens. It's an amazing site. At Castle Rock, WA (about 60 minutes/60 miles south of Olympia, WA), you will want to go east on Spirit Highway. It's well-marked and easy to find. At Castle Rock itself, if you have time, check out the "Eruption of Mt. St. Helens" movie in an IMAX theater. Great film. Then drive up to the Johnston Memorial Ridge Center. There is a nice visitor center there with films and very well done displays. And you can look right down into the crater. It was closed for awhile earlier this year because of some activity at MSH but is now re-opened. It's about an hour there but well worth veering off your route for.

[Kinless]

St. Helens sounds like a fabulous idea. I'm a pretty big geological nerd when it comes to things like that. Of course, like everything else, it depends on the time we have.

Although now I hear that Yellowstone itself is pretty jumpin' and more potentially dangerous these days. (All the more reason to visit) :-D


Gen, actually we'd stay near traintrack-laden hotels on purpose, because my two best friends are total train nerds. I like 'em too, but they're out of control. :) Thanks for the pointers. I'm rather looking forward to that 4 Corners dealie.

[Midwest Michael]

Great Website, that is just awesome.

If you like geology, let me suggest a stop at Niagra Cave near Harmony Minnesota. It's a pretty interesting place, and should be pretty close to your route from Dyersville to Minneapolis.

For that day, I'd also suggest going to Madison instead of Milwaukee. It will be a little shorter drive, and you could stretch your legs and have lunch on state street, a nice pedestrian mall that runs between the state capitol and the university of wisconsin.

If you do go via Milwaukee, make sure and stop in Racine to pick up a kringle for breakfast. Its a great Danish that's sort of a cross between a crossaint and a jelly donut.

Speaking of food, the Runza you've got planned for your stop in Nebraska is very much worth it. I wouldn't drive 8000 miles to eat one, but if you're going to be there anyway, you can't find a food more "Nebraska" than runza.

[Mark Sedenquist]

.. We have finalized the route as much as we can plan for. My month of vacation time has been put in, and I've got the reservation for renting a minivan with unlimited mileage (thanks to a friend who got me a great discount).

I will add my kudos for your site as well -- it will be fun to watch the trip and experience unfold. When you get to Las Vegas, give us a shout (contact info) . In the meantime, Las Vegas is our home and these are a few of the places and things we have found rather amazing...

We have about 10 complimentary overnighters (thanks to friends and family spread out across the states) and the rest of the destinations are subject to spontaneous decisions. (Sounds more fun that way.)

ABSOLUTELY!

Mark

[PNW Judy]

Joey, I'm a bit off your path out here on the coast of WA State. However, I'd love to play tour guide to you when you hit Washington. Especially is you can squeeze in a side-trip to Mt. St. Helens. Anyway, feel free to email me directly at acarter@techline if you want to arrange a meet-up. If you email me, I'll give you my phone number as well. If I can swing it, I'd love to have a chance to meet up with you and hear your trip report in person. And, if you have time to swing out my way, we have a hide-a-bed!

[zxa]

Nice site and looks like a great trip - I've done the east and the west, but would love to visit all states in one drive - I've been in about 30 states, the ones still left are from Oregon over to ND and down to Texas. I did some costings for myself (if I went alone) and I came up with:

4 weeks car hire Thrifty (Taurus): $1000 including ldw
30 nights hotel: $50 a night: $1500
10000 miles gas: $900
Miscellaneous food etc $30 day: $900

Even travelling alone that would come in at under your budget, but sharing with 2 others is going to bring rental/hotel and gas way down. I reckon you could do it on $2500 easily. You could pay more in better htels, but on a road trip it's a waste of money in my view, I begrudge paying a lot for a one night stop and you can usually get cut price hotels using the coupons in the free mags you get at Denny's & McD's.

In Atlanta (probably on your way there), Stone Mountain is well worth a stop. Also in Niagra a visit to the Canadian side is worth it - just walk over the bridge. I stayed at the Comfort Inn on the US side and it's ok. As for Newark, NJ ... drive on dude, it's no tourist spot (no disrespect to residents).

At least you've got someone to share the driving, when i went my friend didn't drive ... and after 4000 miles you feel pretty fatigued. Have a good time, wish I was going on a trip like that soon.