Springfield, MO, is the home of Bass Pro Shops, and they have a HUGE store there. Restaurants, camping gear, and you name it. It could substitute for the Baxter Springs stop.

Before Albuquerque is a nice little Rt 66 stop over town, Santa Rosa, with a very inexpensive and super clean motel with frig and microwave in the room.

There is a wealth of scenery, hiking, camping in Utah and Western Colorado, including Mesa Verde. All the car time could result in bone weary bodies that need some fresh air and stretching rather than just windshield tours ;) My trade-off would be some longer driving days on your return journey, e.g.,, from Denver to Chicago, for some quality time in the national parks.

The AAA state maps show a lot of scenic roads. There are also several travel guides you might find at the library or bookstore on scenic routes (browse through them to see which ones are most appropriate to your needs).

Quote Originally Posted by somers515 View Post
Thank you all for the feedback. Super helpful to me to bounce ideas off you all. I kinda felt like I had to make it to CA but I don't HAVE to. I think this revised trip gives us more time to camp/hike in Grand Canyon and Colorado mountains and I further scaled back any longer days, now there is nothing over 500 miles. Keep the input coming! It is appreciated!

Day 1 Leave HOME to Hershey, PA (son may have a soccer game) - 140 miles
Day 2 to Madison, WV (coal mine museum) - 410 miles
Day 3 thru Lexington, KY (churchill downs) to Louisville, KY (louisville slugger) - 270 miles
Day 4 to St. Louis, MO (gateway arch, mississippi river) - 260 miles
Day 5 to Baxter Springs, KS (Route 66) - 330 miles
Day 6 thru Oklahoma City, OK (oklahoma city national memorial) to Amarillo, TX - 470 miles
Day 7 to Alburquerque, NM (nuclear science museum) - 290 miles
Day 8 to Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - 390 miles
Day 9 Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - 0 day
Day 10 Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - 0 day
Day 11 to Las Vegas, NV & Hoover Dam - 270 miles
Day 12 to Zion National Park, UT - 160 miles
Day 13 to White River National Forest/Aspen, CO - 490 miles
Day 14 White River National Forest - 0 day
Day 15 White River National Forest - 0 day
Day 16 to Denver, CO - 200 miles
Day 17 to North Platte, NE - 265 miles
Day 18 to Omaha, NE - 280 miles
Day 19 to Iowa City, IO - 250 miles
Day 20 to Chicago, IL - 220 miles
Day 21 Chicago - 0 day
Day 22 to Dearborn, MI (Henry Ford Museum) - 280 miles (stopping along the way in South Bend, IN)
Day 23 to Cleveland, OH (Rock & Roll) - 160 miles
Day 24 to Niagra Falls, NY - 210 miles
Day 25 to Syracuse Museum (Erie Canal) - 160 miles
Day 26 to HOME! - 280 miles





Good point about Day 7, so I made the longer day the day before. Baxter Springs is more of a holding spot - representing about how far I want to get that day. Once I'm happy with the overall big picture plan I'll start planning out exact campsites/motels/hotels etc.

Thank you in advance for your continued feedback!