Planning our 2014 summer trip

[DonnaR57]

Hmmm...hubby might like dropping down to Waponetka OH for the Armstrong Air and Space Museum, more than he'd like the Amish area of IN. Food for thought.

I'm familiar with US-30 from Merrillville to Chicago Heights. I used to have family in Dyer and still have some family in da Heights. (near US-30 and US-41 corner). Even back in the 70s, that was one stoplight after another. Grrr! Hubby would also use 65 to 80.


Donna

[glc]

That would work - there's a couple of hotels right there and a bunch up the road in Lima.

[DonnaR57]

Back to the drawing board -- hubby looked at the route and said, no, he'd rather take the toll road. I don't mind, because if we stay someplace between Cleveland and Toledo, maybe we can take a drive up to Lake Erie. (I haven't seen it since I was a kid.)

Our AAA office was open today, and since I'm off work, the two of us drove over and picked up a few maps and a few tour books. The larger individual state maps are much better for planning purposes that the ones you find in a road atlas. Since we got back, I've been poring over the maps and looking at the tour books, too. I've narrowed down some places for overnight stops, looked at details, and generally have wanderlust so badly right now that it's not funny!


Donna

[glc]

If it's a summer weekend, you don't want to get anywhere near Cedar Point or Sandusky. That may limit your overnight choice. I'd look around Toledo near the toll road, I've stayed at the Super 8 at 80/90 and 280. Got a room with a coupon for 39 bucks but I don't think the coupons are good on weekends.

[Lifemagician]

The larger individual state maps are much better for planning purposes that the ones you find in a road atlas.

They have always been my preference, though I use both. Even better is having the State issued maps along with them. Surprising how often the State map has attractions on it, which are not on the AAA or Rand McNally maps.

Lifey

[DonnaR57]

Very good point about not staying near Sandusky on a weekend. I'm thinking Super 8 Elyria. It's just a place to put our heads and rest our bodies, for a night. In searching the area, I couldn't believe how many places required a "2 night stay"!

I think we decided on Custer City, SD, as a base for operations in the Black Hills area, though I haven't made any reservations for us yet. We've only got reservations at Gettysburg and Yellowstone, as well as with family, at this point. We may have to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights near one set of family, though, as they don't have room for us and their cat hates my husband. (We don't know why. She doesn't like my bro-in-law, either.)

I just ordered our new The Next Exit. The old one is 4 years old. Frankly, I prefer this book for several reasons when traveling on interstates. It's easy to use, as long as you pay attention to N<--->S and E<--->W. You can look miles ahead for a motel, truck stop, restaurant, or even a grocery store along the freeway. (Try doing that with a GPS!) We first discovered this book in the 90s, and both of my girls learned to use it as teens. Each got to be a wiz at finding us the next stop, and to this day, the younger one borrows our book if she's traveling somewhere.


Donna

[DonnaR57]

Next question: US-69/75 from the Dallas area up to I-40 in Oklahoma. My map shows that most of it is 4-lane divided highway, some of it freeway quality. Does anyone have any experience with it? I've tried to convince hubby to use that, vs taking I-45 to Dallas, I-35 to OKC and then head east on I-40, which is a lot longer (110 extra miles), but it's all interstate. Comments? (My husband, being an ex-trucker, seems glued to interstates. He HATES it when he's on a road trip and has to stop every 1/4 mile for a red light.)


Donna

[glc]

It's a big time saver. It's almost all freeway or near-freeway quality with 65 and 70 mph speed limits, the only traffic lights are in a few towns, there are very few of them and slowdowns are minimal. You will want to use I-635 around Dallas, don't even think of going through downtown.

Where are you going once you get on I-40? You may want to look at taking I-30 to Little Rock.

[Lifemagician]

(My husband, being an ex-trucker, seems glued to interstates. He HATES it when he's on a road trip and has to stop every 1/4 mile for a red light.)

There is a heck of a difference between 'Interstates' and 'traffic lights every quarter mile'. Why not introduce him to some of the great routes of beautiful scenic mostly four lane highways (for the sake of the route, not the destination). He might find out what he is missing.

My friend who drove an 18 wheeler would frequently choose US20, US50, even US160, to get away from the Interstates. He just loved the change of scenery and soon found out which little bits to avoid.

Lifey

[DonnaR57]

On I-40, we are looking to stay in a small town where we stayed back in 2011. There was an incredible place for dinner in Sallisaw, called Shad's Catfish Hole. We'll head to Ft Smith AR where we will shoot north through Bentonville up to Joplin, where we will catch I-44 for a short time. We are planning to meet our daughter in Mansfield to do the Laura Ingalls Wilder-Rose Wilder Lane Farm there ("Rocky Ridge Farm") and then head up MO-5 to Lake Ozark.


Donna