Texas to Pittsburg...and beyond!

[chollas]

The long story short is, that a lady friend of mine wants to show me Pittsburg, where her sister lives. Thus the trip was born.

I have prior commitments until December 29 and then again on January 17. This trip does not have to span the entire time frame, but I am open to your suggestions. We will be departing from Austin. I enjoy culturally-unique cities and natural landscapes. I truly love local flavors more than a lot of things in this world so, for me, unique (or just plain tasty) food will be a large part of my planning. I would like to only stay in Pittsburg for a few days and then continue on the trip from there.

I have hopes to check out the Great Lakes and head into Canada as I have never been to its eastern parts. I have a friend in Toronto, so that will be a stop. Is it worth going deeper? Will the roads be too wintry?

I would also like to take different routes there and back. I am also open to going fairly far out of the way if it is worth it.

As you can see, this is something that is very open. I NEED your expertise as I have never road tripped out east, only several times West. I am open to suggestions and will help with any questions that you may have.

Thanks in advance for all your words!

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

With about 3 weeks at your disposal, you could have a wonderful trip. Yes, weather can and probably will be an issue in some way, as things up north are usually different than they are "deep in the heart of Texas". Canada? Yes, could be white, but people can and do travel when that white stuff comes down. Be sure of a few things: you'll need a passport to return to the USA, that you know how to drive in the snow, and have a day or two built into your trip in case you have to sit things out while the weather goes on around you.

What you might do first is to grab a USA map or an atlas, and see what things are on the map that interest you. (Are you a member of AAA? They'll hand you a USA map free, and some regional ones too, to help you with the planning.) Either circle them with a pencil or flag them with a sticky note. Remember that you don't have to stick to one route, you can definitely take one route going out and another one coming back. You could even have a Plan B, Plan C, or Plan D, in the event that bad weather sets in that you need to go around.

Looking at my own atlas for you, for instance, the following things jump out at me for your "natural landscapes" and "culturally-unique cities": Hot Springs National Park, Mammoth Cave National Park, Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park, Nashville, Memphis, and Niagara Falls.

Those are just ideas, but it's your trip (and your lady friend), so the two of you will want to sit down and look at that map. Once you get a good idea of what things appeal to the two of you, we'll be glad to help you out with details.

As far as food is concerned -- so many towns have great places to eat. What we've found that works for us: when you pull into a town, ask the hotel clerk where they'd go if they wanted to go out to eat that night for purely local food. Most will be more than happy to send you to their favorites. If you're just passin' through for lunch, you could do the same at the local gas station. We've also gotten some recommendations while standing in line at the grocery store, picking up snacks and drinks for the trip along the way, just by chatting with the cashier and with a local in line behind us. (Sometimes a local is surprised to be talking to someone in a grocery line that's staying in a motel, as it's usually an RV'er that finds the local supermarket.) We've also found TripAdvisor to be a help for a breakfast or lunch meal when we are not stopping locally for fuel or groceries.


Donna