MO to Ohio

[AceTakashi]

Me and my buddy are wanting to go on a roadtrip from Missouri to wherever. Any ideas. Probly going to take our girlfriends with us. Might be a two car trip.

Any ideas, Thanks

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Missouri is a wonderful location to start from, because you are right in the middle of the country and thus you can go just about anywhere. However, since you can go just about anywhere and you've told us nothing about you or your trip, its also nearly impossible to know where to begin.

So lets start with the basics. How many people are going? How old are the travelers? How much time do you have? Where in MO are you starting from? What sorts of things are you interested in? Do you prefer city adventure or natural beauty? How much experience do you have roadtripping?

Without knowing those facts, we just don't have enough to give you much useful information.

[AceTakashi]

If all 4 of us go then it will be 4 people in their early 20's. 19-22 years old. Im into sports and nature, my girlfriend is into photography. The others, just want to get out. We are starting from Harrisonville (western edge of MO just south of KC). And we would probably all prefer natural beauty. And the trip length would probably run 3-4 days.


Me and my friend have traveled the trip from Harrisonville to Colorado 3 times a piece, so being stuck in a car is not a problem for us. The others have limited experience.

A couple fun ideas i have thought of so far is a Route 66 trip, but i don't know how far we would get in essentially 2 days (since 2 of the days will be driving home). Also, i have thought of traveling to various ghost towns for the scare factor. Really, we are just looking to get out and get away.

[AceTakashi]

as you can tell, this has not been thought up at all. We are just trying to get ideas right now

[AZBuck]

Limiting your range to what can be driven in a day plus a bit of hard driving - you do want some time at your destination after all - limits your options as I see them to two possibilities. Both meet all your stated goals. The first, the Ozarks of southwestern MO, AR and eastern OK may strike you as too close to home, but that area is very scenic and offers canoeing, hiking and other attractions as well as the chance to wander around a bit once you get there. The second, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is at the far edge of your range, but offers something dramatically different from the Midwest including soaring mountains and lots of big game. Oh, and the Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for "The Shining". Whatever destination you chose, you and your friends should sit down one evening before you go and take the RoadTrip Compatability Quiz together just to make sure you're all on the same page as to how you want the trip to go.

AZBuck

[Midwest Michael]

Another option might be to skip the planning altogether and just go!

Hop on a 2 lane road and just drive, turn whereever you feel like it, and stop whenever you find something interesting. Don't even look at a map until the end of day 2. At that point you can figure out where you are and how long it will take you to get back home.

If I had 4 days and no specific destination in mind, that might be exactly what I would do.

[AceTakashi]

Here is an update on my planned summer trip. Me and my girlfriend have decided that we are probably going to travel on our own. We might meet up with my friend and his girlfriend for a night somewhere if they go on a trip also. We decided to do this so that we could have some alone time, but still get together with people if we wanted to.

We also decided that we want to head up to Ohio to go to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton. I have always wanted to go there, and my girlfriend thinks it would be pretty cool too.

That is all we have so far. It will probably be a 4-6 day trip. Does anyone know of any nice state or national parks around the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, or Ohio areas that we could possibly stop at to camp near or go to for a day to get some nice nature time? Any other ideas would be great.

So far though, the only place we know we are going to go to is Canton. We will spend a day there.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Does anyone know of any nice state or national parks around the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, or Ohio areas

There are several within a day or two drive from your home. One of the areas, I have enjoyed hiking in is Cumberland Gap. In the other direction, there are some nice beaches along Lake Michigan in northwest Indiana. The Houchins Ferry Campground might be fun to check out, I haven't been there yet.

Mark

[AceTakashi]

Me and my girlfriend talked at length today so here is the update.

Our main plan is that we want to hit the Cincinnati Zoo and The NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. We were planning on hitting this Auto Museum in Auburn, IN but I am not sure about it after seeing that it has an $8 admission charge. Just not sure if it is worth the drive up there. We are kind of stumped as to what else we should do. We are going to stop in IL and camp on the way back at a state park. So here is the rough idea of the trip

Day 1: Drive from KC to Cincinnati (was going to Auburn, but I doubt we go there)

Day 2: Cincinnati Zoo (sleep again in Cincinnati, I am looking for a way to not spend 2 nights there, but it looks invevitable)

Day 3: Drive to Canton and see the NFL HOF (sleep in Canton)

Day 4: ? (possibly Auburn if my girlfriend talks me into it), probably sleeping in a camp site in IL. **Need other ideas for this day**

Day 5: Drive home

My problem is that we might be out of luck for Day 4. I need other alternatives. If anyone has any ideas for good nature views let me know. Also, how do-able is this trip. Again, this is just a rough idea.

[AceTakashi]

We have finally decided most of what we are doing on our trip.

Day 1: KC to Cincinnati (sleep in or near Cincinnati)

Day 2: Cincinnati Zoo (probably sleep in Cincinnati or drive toward Canton, OH)

Day 3: Go to NFL Hall of Fame (don't know about sleep)

Day 4: ? (want to stop and do something in Indiana) also want to camp in
Illinoies
Day 5: Drive home

Is this a real possibility. The major question mark I see is Day 4. what do you guys think. Also, does anyone have any ideas about what to do in Indiana.