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| Road Trip Map from our myscenicdrives.com itinerary |
It's hard to keep from getting excited as we continue and continue to plan all of the incredibly fun things we are going to do and the great people and places we are going to get to see. (though, the more I think about it, the more I know that we will miss our pets like crazy..)
So, I think it's about that time to let our friends and family know where we will be, when. It is a tentative schedule, but we do plan on booking some hotels in advance, so it isn't a super flexible thing.
I'll apologize now, because apparently tables do not hold together well when posted into a blog format.. but basically, we have 48 days to drive around the country, with the city on the left being our starting point each day, and the city on the right being our hopeful end point for the day. (Also, if you are looking at this and the map, disregard the numbers on the map- they are numbered by stops, not days)
| Day | Date | From | To |
| 1 | 6-May | Sioux Falls, SD | Chicago, IL |
| 2 | 7-May | Chicago, IL | |
| 3 | 8-May | Chicago, IL | Ashtabula, OH |
| 3 | 8-May | Ashtabula, OH | Niagra Falls, NY |
| 4 | 9-May | Niagra Falls, NY | |
| 5 | 10-May | Niagra Falls, NY | Danby, CT |
| 6 | 11-May | Danby, CT | Portland, ME |
| 7 | 12-May | Portland, ME | |
| 8 | 13-May | Portland, ME | Acadia National Park |
| 8 | 13-May | Acadia National Park | Boston, MA |
| 9 | 14-May | Boston, MA | |
| 10 | 15-May | Boston, MA | Philidelphia, PA |
| 11 | 16-May | Philidelphia, PA | Baltimore, MD |
| 11 | 16-May | Baltimore, MD | Washington, DC |
| 12 | 17-May | Washington, DC | |
| 13 | 18-May | Washington, DC | Shenandoah NP |
| 13 | 18-May | Shenandoah NP | Rockfish Gap, VA (Waynesboro) |
| 14 | 19-May | Rockfish Gap, VA | Lenoir, NC |
| 15 | 20-May | Lenoir, NC | North of Atlanta, GA (Afton) |
| 16 | 21-May | Atlanta, GA (Afton) | Navarre, FL |
| 17 | 22-May | Navarre, FL | |
| 18 | 23-May | Navarre, FL | New Orleans, LA |
| 19 | 24-May | New Orleans, LA | Austin, TX |
| 20 | 25-May | Austin, TX | |
| 21 | 26-May | Austin, TX | Short of Carlsbad Caverns |
| 22 | 27-May | Short of Carlsbad Caverns | Albuquerque, NM |
| 23 | 28-May | Albuquerque, NM | Bandelier NM |
| 23 | 28-May | Bandelier NM | Telluride, CO |
| 24 | 29-May | Telluride, CO | |
| 25 | 30-May | Telluride, CO | |
| 26 | 31-May | Telluride, CO | Moab, UT (Arches NP) |
| 27 | 1-Jun | Moab, UT | Zion National Park |
| 28 | 2-Jun | Zion National Park | |
| 29 | 3-Jun | Zion National Park | Grand Canyon |
| 30 | 4-Jun | Grand Canyon | Mesa/Phoenix, AZ |
| 31 | 5-Jun | Mesa/Phoenix, AZ | |
| 32 | 6-Jun | Mesa/Phoenix, AZ | Los Angeles, CA (Camp- East) |
| 33 | 7-Jun | Los Angeles, CA | Big Sur, CA |
| 34 | 8-Jun | Big Sur, CA | Yosemite NP |
| 35 | 9-Jun | Yosemite NP | |
| 36 | 10-Jun | Yosemite NP | (Pass through SF)Healdsburg, CA |
| 37 | 11-Jun | Healdsburg, CA | Redwood NP |
| 38 | 12-Jun | Redwood NP | Portland, OR |
| 39 | 13-Jun | Portland, OR | |
| 40 | 14-Jun | Portland, OR | Mt. Ranier NP |
| 40 | 14-Jun | Mt. Ranier NP | Seattle, WA |
| 41 | 15-Jun | Seattle, WA | |
| 42 | 16-Jun | Seattle, WA | |
| 43 | 17-Jun | Seattle, WA | Day Trip |
| 43 | 17-Jun | Day Trip | Seattle, WA |
| 44 | 18-Jun | Seattle, WA (North Cascades NP?) | Missoula, MT |
| 45 | 19-Jun | Missoula, MT | Yellowstone NP |
| 46 | 20-Jun | Yellowstone NP | |
| 47 | 21-Jun | Yellowstone NP | Black Hills NF, SD |
| 48 | 22-Jun | Black Hills NF, SD | Sioux Falls, SD |
It's kind of insane how long it took to actually get this solidified as much as we have. We went through multiple drafts, adding places, deleting places, moving our endpoints to allow us to set up camp before sunset, making sure we get to spend enough time at each place, finding cheap and free places to camp, etc.. But I won't bore you with the whole process.. We'll just say- it was more work than I imagined, as there are at least 10 more columns on the actual spreadsheet, indicating the time and miles per drive, gas, food, and lodging costs, and activities. When I am organized, by damn, I am ORGANIZED. (Though most of my life is quite unorganized.. :)
We would love to hear suggests for activities to do along our trip. We have some in our minds, but would always love to hear more!
All kinds of things...
ReplyDelete1. If you like roller coasters, Cedar Point on Lake Erie near Sandusky, OH.
2. Cleveland - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
3. Buffalo - eat at the Anchor Bar (birthplace of Buffalo wings).
4. Boston - Bull & Finch (outside inspiration for the TV show 'Cheers'. Walk the Freedom Trail. And make sure to visit the Old North Church. "One if by land, two if by sea."
5. About an hour south of Boston - Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, MA.
6. Philly - Walk the Constitution Trail. Also be sure and check out the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
7. Baltimore - Inner Harbor. Water Taxi to Fell's Point for a drink or two. Continue on Water Taxi to Ft. McHenry. Water Taxis are a neat way to get around there.
8. DC - You could spend a couple of weeks here! Check out all the memorials on The Mall. You also have a ton of museums to choose from. As well as Arlington Nation Cememtery across the potomac and George Washington's home - Mount Vernon - about a half hour south of DC near Fort Belvoir, VA.
9. On your drive into NC, if you go by Mt. Airy stop for a visit. This town is what Mayberry was modeled after in 'The Andy Griffith Show'.
10. Not far from Alton, GA is Helen, GA. A neat little Bavarian-styled town where you do a nice, lazy inner tube float down the Chattahootchee River.
11. When driving across southern Alabama and Mississippi, stop in at the Gulf Coast Gator Ranch and see some gator wrestling. (This is one of the places where the Animal Planet Show 'Gator Boys' calls home.) It's just outside of Pascagoula, MS (Birthplace of Jimmy Buffett!)
12. My bro was just in New Orleans and did an airboat swamp tour. Said it was pretty cool.
13. Austin - 6th Street for music and food!
14. May want to swing down to San Antonio and see The Alamo and take in some food and drinks on the Riverwalk.
15. All kinds of scenic NPs in southern Utah. Arches is one of my favorites.
16. Just north of Big Sur, CA is Carmel. Stop and eat at the Mission Ranch. It is owned by Clint Eastwood. I was lucky enough to see him there a few years ago. He was just standing at the bar talking to his friends.
17. Stop for a neat photo op at The Lone Cypress at Cyress Point - just a couple of miles NW of Carmel.
18. - San Fran: Alcatraz, Golde Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf... If you want to do Alcatraz, get your tickets ahead of time through www.blueandgoldfleet.com.
19. - Portland - about an hour east of Portland up the Columbia Gorge is the 2nd highest waterfall in the US - Multnomah Falls. Really neat. A litlle farther up the road ia a fish hatchery on the Columbia River.
20. Devil's Tower in eastern Wyoming.
And of course I would be lookinng into baseball stadiums! Most of them offer tours when the team is on the road... But that's me. I'm a baseball stadium nut...
Contact me for more information if any of these look good to you. Easiest way is to email me at barryauth@att.net. Have a great trip!!
Awesome, thanks so much, Barry! We will check it all out!! :)
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