College Grad Road Trip -- !

Hey Jamie,

This summer, a few friends and I (4 of us total) are planning on taking a road trip across the country in June/July to celebrate our college graduation. We are not exact on time, we're thinking between 3 and 4 weeks, but I just wanted to know if you had any advice on must-see stops and food. We are planning on going south first, starting in California, checking out the Grand Canyon in AZ, The Alamo in TX, then up through Nashville/Memphis in TN (we're big country music fans), eventually heading back to California through the north, stopping at Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. We are really interested in seeing local festivals, like hot air balloons, and attending a rodeo or two, we're just not sure where. We're planning on making up a list of things to do, like a scavenger hunt, to complete along the way! Attend a rodeo is already on the list! Any advice would be great, thanks!!

Courtney

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Hello Courtney --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and congrats on (nearly...) finishing college. You've definitely earned a big fun trip.

Sorry that it took me awhile to write back-- I just found this half-written message in my Outbox -- but I definitely like the sound of what you're looking for: Local festivals, rodeos, and a honky tonk or two -- this is all great stuff. You can make plans to see as much as you can before you hit the road, but the key to making this a great trip is to leave yourself enough time and mental space to "follow your nose" - if you hear about a concert or festival or event, go for it, and alter your plans to make it fit.

Don't worry too much about missing something -- just enjoy the things you find.

OK, onto the travel planning. California -- check. Grand Canyon -- check. These are great places to explore.

Then, on your way east to the Alamo, how about a detour thru the "Indian Country" of the Four Corners region? The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelley are amazing, and there are a number of music festivals in attractive towns like Telluride CO and Santa Fe / Taos New Mexico.

Telluride for sure has a fantastic bluegrass fest around the June summer solstice, and much more: URL http://www.bluegrass.com/telluride/

(And thanks to Waylon and Wiliie and that crazy crew, Austin TX has had a lively alt-country music scene for ever...).

There are also rodeos all over the West, but the most fun one has to in Cody Wyoming, at the gates of Yellowstone, where they've been having summer-long rodeos almost every night for decades (for an up-close look, buy tickets near where the riders load onto the broncs and bulls).

This sounds like a fun trip -- if you ever track your summer scavenger hunt road trip into a Google Map or blog, let me know -- I look forward to hearing what you get up to!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA
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RV trip over the Rockies?

Hi Jamie,

We are planning a RV vacation, heading from WI to OR in late July, and are looking at Highway 20 as a route. We can take 7 or 8 days so time is not significant. I am wondering about a couple of things; campgrounds on this route, road conditions, and severity of the climb thru the Rockies (vs using an interstate highway).

I would like to think we could do 300 miles a day but if the road doesn't allow the RV to keep an average speed of 45 miles per hour, we may be on the road too long. We have a 24 ft class C motorhome pulling a 2003 Chevy Tracker. The motorhome has a large V8 but it is not a diesel and if the mountain section of this route is a lot of very steep and curvy road, it would take much more time to cover even 100 miles in that part of the trip.
Any advice you have would be appreciated.

Thank you

Rick

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Hello Rick --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help (though questions about horsepower are a little way outside my area of expertise...)

The route I follow in Road Trip USA along US-20 is not especially steep or curvy, not compared to some roads across the Rockies; US20 is a main route thru Yellowstone National Park, and it's used by hundreds of RVs every day. You can double-check with park rangers about any limits or restrictions, but I think you should be fine -- and it's a gorgeous place (but popular, so make your overnight arrangements, even for campgrounds, as soon as you can).

The drive down the other side, into Idaho, is pretty calm, too -- following along the Henry's Fork of the Snake River -- gorgeous country, and great fishing. Since you have lots of time, a nice alternative route heads south from Yellowstone into the Grand Tetons park, then heads west on US26 into Idaho Falls.

And if you are heading all the way west to the Pacific, the ride over the Cascades is pretty (and is lined by nice US Forest Service campgrounds), but in some ways I prefer the more level and even more scenic route north along the Columbia River, thru the gorgeous Columbia Gorge (along the I-84 Interstate, but still a very pretty drive).

Hope this helps -- and hope you have a great trip!


Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
----
Road Trip USA

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Vancouver to Vegas, and maybe Memphis?

hello there,

I came across your website and noticed that you give free advice to road trippers. My friend and I are planning an ambitious trip and I was wondering about advice on how to plan it out day by day, the loose itinerary is as follows: Vancouver b.c to Boise to salt lake city thru the salt flats to las vegas then on to the grand canyon then maybe to New Orleans followed by Memphis to rapid city then back to Vancouver.

Any tips or help planning is appreciated, as this is the first major road trip I've planned .

thanks in advance

Colin from Canada

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Hi there Colin from Canada --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you plan a "radical" road trip.

The first part of your plan sounds great -- Vancouver to Boise (via the North Cascades and Glacier parks? -- or southerly via Seattle?? Both are great routes, and there is a lot of variety along the way...)

Boise to SLC -- this is pretty dry, "Great Basin" country -- be prepared for born volcanic landscapes and the endless salt plains. A hot day's drive.

SLC to Las Vegas -- This is some of the most beautiful country in the western US; make sure you see Zion National Park, and if you like the look of it take time to see the other amazing parks (Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands and hundreds more). Monument Valley is nearby, and you can explore both rims of the awesome Grand Canyon. You could spend weeks or months or more here without a hint of boredom -- well, I know I could, for sure.

Then it gets less clear -- New Orleans and Memphis are a good few days' drive away from Arizona. If you've never done a road trip, maybe you could save these for your next adventure.

(Or maybe hop a flight and do a separate trip between Memphis and New Orleans? There's a ton of great places to see down there, but in comparison there's really not so much between Arizona and Memphis. Just don't tell any Texans I said so...)

:-)

OK, there are few thoughts -- hope they help you plan a great trip, and please feel free to write me again as your plans take shape.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

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Cross-Country -- How To Do It?

Hello, my name is Krystal. Im 20 years old and me and my friend are planning on going on a trip in late May. Due to work, we can only afford to take off two weeks. So that gives us two weeks to travel from our home in Washington DC, to California. We want to see the Grand Canyon, rocky mts and just anything that will wow us and give us a fantastic road trip. We aren't sure how much money to bring, nor average how much gas we will use. But we have a lot of passion for making this happen.

What route would you suggest, how much money should we should bring and is there anything spectacular we should make sure we see on the way? Thank you so much.

-Krystal

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Dear Krystal ---

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you have a great trip.

First the numbers: From DC to California is about 3000 miles, so depending on your vehicle and your driving habits, you're looking at a week or so of driving (less if you pull some long all-nighters across the Great Plains), and probably 100 gallons of gas each way, so around $600 (?). Plus food & lodging for 2 weeks -- will you be staying at motels? sleeping onto the backseat of the car?? -- or luxuriating in Hampton Inns?? -- All this will add up to another $150 or more each day -- so count on budgeting around $3000, plus any fun you want to have.

(Not to mention all the snow globes you'll have to purchase as keepsake souvenirs!)

Now onto the fun (mostly free!) stuff: spectacular things to see along the way. My favorite stop west of DC is Harpers Ferry, an old town that climbs above where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers come together. Gorgeous and very historic -- or if you want more "nature" there's the Shenandoah National Park.

The real "spectacular" stuff is further west, however -- one of my favorite areas is around Pike's Peak, where the funky old resort town of Manitou Springs sits near the lovely "Garden of the Gods", and the deep canyon of Royal Gorge rises above the Arkansas River as it crashes out of the Rocky Mountains. The scenery gets even more amazing as you head west: the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the winding, mountain-top "Million Dollar Highway", then the truly spectacular sights of the Colorado Plateau: Arches and Canyonlands national parks, all of Utah, really.

Continuing west, I love the drive along US50 across Nevada -- this is the "Loneliest Road in America", where you pass by old mining camp / ghost towns (and Great Basin National Park), while following in the hoofsteps of the legendary Pony Express. Fresh air, bright stars, petroglyphs aplenty and much much more.

West of Nevada, you'll enter California high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains at delightful Lake Tahoe, then can race along to the Pacific Ocean on the shores of San Francisco. Nice trip, huh?

If you want to wind back east on a different route, run south along the California coast thru Big Sur, then turn left at Hollywood and hop onto Route 66, which will take you past the Grand Canyon all the way to the Mississippi River, where you might want to hop onto the I-70 Interstate freeway for the fastest ride home to DC.

If you rise early and drive fast, you can do all this in 15 days or so -- just be safe, and don't drink too much Red Bull. :-)

Hope this helps whet your road trip appetite -- please check out my books, and let me know how your plans shape up.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

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Savannah to Seattle Road Trip

Hello Road Tripper!

I love reading your advice and have long dreamed of making a US road trip. I am from the Southeast (born and raised in Savannah, GA). I have not been west of the Eastern Texas border. Please don’t get me wrong though, I am well-traveled and know what I am getting myself into. I have seen most of the East Coast and have been to Europe a few times, PR, Mexico and Hawaii.

Anywho, I am making a HUGE move to the Northwest (Seattle, WA) this summer. My mom, her best friend and my best friend are going to set out to see some of the spectacular sites the United States has to offer on our way to move me into my new home. As you can imagine, the possibilities are endless and I’m not sure where to even start. I would love to see Texas (Austin in particular), Bourbon Street, the Grand Canyon and Vegas while others yearn to see things in the direction of Yellowstone. Not quite the same travel route! Please help!

-- Ashley

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Hello Ashley --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you make a great start in your big Southeast to Northwest move.

(And for what it's worth, in my semi-humble opinion Seattle is a fantastic city -- maybe not quite so utterly and endlessly charming as Savannah, but still pretty nice!)

OK -- on to your trip: I'll do my best to come up with a route that gives everyone something good to remember. I just hope you're not all driving one of those big U-Haul rigs , which are not the most fun, manageable or fuel-efficient vehicles you could drive...

It sounds like you know your way west from Savannah to Bourbon Street (but if you have the inclination to detour, I suspect you will enjoy a visit to Natchez, a Mississippi River gem with almost as many nice homes and gardens as Savannah has).

Next stop: Texas, across which there is no short-cut. It's 1000 miles, any way you go. 2 or 3 days realistically, so stopping off to enjoy Austin (and maybe San Antonio, another civilized city -- and home to the Alamo!) is a good idea. The Hill Country west of Austin is very nice (and hilly, a rarity in Texas). Continuing west, unless you want to detour down to the rugged country around Big Bend, I suggest traveling by way of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and the great caves at Carlsbad Caverns, over the border in New Mexico .

I cover this very scenic region in the "Southern Pacific" chapter of my Road Trip USA book (which has some nice pictures and lot more info than we have squeezed onto the website).

Next stop: a little bit of all-America Route 66, which will carry you to the lovely city of Santa Fe, then on across the spectacular landscapes of the Four Corners region (worth a week on its own), and up to the rim of the Grand Canyon, for an unforgettable vista (hundreds of them, actually). Route 66 is another chapter in Road Trip USA, and I've also done a "mini-book" that covers the road from end to end.

From the Grand Canyon you can head north (thru the amazing red rock landscapes of southern Utah), via Salt Lake City (maybe adding a detour up thru the Grand Tetons to Yellowstone, which is a truly phenomenal place, for sure, and not _that_ far out of your way), before making your way northwest to Seattle.

You'll be able to explore the Pacific Northwest more fully once you get settled, so I won't suggest too many highlights there (though there are many -- Mt Rainier, the Columbia Gorge, the Cascades, and San Juan Islands...).

From the Grand Canyon you could also wind around to Las Vegas, but I sort of think you can do that trip at another time -- flying down from Seattle perhaps, and maybe doing a future Southwest road trip from there.

How's that for a start? I've tried to narrow down some of the truly endless possibilities driving across the country presents. I hope you have a great trip, and that you actually take the chance to have such a great adventure.

Feel free to write me again and let me know what you think -- and in the meantime, good luck and "Happy Trails,"



Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA

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Route 66 via San Fran -- on motorbikes or with a car?

Hi there Road Trip USA !

We a couple of kiwis (New Zealanders in our 40’s) coming over to do route 66 in Aug 2010. We have 4 weeks to spend over there. What book, maps etc would you recommend us to get to best plan our trip. We have a Harley Davidson over here but don’t think it would be safe to ride over there so are looking at hiring a car.
We are starting off in San Fran and want to head to Chicago to visit an Aunty.
Any tips would be most welcome!
Cheers Robyn and Mark

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Hello Robyn & Mark --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you have a great trip down Route 66. First off, I'm a bit surprised to hear that you'd consider _not_ riding your Harley -- a motorbike is many people's preferred way to cruise this great old road. Shipping one over from "down under" could be complicated, for sure, and if you want to do a "test ride" there are a couple of places where you can rent Harleys for a day or a weekend, and get a feel for the American road.

(Like these guys in LA: http://www.route66riders.com )

As for books: I would very much like to recommend my Road Trip USA book (there's a chapter on RT66 in my big 900-page Road Trip USA book on cross-country drives, and a "mini-book" on Route 66 ) I cover the whole road, and recommend the best places to eat sleep and have fun along the way -- and there are a number of other books covering different aspects of the culture and history. There are also lots of souvenir maps (one map series is called "Here It IS!), but the road is very well marked (as "Historic Route 66") so you don't really need a special map unless you want to track the various different alignments Route 66 followed over its 1920s-to-1980s lifetime.

RT66 is a big deal -- and very well served by hotels / motels / diners / etc all the way between LA and Chicago -- so you will have fun, for sure. And August is a great time to do the ride -- in a rental car, or on a Harley -- though September is when most of the big annual "events" and classic car rallies are held. Anytime (except winter, maybe...) is a good time to be on Route 66.

And if you start in San Francisco, you can cruise south from there down another great road, the Pacific Coast Highway via Big Sur, to meet the west end of Route 66 in Los Angeles (Santa Monica, actually, right on the beach!).

Have a great trip,



Jamie Jensen
-----
Road Trip USA

PS: Here are some links to my Road Trip "mini books"

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Movies & Road Trips

Dear Jamie,

Love your book, which I purchased about two months ago and am plowing through to get my research done for a mammoth road trip I'm going to do with a friend of mine for about 4 months next year including New England, Great Lakes, East Coast, Florida, Deep South and West Coast.

The main sights to see I've basically got covered but I was wondering if you could help me with some tips on movie related sights. Being a massive film geek from the UK I'd love to see some glimpses of the Americana i associate with old and new hollywood. So, any ideas on famous sights from movies, old or off-beat movie theaters to catch a film in, or museums/ memoria to see. Your knowledge would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Alex

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Hi Alex --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA -- and glad you like my book.

I think (hope!..) I have already sent you a reply, but if not here comes a long overdue answer to your request for some movie-related road trip travel ideas. The USA has tons of movie sights (the whole country is one big backlot for Hollywood, I sometimes feel...), but my first thought was to send you a link to story I did for the Guardian travel section (two years ago now -- yikes!)

It ran on March 9, 2008 -- and here is a link.

I'm a big fan of films, old theaters and drive-ins, too -- so if there are specific movies you want to know about, write me again and I'll see what I can do.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

PS: Here is the text as well:

While there are great roads all over the world, nowhere else does driving around in an automobile evoke the essence of a place more wholeheartedly than it does in the USA. Hollywood has known this truth since its earliest days, from the Depression-era classics like It Happened One Night and Grapes of Wrath to more recent hits (think Rain Man, Thelma and Louise, Little Miss Sunshine, even Borat), their action set along some 4m miles of public roads crisscrossing the lower 48 states, not counting Alaska (Into the Wild) and Hawaii (Jurassic Park 1, 2 and 3

To be the star of your own road movie, though, head to Marfa, Texas, a primary location for both of last year's best pictures: No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. The foreground action might make you think twice before venturing across the Atlantic, but Marfa and the surrounding West Texas expanses have all the background Americana which intrepid travellers (and Hollywood art directors) love so much: vast deserts, stunning red-rock monoliths, neon-signed cafes and roadside motels under endless blue skies.

Rent a car in Dallas, 500 miles to the west, and just drive. You'll be following in the footsteps of writers and aesthetes who were drawn here in the early Seventies by the charismatic sculptor Donald Judd, who bought up a disused army base to create a massive open-air art park. Nowadays you can enjoy the little town by staying in its wonderfully trendy Fifties motels (the Thunderbird or the Cosmico) and drinking the best coffee for miles (visit its popular Brown Recluse cafe, named after a very nasty local spider).

From here, continue to the desiccated wastelands of Big Bend National Park, rising in cliffs and canyons above the Rio Grande river, passing through the crossroads town of Marathon, which movie fans will recognise as the star of Wim Wenders's saga Paris, Texas. Cross the Rio Grande into southern New Mexico and Arizona, where the roadside scenery has hardly changed since Geronimo led his Apache warriors in battle against the US Army, stop by Tombstone (home of the OK Corral) and wind down in the desert resort of Phoenix, which you may recognise as the location of Raising Arizona

Three more filmic road trips:

The Departed

Start your history tour at Boston, site of last year's Best Picture (and seen in Good Will Hunting, Mystic River and Fever Pitch). Then follow in the tracks of songwriter Jonathan 'Roadrunner' Richman, whose hometown is en route to the port of Gloucester (The Perfect Storm). Cruise along country lanes past picture-perfect New England towns to Squam Lake, Maine, site of On Golden Pond

Brokeback Mountain

Start where the backcountry scenes were filmed, in the mountains around Banff, Alberta. Then cruise south along the Rocky Mountains into Montana (as seen in Heaven's Gate and A River Runs Through It), through Glacier National Park then into western Wyoming, via the splendid scenery of Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A silent road trip would be about as much fun as a silent movie, so if you like good music, go on a Coen Brothers Mississippi Odyssey and head down to where its heart and soul still live: along the Mississippi River, between Memphis and New Orleans. Drive past cotton and sugar-cane fields, eat BBQ ribs, listen to live Delta blues, pay homage to Elvis, then linger along the bayous of Louisiana.

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more correspondence...


Dear Jamie,

Many thanks for helping me out. I'm off on the trip at the beginning of May: very excited. If you have time to reply before I leave, I'd love to know any recommendations for the top cinemas to visit. I'd to love to go to a "proper old" movie theatre with neon lightbulb signs and old fashioned snack bar, or a quintessiential drive-in or just anywhere with a bit of character.

I've got things like Mann's Chinese Theatre, The Angelika, NYand such so far.

Thanks again,

Alex

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Hi Again Alex --

Glad to help -- and since I share your love of classic movie palaces, here are some more ideas. The best collection of really really amazing theaters is, not surprisingly, in LA -- downtown has a line of 1920s gems down Broadway (some thriving, some dying... look for Orpheum, the Los Angeles, the Palace, the State the Million Dollar and the United Artists). An organization called the Los Angeles Conservancy runs excellent weekend tours -- movie theatere tours are at 10am on Saturdays. (They also sometimes visit the Bradbury Building, where much of the distopic sci-fi classic Bladerunner was filmed...)

And the west LA neighborhoods, like Hollywood (where Graumann's/Manns Chinese stands near the Pantages, the Egyptian and the resurrected Cinerama Dome), and Westwood (where the Fox Westwood still gets used for blockbuster premieres) both have arrays of fabulous cinemas.

You could spend weeks or more enjoying these theaters (I am from LA, and still get a kick out of them -- some have state-of the-art projection and sound systems, too.)

Elsewhere in the US, you can come across cinemas in unlikely places (I came across some great ones, with marquees and neon, in the cowboy / oil roughneck towns of Wyoming!...) -- here is a website dedicated to their memory and preservation:

Cinema Treasures

Drive-ins have a following, too -- many are open only in summer, or at weekends. Here is a good Drive In Movie website:


Finally, if your travels take you anywhere near Cape Cod, you've gotta catch a movie at the Wellfleet Drive In -- and there are other great "ozoners" surviving all over the country. Not as many as there used to be, for sure, but still enough to plan a trip around!

OK -- that should be enough to keep you occupied for a few years -- take a camera with you on your travels, and let me know what you find!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Atlantic Coast road trip - in a classic car? or camper?

Hi Jamie

We're flying to NYC for the start of our own road trip... spending 5 days in the city and have found a cool place to stay in Harlem (without car), then have 5 glorious June/July weeks to travel down to Miami.

We saw your book which will really help us plan a cool drive down, seeing the sights. To save money we can sleep cheap but the biggest expense it seems is the car hire to pick up NYC and drop off in Miami. Have you any recommendations/tips of the best way to go about the hire or even buy cheap? What about renting VW camper which we could sleep in? Is it better to sort out before we come over to the states or get something sorted when we are in the city?

This will be our first big trip at ages of 48 and 46!, so sorry for all the questions. Thanks for your help.

yours excitedly

Lorna and Del

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Hello Lorna and Del --

Many thanks for your message, and sorry it took me so long to reply. The issue you raise about car hire / rental is a big one -- my first suggestion would be that you consider doing the trip as a loop, rather than a one way -- rental rates are usually much lower if you return the vehicle to the same place you get it.

You're lucky to have so much time to travel around -- plenty to go back and forth (and maybe add in a trip west to New Orleans and Memphis, or along the Appalachian Trail, or who knows where... Five glorious weeks, indeed!

About renting a camper -- there's clearly a market there, but the only camper van rental company I know of is out in California . To my mind, buying your own car can work, but it can be a hassle too -- trying to arrange insurance and all the legalities, not to mention finding a reliable machine, is fraught with complications.

Then again, you could buy yourself a pretty cool machine, while rental cars tend to be anodyne and not much fun to drive. Classic American cars like these are pretty mouth-watering compared to their contemporaries! (I too am a child of early 1960s design... and I dream of cruising along in a convertible 1963 Corvette!)

If you do want to buy a car, I recommend you take advantage of websites and line up some candidates well before you land -- buying a car is a time-consuming business.

Well, OK -- I hope you are still excited about your East Coast road trip.

(And by the way, I have just come out with new books, updating all the material on Atlantic Coast and App Trail chapters into handy mini-guides -- On sale in the UK for under £5!! :-)

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA

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Budget Road Trip ? -- try HI Hostels

Hi Jamie,

My friend and I are thinking about taking a cross-country road trip this summer. We were initially thinking about backpacking through Europe, but the road trip definitely seems more plausible. The only thing is we're a little worried about finding places to stay. We're going to be taking a small car, and staying overnight in it doesn't sound too appealing. At least with the whole backpacking through Europe plan, there is the possibility of staying in cheap hostels in most large cities. What is a cheap way to have overnight accommodations on a cross country road trip?

If the cross country idea doesn't pan out, we were thinking of just doing a road trip in the west coast (we're from California). do you have any ideas for such a road trip? Thanks.

Jawad

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Hello Jawad --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I'm happy to help you plan a road trip this summer.

Whether or not you take a big trip to Europe, I would strongly recommend you try some short road trips around California -- in fact there are some great hostels along the coast that ware perfect for spur-of-the-moment travel. The best of these hostels are around San Francisco -- in the city itself, and north and south (including one in a landmark lighthouse at Pescadero, seen above, down near Santa Cruz) -- and wherever you go staying at hostels is a great to travel, and to meet fellow travelers.

Here's a URL for the HI Hostelling International website for Pescadero:

And a link to a map of HI hostels all over California:

Once you get a feel for road tripping, you can expand your horizons with a cross-country trip. While there aren't as many official hostels as there are in europe, accommodations and other costs are pretty low in the US -- if you share a room with your friend, you should be able to get by on less than $30 a night each, which is about what you might pay to stay overnight in most European cities. And in the US, you'll get a bathroom and TV included in the price, which you definitely won't for your $30 in Paris or Amsterdam...

While there are not so many hostels, there are lots of low-cost lodgings all over the USA -- motels ! -- so don't worry about finding affordable places to sleep. And if you really want to stretch your budgets, invest in a tent and sleeping bag and camp out on some of the many great state and national parks -- there are often gorgeous places to visit (and these are the places Europeans come to America to enjoy!)

OK, there are some ideas for you -- let me know what you think of all this, and if you get a chance, check out my Road Trip USA books (which have hundreds of suggestions for roads to drive, places to stay and things to do and see, all over the USA).

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

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Philly to California, via Virginia and Mississippi and ?

Dear Jamie,

First of all let me congratulate you for such a nice and organized site. The blog is an excellent source of ideas and information.

I am originally from Brazil and have lived near Davis (Go Aggies!!!) in northern California, but at the end of last year I made a wrong turn in my life and ended up in Philadelphia. Nothing personal, but I miss California and am dying to go back.


My husband and I are now planning to drive back to California sometime between May and August 2010. Believe it or not, I know more of US territory than he does, as I travelled several times to US in my ‘past life’. I would like to see as much as possible during this trip. I was thinking on going down through the Appalachian Trail, to Southern Pacific and up on PCH 1. Alternatively we could get the Loneliest Rd to Rt 66.

Just a little bit of our background, when we first met we travelled together through Arizona and Utah, hiking Grand Canyon, Sedona, Zion… Wonderful!!! We are planning to take a two week trip. What would be your advice? Also are there any GPS maps available with your routes? If not yet, may I leave here the suggestion?

Thanks in advance !

Maria

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Hello Maria --

Olá! -- and thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA.

Brazil to California, to Philly, and back again -- quite a trip!

I am very glad to hear you are planning to show off America to your husband (it upsets me that Americans wiill travel to Italy but don''t explore their own land, which is full of such fantastic places...)

In the East, the Appalachian Trail route will take you thru some fascinating and historic places (I really like the Shenandoah Valley, and Thos. Jefferson's Charlottesville VA)

And before you set off cross-country, maybe you can take some practice trips out from Philly to the Pennsylvania "Dutch Country," or down to Gettysburg?...

A two-week trip should be enough time to see some great places -- have you been to the "Deep South"? You might enjoy New Orleans, and the character of old Mississippi towns like Natchez and Oxford, all of which are in my Great River Road trip (which I cover in a new book -- but not yet on any GPS / smartphone apps, though I am working on it...).

Across the Midwest, I really like the Route 66 trip across Oklahoma -- then maybe you could hop onto US50 across the Rocky Mountains (and don't miss Arches and Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks -- which look like Sedona on steroids!), and then head west on the Loneliest Road across Nevada to Lake Tahoe.

That US50 drive makes a great welcome to California, for sure (as does the detour to Yosemite National Park, just south of Tahoe).

I think maybe you can save the PCH tour for when you are back in CA for good -- you definitely don't want to be in a hurry along Big Sur!

Thanks again for writing.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

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Road Trip -- buying a car?

Hey Road Tripper!

I'm a big fan of your book, which is what prompted me to ask you a question. You never really mention the process of buying a car in the states (as an outsider [I'm from Ireland]), so I wondered what your view was.

Thanks in advance,

Alan from Ireland

====>>>>

Hi Alan --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- and glad you like my book! Taking road trips is a lot more fun than buying a car in the US -- it's a very complicated process, and it varies completely from state to state. (There is no "national" license or registration process -- every state makes up its own rules.)

Some states have mandatory safety exams for each car -- like the MOT in the UK (and Ireland?) -- but most US states don't...

The actual purchase is pretty straightforward -- you hand over the cash, and the owner signs over the title (sometime called a "pink slip"). Then it gets complicated -- the new owner has to register the car, proving that likely drivers are covered by insurance and (sometimes, like here in California...) that the car does not cause too much pollution (you need to take the car to a special center and pay $50 to get it a "Smog Test").

Besides having to get all the paperwork together, you also pay have to fees depending on the sale price of the car -- maybe $100 - 200. This is a real pain of a process, because the gov't Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is famously under-staffed and full of the crankiest employees imaginable, and lines of "customers" waiting for 4 hours or more.

Once you've done all this, then you can drive off into the sunset, and hit the road.

:-)

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

===>>>>

Road Trip -- Under-25s?

Dear Mr. Jensen,

My boyfriend and I are planning a road trip in June. We bought your book and are very happy. It helps us to form our trip from a mere dream to an actual possibility.

We are planning to drive from New York City to Key West, then to New Orleans and then over Chicago back to New York City. Do you think 6 weeks is an appropriate time for a trip like this?

My other question concerns car rentals. Since we come from Germany we have no car in the US, but renting one is very expensive or not even possible, because we are only 18.
Now we are thinking about buying a used car and reselling it before we leave. Me being a US citizen would make this a little easier, though I still think this would be very complicated.

Since you probably know a lot of road trippers, I wanted to ask you if you know someone with similar problems, who wants to sell a car he bought only for his road trip, or if you have any other solutions?

Thank you very much for your help!

Sincerely

Sandra
===>>>>>

Dear Sandra --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- I hope I can help with your travel planning. Renting a car is indeed awkward when you are under 25 -- but not impossible -- and buying one is also complicated (because you need to arrange insurance and other legal details). And alas, I do not know of anyone who has in car in New York they need to sell...

To buy one, look at websites like Craigslist.org , and keep on mind that your trip will be much happier if you can get a vehicle that already is legal (licensed & registered with the state authorities).

Another thing comes to mind -- have you looked into "Auto Driveaway" services, where you would drive someone else's car for them?? You need to be more flexible, but there is usually little cost (apart from gasoline)... It's pretty adventurous -- check out this website: http://www.autodriveawaydc.com/carlist.html

Another thing you can try is renting a car for shorter times, doing a local loop trip rather than a one way. You could fly to Atlanta, for example, and drive for 2 or 3 weeks down to Key West and New Orleans, then do the same thing in Chicago.

You don't need a car to enjoy NYC or Chicago, so this might let you combine the best of both worlds (cities and road trips!)

Don't despair -- the US is a great place to travel, and I am sure you will have a fantastic trip!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

====>>>

Summer-long Road Trip!

Dear Jamie,

My husband and I are planning a 3 month road trip from early June 2010. We are thinking of flying into NY (from London) and transferring across to Seattle to start the Pacific Coast drive down to California. From there we plan to cross over into Arizona and then up the Border to Border route via the National Parks in the Colorado Plateau and Yellowstone. We will end back in Seattle having seen Banff, Jasper, Vancouver and possibly Alaska.

We then plan to get the train from Seattle to Chicago and then make our way back to NY for the return flight back to London.

Do you think this is all achievable in 3 months or should we be scaling down? We do not want to be in the car every day and would like to stop in the National Parks (Olympic/Redwoods/Yosemite/Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce/Yellowstone etc) for some hiking.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated!

Ros

===>>>>

Dear Ros --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and sorry it took me so long to reply. You have a great trip ahead of you -- and it sounds like you'll have plenty of time to enjoy it!

The great thing about the US National Parks (besides the incredible scenery!) is that most of them are home to wonderful old rustic lodges -- mostly built in the early years of the 20th century, when architects mixed a sense of grandeur with a sensitivity to these unique sites. Some of the lodges are famous landmarks (Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, the Awhawnee in Yosemite, and the many rustic lodges in Glacier National Park (which I'm sure you'l want to see).

The only problems with these lodges are firstly, that they are very popular, and often booked solidly a year in advance (so get planning now!). Secondly, because they are in national parks, they are operated as quasi-governental entities and not always as well-cared-for as they should be. That said, they are definitely worth looking into, and can really make your trip all the more memorable. After a long day hiking, what I want most is to relax with a cold drink in front of a raging fireplace -- something all these old lodges specialize in providing.

There are also many less-famous lodges and hotels along your proposed route -- one of my favorites, the Lake Crescent Lodge, sits at the heart of the Olympic National Park, and set amidst the temperate rainforests just down the coast there's another charmer, the Lake Quinault Lodge. I include all of these places in Road Trip USA (apart from Yosemite, which is off my routes but definitely worth a visit!). In the book I have some nifty images of Glacier National Park and the Going to the Sun road -- one of the world's great drives, passing by trailheads for some of the world's great hikes...

In the Southwestern US, Zion, Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canon (north and south rims!) all have a number of historic lodges, while the rest of the Colorado Plateau regions is pretty much still wilderness -- great for hiking, but more demanding (are you contemplating camping out on your trip ? -- if so, Utah would be the place to do it!)

Continuing on up into Canada, Banff is gorgeous, and home to even more rustic hotels (plusher than their US counterparts, for sure!) -- and the landscapes are spectacular.

OK, there are some thoughts -- hope this helps, and please let me know how your trip shapes up.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

On Sale Now at Amazon
===>>>

GPS maps for Appalachian Trail

Hi there Mr. Road Trip USA --

I'm a big fan of your books (I have USA and New England ones) and am planning on embarking on my first big road trip this summer. I'll be driving from CT to Tennessee as I do every summer, but would like to take a scenic route this year instead of the standard, get there as fast as I can highways. I've been looking over the Appalachian Trail one tonight and trying to map it out in Google or Mapquest but I'm having a REALLY hard time! The maps online have so much more detail than the ones in the book and on your web site, so I can't really tell if I'm picking the same routes. I was just wondering if perhaps you had downloadable maps anywhere that show some more detail. I'd like to accurately plan out the route, so I know where I'm stopping, can maybe program it in my GPS, etc.

Thanks so much for your help if possible!! :)

Tara

====>>>

Hi there Tara --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I'm very pleased you've enjoyed my other books -- I definitely like writing them!

Regarding the Appalachian Trail driving tour, I wish I had exactly what you want -- but I haven't yet pulled one together. It was a very complicated process for me to choose the driving route equivalent to the hiking trail -- but as the world gets more and more digital, I am sure I will pull together some GPS-friendly compilation before too long. Probably not, alas, before your trip in June...

(I have just started doing a Google Map app for RT66, and even though that is a signed historic route, it's still very time-consuming !)

But I can try to help you a little -- and by the way I have just published a new "mini-book" guidebook to the Appalachian Trail route, fully updated as end of last year. Hope you can check it out.

From CT, my first route advice would be to follow old US-6 (or maybe I-84 if you want to get out of town more quickly!).

You can join the Appalachian Trail (from now I'll use "AT" as an abbreviation, OK?) at Port Jervis, a funky town at the top end of the Delaware Water Gap, following US-209 along the Delaware River, then continue south along US-222 thru the fascinating Pennsylvania Dutch Country, then joining historic US-30, the old Lincoln Highway, on toward Gettysburg PA.

Into Maryland, take US-15 south, past Camp David, then follow the AT hiking trail very closely on Hwy-17, thru the Civil War battlefield at Antietam (beautiful part of teh country, this is!) This stretch is the most convoluted part of the drive -- but that's what you get trying to follow a hiking trail in a car!

The next big stop is Harpers Ferry WV, from where I follow US-340 south into Virginia, leading straight into Skyline Drive thru Shenandoah National Park. Now, things get pretty easy: Skyline Drive runs right alongside the AT for 100 miles, and is extended heading south into the more famous Blue Ridge Parkway -- another 450 miles (though the hiker's AT diverges west of Knoxville...)

These scenic mountain-top drives are very pretty, but very slow (35mph maximum!) -- so if you want to make up time, I-81 is not a bad alternative drive. Either way, you're nearly in Tennessee!

Hope this overview helps a little -- and hope you have a great trip! And if and when I get a GPS-friendly app together, I'll let you know. For now,

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA: Appalachian Trail ** available NOW **

Cross Country Music tour

Kia ora Jamie,

We are a couple from New Zealand planning a road trip from New York to Los Angeles in August or September 2010. We were thinking of driving somewhere along the lines of the Appalachian trial then the southern pacific (and into Mexico) and up the pacific coast. We are hoping to purchase a used vehicle that we can sleeping in for at least a couple of nights a week (wagon or van).

We are very interested in tramping/camping and maybe kayaking in National Parks and seeing local wildlife. We also love good food and good music. We also want to get into some good honest US culture and meet the locals.

I have a lot of questions and was hoping you could point me in the right direction for some of them.

1) Do you have any advise on purchasing a vehicle? Do we require a US address (as we won't have one)? Can you direct us to a good site that specialises in foreigners who want to purchase a car in the US.

2) Is there anything that you would advise is a must do at this time of year or any events (festivals etc) that we should attend.

Any help would be appriciated

Kind Regards

Jen

PS if your ever coming to the south island of NZ we will help you out!!

====>>>>

Ahoy there Jen --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I would love to take you up on your offer of South Island hospitality. I had a friend (100 years ago or so....) who's from there, and I may make it over there yet!

As far as your USA tour, it sounds like you have a great trip ahead of you -- I hope it all works out, and I'll try to give you some help.

Late summer is a great time for traveling -- that is when most of the festivals take place. The Appalachian Trail is great at that time of year (though you will be a little early for the famous "fall color" of the changing autumnal leaves..) The wilderness areas (like Shenandoah National Park, and the Great Smoky Mountains) are still surprisingly wild, despite being only a few hours from major urban centers like NYC and DC. And there are some cool mid-sized cities and towns -- like Asheville North Carolina -- with good music and some honest, all-American culture.

About buying a car, I would suggest checking websites (like Craigslist or http://www.autotrader.com/ ) .

If you can start your trip and buy your car somewhere other than New York City, I suspect you will have a better selection and lower prices. One thing to look out for -- get a car that has already been licensed and registered, and has enough time left on its annual license so you don't have to hassle so much.

Buying and running a car is pretty complicated -- to begin with, you need to arrange insurance, and I don't know how to do this without a US address -- but then again it's only a problem if you get stopped by police or are involved in a collision....

So drive safely!

Once you get the car sorted out, the fun begins. Summer is peak season for music festivals, all over the country -- some are big, annual, (and often expensive!) events, but many are much more down-home. There's a website called "festival finder" that has a pretty good listing.

So, there are a few ideas -- please feel free to write again as your plans shape up.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

=====>>>>>

Norwegians on GRR and RT66

hi Road Tripper!

we are a couple from Norway going to USA for a month by car. We are flying to Washington DC, renting a car there and drive up to wisconsin to visit some relatives. From there we thought to take route 66 and drive to LA and drive up to San Fransisco and take plain from there

We are waiting for ur new book about USA where i hope i will get stuffs about where to drive. we love to drive small and cosy ways, and dont want to hurry

do u have any suggestions where we should drive, what to see, where to eat and where to sleep ??

thanks,

-- Robbie

======>>>>>>

Hello Robbie -- and thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA.

I hope you have had a chance to check out my book and website, because I think they'll have lot of the info you are searching for.

As far as specific route suggestions, the Great River Road is a great drive, and a way to get from Wisconsin onto Route 66 -- the small towns of LaCrosse and Galena IL are very nice places to explore.

Further south, you can hop onto old Route 66 in St Louis, then follow it all the way to LA (via the Grand Canyon and amazing redrock deserts of northern Arizona!)

North from LA, the coastal route up to SF is lovely (make sure you follow Hwy-1 thru "Big Sur", the stretch of coast between San Luis Obispo and Monterey!)

Let me know if you have any trouble getting my books -- which have lots of good ideas about places to see / stay / eat / enjoy along the way, as well as 40,000 miles of suggested drives all over the USA.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

====>>>>

Mother + Daughter Road Trip

hi mr road trip --

some advice please

mother 60+ and daughter 30 + want to drive across the states say in september. possibly begin in california LA, los angeles & san francisco and also seattle, chicago and boston are a must - all other places would be a bonus.

neither of us has driven in the states before so will we be safe, where should we avoid, best places to stay, the best month to travel and would 3 weeks be enough. will fly home from new york.

any help, tips and guidance would be appreciated.

regards

sue

=====>>>>>

Dear Sue --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA.

Sounds like a fun trip you have in mind -- I will try to help you make it a great one. First off: the USA is a big place, and driving from coast to coast is a pretty big undertaking - farther than driving from London to Istanbul!

For overseas visitors, the hardest part (apart from the driving itself) is that car hire / rental gets very expensive if you don't return the car to the place you picked it up -- so maybe you can contemplate doing a pair of shorter "loop" trips, maybe one in the west, and one in the east?

The West Coast is a great place to drive at any time of year (apart from winter, when the weather gets very wet) -- but September is just about perfect. if you start in San Francisco, you could drive south along the Pacific coast to Santa Barbara and LA, then head north via Death Valley and Yosemite, maybe heading all the way up to Seattle (and Portland OR) before returning to SF (via the splendiferous coastline and Redwood forests of Mendocino, and the Wine Country of Napa and Sonoma?).

10 days would be perfect for such a tour -- then you could hop a flight to Chicago (where you might not need to drive, unless you wanted to cruise down historic Route 66!), and maybe have another stop in Boston & NYC.

Then again, if you really wanted to do all this by road, you certainly could -- my book Road Trip USA is sub-titled Cross Country Adventures on America's Two-Lane Highways, and I can think of no better way to get a feel for America than by driving across the continent. A driving tour is especially good for balancing out the big cities with a taste of "real" homespun small-town Americana (where every one will love your English Accent...) -- and you get an unforgettable sense of just how huge the continent is.

Wherever and however you go, rest assured that 99.99% of the USA is welcoming, safe and surprisingly inexpensive (one of the few upsides of the current "Great Recession" is that hotel/motel prices are much "softer" now than they were 2 years ago...) Food and lodging is way less costly than in the UK, and fuel prices over here are half what you pay: £2 a gallon in USA, vs £1 or more per liter in UK... (My wife is English, and we go over there for our "holidays" whenever we can...)

Hope these scatter-shot ideas help you plan a great USA trip; please feel free to write me again if you have more questions, and please check out my books!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

RTUSA book on sale now:

===>>>>

SoCal to Savannah -- El Cosmico Road Trip

Hi Jamie,

I just stumbled across your blog as I was doing some research for my upcoming road trip. I have 7 days to drive from Southern CA to Savannah GA. Since I am a photography grad student, my goal is to travel more two lane highways rather then I-10 so that I can stop easily for photos (and go through more quant towns).

So far I was thinking of stopping in Tucson, Marfa TX (there is a new trailer hotel "El Cosmico" that I want to stay at), maybe Houston, New Orleans, and not sure where else. If there are any artsy/kitschy places that you think I shouldn't pass up, please let me know!!

I will be traveling alone, so safety is a concern.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Rebecca

====>>>


Dear Rebecca --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and sorry it took me until now to get back to you.

Two-lane highways are definitely better for images than the faceless freeways, so you have made one very good decision!

(The photo above is a 1930s image of two-lane America by Russell Lee, part of the WPA-era collection now at the Library of Congress -- great stuff for any photo buff or grad student!)

Now, as far as safety tips, the best advice I can offer is that you decide on your overnight stops before the sun goes down, so you can get a good sense of the place before you are too tired to go any further.

Travel-wise, your proposed route is a good one -- I cover it almost your whole way in the "Southern Pacific" chapter of my book and website.

Tucson is very cool, too (with a lot of crusty art gallery spaces in the funky old downtown area, plus one of the country's best photography collections is housed at the Univ of Arizona: URL -- http://www.creativephotography.org/

East of Tucson you're likely to love the look of Bisbee AZ, a great old mining town / art colony along US80 (and home to the "original" Airstream Trailerpark Motel, the Shady Dell!) And the drive along US80 takes you thru some very photogenic scenes (the Guadalupe Mountains Nat'l Park in NW TX is fantastic if you like the Great Outdoors, and across southern New Mexico there are many oddball towns with great old neon signs, murals, and so on...)

Marfa TX, home of El Cosmico, is pretty neat (a bit "discovered," but with good coffee!) -- and it definitely very visual. The drive north thru Fort Davis is pretty spectacular, too. Texas is huge though -- 1000 miles across, so be prepared for some tedium...

Houston is an eccentric city for sure -- and if you like kitschy art, you must stop by the Orange Show, -- URL http://www.orangeshow.org/ -- which is a world center for outsider art and "art car" creativity.

Heading east, another intriguing and visual piece of roadside art, the Bible-inscribed concrete gardens of Margaret's Grocery, stand outside Vicksburg MS, along the Mississippi River (I have a picture of it in my book Road Trip USA, on page 778-779... So long as you can turn a blind eye to the predominant WalMart/Waffle House highway sprawl, the whole Deep South can be quite visually compelling.

And your endpoint, Savannah, is totally gorgeous -- and full of lots of creative types, thanks to the presence of the SCAD art school, which has brought a lively vibe to the town's fine old buildings and some classic diners, too.

Hope some of this helps you have a great drive -- Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
-----
Road Trip USA

======>>>>>>>>


Hey Jamie --

Thanks for all the great road trip tips -- your reply reached me as I was setting off, and I had a great trip (without your suggestion I would have missed that great museum in Tucson!)

I'll write again with more details as soon as I can -- but for now -- THANX!

all best,

Rebecca

San Francisco to Grand Canyon, via Death Valley

>>
>> Hi Jamie,
>>
>> I hoping you can give me some advice on a road trip planned for May 2010. There will be 5 of us and I shall be the chauffeur!
>>
>> The other 4 members( my parents, aunt & uncle) are easy going about what we see, but there are a few must sees! Such as Sacramento( my dad & uncle had family there many moons ago), the Grand Canyon & Yellowstone.
>>
>> I have originally planned to fly into San Francisco & make our way from there to the Grand Canyon, via death valley, back up to Yellowstone via salt lake city and over to South Dakota. I think that this itinerary may be a little too full as we only have approximately 18-21 days.
>>
>> So I'm thinking maybe we should leave South Dakota for another time and start with San Francisco and finish somewhere after Yellowstone.
>>
>> I suppose I wondering what you thoughts are on this trip, bearing in mind our time frame. Are we doing too much or could be do a little more !
>>
>> Thanks for your time, have a great new year
>> Susan
>> Ireland
>

======>>>>

Hi there Susan --

Thank you for your good wishes, and I hope yo are still planning to make your big road trip around the western USA!

The first parts of your trip sound ideal -- SF is a great place to kickoff your USA tour, and from there you can go via Yosemite (not on your list, but a truly fantastic place, especially in Spring when all the waterfalls are in full flow!), over the mountains via Lake Tahoe to Death Valley (which in May should still be fairly cool - under 100 degrees F!), then on (via Las Vegas?) to the Grand Canyon. Counting a few days in SF, you could do all this in the first half of your 18 to 21 days.

For the second half of your itinerary, I think you are right -- South Dakota is indeed a long way away. Even Yellowstone, at about 1200 miles from San Francisco, might be a little ambitious, and to be honest a lot of Yellowstone isn't really "open" until June (In May, the ground will still be covered in deep snow -- Yellowstone is located 2 miles above sea level! )

That said, Yellowstone's main roads, lodges and cafes are usually open by May, so if you really really want to go -- by all means, GO! Yellowstone is an amazing place...).

But there are some other amazing places to see, which you haven't mentioned. The "Wild West" area of Arizona to the east of the Grand Canyon is truly spectacular: this is where you will find the famous red rocks of Monument Valley, the Native American communities of the Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo nations (here and across the border in New Mexico, near scenic Santa Fe ).

And to the north of the Grand Canyon, there are the breathtaking national parklands of southern Utah (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef -- truly stunning scenery).

All of this is well within your reach on this trip -- as is the gorgeous coastline of California (Big Sur and Monterey to the south of SF, or the "Wine Country" regions of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino to the north of SF).

There is lots to see and do and enjoy -- all without spending _too _ much time behind the wheel of you car.

Let me know how things take shape, and good luck with the trip.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

=========>>>>>>


Hi Jamie,

thanks so much for mail & your great advice. Indeed the prospect of the long drive to Yellowstone proved a little too daunting for me so I've settled on starting in San Francisco and flying home from Denver. The tickets are booked, spirits are high & both mind and body are willing!

Looking forward to seeing all the sights & the Wild West sounds perfect for the two old gunslingers in my posse:)

I will let you know how we get on.

Thanks again & take care.
Susan

Toronto to Vancouver, via Mt Rushmore & Missoula

Hi Jamie -

Thanks a lot for your taking questions. I am moving from Toronto to Vancouver in April and am looking at what route to take westward. I've driven the Trans Canada and Route 2 so I'm looking for a slightly different route, built around some places I'd like to see. The result is the draft itinerary below.

Toronto to Cleveland 471 km
Cleveland to Madison 790 km
Madison to Sioux Falls 700 km
Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore 600 km
Mt Rushmore to Billings 550 km
Billings to Butte 360 km
Butte to Missoula 250 km
Missoula to Portland 884 km
Portland to Vancouver 505 km

I wonder if you had any advice about real highlights west of Madison? My interests include key historical sites, interesting pro or collegiate sports experiences, good hikes (I'll also have my snowshoes) and quirkiness of all varieties. Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers,
Pat

====>>>>

Hello Pat --

Thank you for checking in with Road Trip USA.

I've had a look at your plans, and (after translating from KM to miles) it sounds like you should have a fun trip. (If the weather cooperates...)

Some notes: There's plenty of "quirkiness" around Mt Rushmore (inc a huge Crazy Horse carving, plus my favorite roadside sculpture, Carhenge in northeast Nebraska), not to mention Wall Drug in Wall SD, and a neighboring Cold War missile silo, open as a National Historic Site!

So maybe you might want to set aside a bit more time for this Black Hills area (Even if it means skipping Cleveland...)

Also, to my mind Missoula is more fun than Billings or Butte -- and if you picked up the pace across Montana, you'd give yourself more time to enjoy the scenic splendors of the Columbia Gorge and Mount Hood, east of Portland (which is now on your longest driving day.) There are many great quick hikes here along the Columbia River, and it should be gorgeous in April (and if you feel the need to use your snowshoes, Mount Hood is perpetually snowcapped, as are all the other cascade volcanos -- Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, et al)

April is a tough month for sports (college basketball season will have just ended, and baseball isn't yet fully in action, though Portland's Class AAA Beavers start playing around April 7th!), but there are tons of fascination historical sites -- almost your whole route you'll be tracking Lewis & Clark and the Oregon Trail, both of which I cover pretty thoroughly in my Road Trip USA book (abridged on the website version).

You've got a great trip ahead of you -- let me know what you get up to!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Great River Road Trip

Hey Road Trip USA --

I am planning a run on “The Great River Road” in May and would like to purchase a new copy if they have been updated.
Thanks,
Wes

===

Dear Wes --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA -- and you're in luck: I just updated the Great River Road chapter for a new "mini-book," which was published this week. I did a pretty thorough job on the new edition, and am sure it will be of more use than the 10-year-old text you've been using. These mini-books are priced for this current economic Great Recession -- Amazon has them for around $7 (the cost of a couple gallons of gas, these days...)

Thanks very much for writing -- hope you have a great trip.

(And please write in again with any updates / notes / discoveries you care to share!)

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
author,
Road Trip USA

=====>>>>>>>


Hey Jamie

That's Good News -- very cool.

I have been talking about your book to folks since I first discovered it, years ago. My copy has been through 2 older Porsches, a 2000 Vette Convertible and now a 2004 Vette convertible. When last we road tripped, we went out RT 2 to Glacier (from SSt Marie) and came back on RT 50. We live in South Western VA about 20 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. We used your book for a trip to New England, and a trip down the East Coast on 17/1/A1A. We also did a run down the 66 corridor out to New Mexico then up through Utah and back across and we used the book when we flew to San Diego to go down to Baja.

I retired a couple years ago, and now we are better able to plan the time we need for extended road trips. The Great River Road is first on our list. Funny thing is we were planning the same trip, and would have been in New Orleans when Katrina hit. We ended up postponing and what good fortune that was. We are still looking forward to driving the West Coast from Canada to Mexico. That will probably be next year. I will buy your updated mini book for this year’s trip, and will continue to extol the virtues of your main book.

Thanks,
Wes

Round the Country in April / May

Hey Road Trip --

I am planning on going around the country in April and May of 2010. I have a minivan and am planning to use campgrounds and motels about 50/50. I thought about biking across country but decided to take the van and drive between 100 and 200 miles a day and then biking the area I will be staying at, riding about 30 miles a day. I bought your book and am wondering if you had an opinion on using route 90 instead of 80 as my southern highway going east to west. I'm from outside Albany NY and will be starting my first leg of the journey in Washington DC for 3 or 4 days. Then hit some of the civil war battlefields before picking up your Atlantic route going as far as Savannah or Jacksonville (route 80 or 90??) before heading west. I plan on going to New Orleans, Dallas, Yosemite, back to Las Vegas (5 days), Grand Canyon (North Rim) Salt Lake City, Portland, Vancouver, Banaff, Calgary, Reginna, Winnipeg, Niagara Falls(Canadian side), Toronto, Ottawa, and back to Albany.

Your opinion on route 90 and any suggestions for any other recommended routes would be appreciated.

Thanks, Jim

====>>>>>>

Hello There Jim ! --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- sounds like you have a fantastic trip ahead of you, and I hope I can help make it as fun and memorable as it can be.

First off, taking a bike with you is a great idea -- you will see (and hear, and smell..) so much more while riding than you ever would just looking thru your windshield -- and I suspect you will sleep a lot more soundly, as well.

I'll be very interested to hear your experiences riding around Civl War battlefields - this sounds like the perfect way to do it . (You'll certainly gain abetter appreciation of the importance of topography! The world sure seems a lot hillier when you are having to move around under your own "steam"...)

I just hope the DC / Gettysburg / Antietam area is snow-free by the time you get there.

OK -- onto your questions: about US-80 vs US-90, my inclination would be to follow US-80, first because I know it's nice (esp worth a visit is a GA Music Hall of Fame, and all the Allman Brothers / Otis Redding / Little Richard music sights in Macon!) . Columbus (home of Carson McCullers, and the Ballad of the Sad Cafe) is also interesting, but the main event here is the stretch of US-80 between Montgomery and Selma -- utterly fascinating, and the Civil Rights Movement trail really brings that region to life.

(Also, if you make it as far south as Jacksonvllle Florida, consider continuing on to St Augustine, which is a very interesting (and fun!) place to explore.)

However you go, once you made it across Alabama you can swoop down into New Orleans (though think twice before missing Vicksburg and Natchez, and Oxford and Memphis, and all the other great sights and sounds of the Great River Road region...).

West from New Orleans, US-90 winds across the heart of Cajun Country, where there are eminently rideable roads along all those bayous. St Francisville and Bayou Teche is all very pretty, and Breaux Bridge is home to a great Zydeco cafe.

Further west, despite years of trying I _still_ haven' t found a short-cut across Texas -- it is 1000 miles, any way you go. Which means a few days on the road -- so I'd suggest veering a little bit south, via Houston/Galveston so you can see Austin and ride your bike on the Hill Country roads that made Lance Armstrong so, well.. strong. The "No Country for Old Men" area around Fort Davis / Marfa is also very arty and interesting (at least by Texas standards...) I don't really know Big Bend, but the Guadalupe Mountains / Carlsbad Caverns area is full of things to see -- mountains, canyons, caves and wildlife.

You didn't mention Arizona (or New Mexico), but Arizona is beautiful in April / May -- historic Tombstone is here, and Bisbee is a nifty old copper mining / ghost / artist's town. And they have a big bike race, La Vuelta de Bisbee, late in April -- see http://www.lvdb.info/

Also great in April: Saguaro National Park outside Tucson, which has desert wildflowers and some fab bike rides.

Onwards. From Texas, all the way to Yosemite, before coming back to Las Vegas -- are you sure? Couldn't you do Yosemite after Las Vegas / Grand Canyon?? Maybe by way of Death Valley?

Yosemite is amazing, but it is also a long way west -- and you don't even make it all the way to the coast (which is actually very impressive -- most people are drawn to race to the end of the road, and end up missing out on a lot as they zoom along to their destination..)

OK -- back to your plan: Five days in Vegas -- I hope you can do daily bike rides out to Red Rock Canyon, and win big at night in the casinos! :-)

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon sounds more appealing, to me. You will probably be there on the day it opens for the season -- so be prepared for snow on the roads and trails. Sounds very nice... just don't slip off any cliffs.

Then you're heading on to Portland (lovely -- be sure to have a look at Timberline Lodge, up on the shoulders of Mount Hood, and take a ride on thru Columbia Gorge.)

Banff et al is also gorgeous -- but I think I'd better sign off here and send this along to you, otherwise I will be wracked with jealousy!

Hope these ideas help point you toward some great experiences, and that my Road Trip USA book proves its value, too.

Have a great trip -- feel free to write me again, and please let me know how it all goes.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA


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RV-ing across America in April

Hello Jamie,

Early April we pick up a RV at Middlebury, Indiana and have to drop at 28 days later in San Francisco.

Due to the weather we intend to head South to Memphis. From there we do not yet know.

We do like to enjoy the scenery and parks. What can we do best and what are the must-sees?

Thanks

Hans en Marian from Holland

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Hallo Hans & Marian --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA -- I hope I can help you plan a great trip.

One general word of advice: if you want to see the "real" America, as much as possible stay off the main freeways and "Interstate" highways (like I-10 and I-20 and I-40). Instead, pick up a good road atlas (like Rand McNally, these are available all over the USA and possibly in Holland, too!) , and drive your RV down the less-busy slightly older roads, which actually take you to nice places. There are something like 3 million miles of roads in the USA, and choosing the right ones will make a huge difference in what you experience on your big USA tour.

I'm pleased to hear to have plenty of time -- 28 days is a fine length of time to see some of what the USA has to offer. Heading west is a great idea -- your RV will be very useful in the wide-open spaces of the American West, as you will be able to go just about everywhere and not have to worry too much about finding places to stay or eat.

Here's my suggested All-American route: From Indiana, heading south is a good start -- try following some of the "Great River Road" route along the Mississippi River, which will take you past some truly fascinating places (2000-year-old Native American burial mounds in Iowa, the frontier community at Nauvoo Illinois, Mark Twain's hometown in Hannibal Missouri, the great city of St Louis, and more...) on your way to Memphis.

I have just finished a "mini-book" on this route, called Road Trip USA: Great River Road (You can get it, and my "big book" which covers 40,000 miles of great American highways, fast at Amazon.de in their "Englischer Bucher" pages ... !):


I would also encourage you to travel south from Memphis, into the Mississippi Delta region, and especially to old American towns like Natchez Mississippi, which have hardly changed since the 1850s . Maybe even all the way into New Orleans, though you'd probably want to park the RV and ride the "Streetcar Named Desire" trams into the historic French Quarter.

This first part of this trip could take a week or so -- now it's time to head west! Though it is not a region I cover in Road Trip USA, the Gulf Coast of Texas has some neat spots -- like Galveston, and Padre Island... I'd also recommend a visit to San Antonio -- home of the Alamo, a famous American landmark.

(Padre Island and the Alamo get covered in my US-83 "Road to Nowhere" chapter of Road Trip USA.)

The landscape of Texas really improves in the west, where you have Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and nearby Carlsbad Caverns, too. (This is all covered in my "Southern Pacific" route, along old US-80 and US-180. Please take care traveling along the Mexican border -- there have been all sorts of awful crimes lately.)

If you enjoy Native Americana, you may want to veer into northern New Mexico, where legendary Route 66 brings you to Santa Fe, one of the oldest and most attractive small cities in the country. All of Route 66 is included in Road Trip USA - so go "get your kicks!"

West of here is Arizona, which is at its best in April and May -- wildflowers are blooming across the deserts, and the weather is not too hot, so you enjoy the scenery -- I really like the Saguaro National Parks areas of southern Arizona, around Tucson, and Arizona is also home to the cliff palaces of Canyon de Chelley, and the famous red-rock monoliths of Monument Valley. Not to mention the Grand Canyon... So there is a lot to see here -- I would count on spending more time in the "Southwest" than in any other part of your tour. By the way, it can snow at the Grand Canyon, even in April or May -- the rim of the canyon is nearly 8000 feet (2000 meters !) above sea level.

Next and last stop: California, which is gorgeous and very varied. Beaches in the south, incredible coastline in rugged Big Sur, towering waterfalls and granite canyons of Yosemite National Park, amazing trees of Redwood National Park, plus the lovely city where you are bound -- San Francisco.

A week in the Deep South, two weeks out in the Wild West, then a week in California -- What a great trip!

Heb een grote reis, (?)

Or as we say in the USA, Happy Trails !


Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA
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Cross-Country Route Planning

Hi Jamie,

Thank you for your wonderful website.

I will be doing a roadtrip in mid-March from South Carolina (Greenville) to southern California.

I have done some research and narrow it done to two main routes:

1. I-40 - Through Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Oklahoma, Alburqueque, Flagstaff and to California.

2. I-70 - Through Knoxville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Utah, Las Vegas and to California.

My research is saying that the driving and scenery will be more interesting on the I-70 route; but the cities I will pass through on the I-40 are more interesting. Is this correct? Which route would you recommend? Or maybe you have a third route that you would recommend.

I have about 5 to 7 days to do this one-way road trip and my focus for this road trip is on scenic driving and great food. I grew up in California have never been to any of the cities on either of these routes.


Thank you,

Peter in CA

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Hello Peter --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope this reaches you before you set off west!

Both of the routes you are considering have their advantages, and it's really up to you to decide which is more appealing -- that said, at this time of year (mid-March) I would let the weather reports make my decision for me (you don't want to get caught up in tornado and thunderstorms, for sure!)

If you like food, though, I would make sure Memphis is on the route. And if you appreciate American History, Birmingham (and Montgomery, and Selma AL) are fascinating places to see.

My Road Trip USA universe is more about getting off the Interstates, so which ever way you go I would like to encourage you to try out some of the older roads across the country, and get a better sense of the places you are passing thru.

Route 66 across Oklahoma (and NM and AZ as well) for example is 100 x more interesting than I-40, and not that much slower, apart from all the stops you might want to make to enjoy "home cooked" meals or milk shakes along the way... Route 66 is basically the freeway's frontage road, and detours to Santa Fe and the Grand Canyon are also great options along this route -- though 5 days doesn't allow you a lot of time for side trips.

And if you go for the I-70 corridor, weather permitting this is a gorgeous drive in western Colorado and most of Utah -- where a half-dozen National Parks lie just a few miles off the freeway. And maybe think about swapping off the Interstate for your final approach into California : US-50 across Nevada is a gorgeous drive, following in the footsteps of the Pony Express past lonesome Great Basin Nat'l Park and the alpine beauty of Lake Tahoe. Then if you need to get to SoCal (?), you can cruise down US-395 at the foot of the eastern Sierra Nevada -- one of the my favorite drives (I am a SoCal boy myself, and still love this route)

Hope these ideas help you have a great time -- however you go, drive safe and get plenty of sleep. You've got some big drives ahead of you!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen

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College Summer Vacation Road Trip

Hey Jamie,

First of all, thanks for your great website. I am a college student that will be hitting the open road this summer. I'm thinking about a 6 week trip. Living in north Ga, I plan on taking advantage of a massive 5 of your routes: The Atlantic Coast, the Great Northern, the Pacific Coast, part of Route 66, and part of the Southern Pacific. I'm a photographer and a writer, so I plan on blogging about my trip online (maybe hosted for a fee on someones site), and taking as many pictures as I can, so I can come back and sell them. Needless to say, I'm quite excited.

First off, do you have any general tips for me? I get the feeling that since I'll be on a budget, I'll be car camping a lot... I've heard 24 hour places are the best for this. This might be a silly question, but what happens when you break down? I'll take any advice I can get!

Thanks,

David from Georgia

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Hello David Morris --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope i can help with your mega-trip. If you end up doing the blog this summer, send me a link and I'll follow your progress.

As far as saving money tips, I have two slightly contradictory ideas. About 24 hour places -- yes, these are generally safe places to park and sleep in your car (WalMart for example lets RVers park overnight in their parking lots, and use their customer toilets...).

But on the other hand, cities (where these Big Box monsters tend to be found) are usually more expensive places to linger -- I prefer to camp out in wllderness areas far away from cities (public lands out west usually have the cheapest camping spots)

And about breaking down -- I'm not much good under the hood, so I recommend joining the AAA Auto Club, whose services will help keep you on the road, or tow your vehicle to a place that can fix it.

Hope these tidbits help -- sounds like you've got a great round-the-USA tour ahead of you this summer.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen

PS: If yo get a chance to check it out in a bookstore or library, there is a lot more good fun info in the full color, 900-page book version of Road Trip USA than what I've squeezed up onto the website.

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Atlantic Coast road trip

HI There Road Tripper,

I love your website! It’s been such help and inspiration to me as I plan my roadtrip with my girlfriend. We are starting out in NYC, making our way down the east coast (I’m a Baltimore girl myself, and will be excited to be passing through Ocean City again, the site of many childhood summer vacations).

From Savannah, we’d like to turn towards New Orleans. Have you ever made this trip? Do you have suggestions for a route? We google mapped it, and on paper they came up with what looks like a pretty nice drive along the panhandle coast, the “forgotten coast.”

Do you have any suggestions for us? Thank you!

Cheers,
Amanda

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Hi there Amanda --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- hope this reaches you before you head off on your trip! I also hope the weather cooperates with your visit to Ocean City, and that enough of the "old time" attractions like Trimpers rides are still going strong -- when do you plan to go??

And ending up at Savannah is a good call -- it is a lovely city, with a lot of character (and a big St Patrick's Day party -- tomorrow!)

I'm glad you like the website, and if you have time I would like to suggest you check out the Road Trip USA Atlantic Coast mini-book I have just published, covering the whole Atlantic Coast route. I updated and re-wrote this last October, while the website info comes from the "big book" of Road Trip USA (which is getting to be a year older...)

Now, about the Florida Panhandle -- I have been there, but just for fun -- I went to see the "ideal town " of Seaside Florida, which is a nifty place just west of Panama City Beach. To me, I'll take the Atlantic (esp the Outer Banks of NC) over the placid Gulf Coast any day -- but that said, the sands along the Gulf are definitely lovely.

My route suggestions would be to stay as close to the water as you can, getting out of the car whenever you spy a pretty strand, then bombing along I-10 into New Orleans, which is great fun and totally fascinating.

Hope this tips help you have fun -- thanks again for checking out my Road Trip USA world.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen

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Las Vegas / Grand Canyon Southwest Road Trip

Hi Jamie!
Your book is fab, and has given us (my Husband and I) food for thought for the next few years!

We are planning a trip in April and need a little help. It won't be the fully blown Road trip we plan to take in the future, but we have a few days and wanted a little advice. Indeed we are planning to fly to Vegas and spend a few there before heading off. As it's the second part to our honeymoon, we thought we'd enjoy the shows and fun of the strip before heading off for the more "relaxed" part of the trip... We plan to exit Vegas via Lake Mead and head to the Grand Canyon. Here's where we are stuck as need to go the opposite direction and get ourselves to LA.

Our departure from Vegas is planned for the 22nd and ideally we'd like to be in LA on the 26th as our flight back to Europe is planned for the 29th.. any ideas as to create a loop so that we could include a night in the Grand Canyon? where should we sleep and what do we absolutely have to see! :)
Hope you can help us!

Many thanks
Pascale from Paris

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Bon Jour Pascale from Paris --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA.

Las Vegas should be a blast -- and once you've had enough of its bright lights, you can take an amazing road trip, looping around thru the beautiful landscapes of southern Utah (Arches National Park, Lake Powell, Monument Valley...) , before heading down into Arizona to the Grand Canyon.

If you want the full "American Experience", you can follow some great stretches of old Route 66 Whether or not you do the Route 66 trip, having spent a few days in the desert your eyes will be better prepared to appreciate the spectacle of the Grand Canyon. Maybe you can plan to stay at the Grand Canyon for more than one night, since walking down into the canyon is the best way to appreciate it.

(And the Grand Canyon looks best at sunset and sunrise!)

There are many nice lodges on the rim of the Grand Canyon, or if those are full there are other hotels just outside the park (in a town called Tusayan).

I would suggest renting a car at the Las Vegas airport when you land -- driving down "The Strip" is the best way to experience its garish spectacle, staying in Vegas as long as you like then hitting the road.

You can do a nice loop around Las Vegas in 4 or 5 days, including a stay at the Grand Canyon, before returning to Las Vegas and flying to LA. You'll definitely want a car for your time in LA, but to be honest the 300-mile drive between Las Vegas and LA feels like a waste of time... It's may end up much better to fly -- and flying into LA is an amazing experience, giving a good sense of the miles and miles of suburban sprawl that make up that huge metropolis (my home town!)

OK -- hope this helps -- Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA

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