Independence Day road trip -- 2nd Honeymoon

Hi Jamie!

My one-year anniversary is coming up on July 3rd, and I thought it would be fun to take a road trip. My husband and I have 10 days of vacation off from work, so it cannot be a super long trip, but I hope a trip is possible nonetheless.

We are in Sacramento, California and I would love some recommendations on some "must sees" that we can visit in this amount of time. With the exception of a short trip to Seattle, we have rarely been outside of California turf. Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon are all on our list of things to see someday, but I am hoping for the most bang for our buck in this one trip :).

Thank you so much!!

Lynette

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Hello Lynnette --

Congrats on your one-year anniversary --

I too am a Californian, and in fact used to live in Sacramento, and my favorite escape trip used to be to hop on US50 and take off over the mountains and across the deserts on the "Loneliest Road". Magnificent driving, all the way! Lake Tahoe probably isn't far enough from your home to count as an escape, but it is a pretty nice start -- then when you add in Great Basin National Park, and maybe a run east to the national parks of Utah (Arches, Canyonlands et al), you can get a lot of "bang for your bucks" without too much time on the road.

Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore might well be a bit far for a relaxing weeklong / 10-day trip (and the truth is that the limited accommodations within the Yellowstone park get booked up pretty fast), but this summer you could do a great loop trip -- heading east on US50, south from Arches / Moab via Zion National Park, to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and maybe Las Vegas (an adult amusement park, if you like that sort of thing...). Then coming home to California via Death Valley and the wonderful Tioga Pass road into awesome Yosemite National Park.

Let me know what you think -- and thanks again for writing in to Road Trip USA.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA


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Subject: Re: Suggestions...

Thank you so much for responding!! It is awesome that you take the time to help people out. We will most definitely take you up on your suggestions, and I will let you know how the trip goes! I am heading to the store to buy a copy of your book this week :).

Thanks again!
Lynette