Coachella - Austin - New Orleans = Musical Road Trip!

Hi Jamie!

I am from Western Australia (Perth) and myself and a friend are coming over to the states in April – we are flying into LA, heading out to Coachella for the music festival, then on to Vegas. From Vegas we wanted to hire a car and head on a road trip over to New Orleans. We are SO excited about the whole thing that I think we may be being a bit ambitious in terms of how much we can do in the time we have! I have done heaps of researching on the web but differing opinions abound of course – so maybe you can help!!

We were thinking about heading from Vegas over to see a bit of the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, then head via Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon way…then into New Mexico (Santa Fe maybe, then down to Almorgordo? Not sure where would be good to go here – advice appreciated!). From there we would head across to Austin, then across to New Orleans. We are both serious music lovers hence wanting to include both these places!

So, the downside is we will leave Vegas on the 20th of April and ideally want to be in New Orleans by the 26th at the latest in order to spend a couple of days in NO before flying back to LA on the 28th – please tell us if this is a totally crazy idea?? Obviously we don’t want to spend all day every day in the car, and would like to stop off at some interesting places!

The more we think about it the more overwhelmed we get and have now lost all sense of what is realistically achievable – so please help!! Any suggestions or recommendations you could give would be AWESOME.

Cheers!
Kate
>>

Hi Kate ! --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- I hope there's still time for me to help with your road trip!

My first impression is that it could be better (more fun!) for you to get a car and do a nice road trip around the beautiful environs of Las Vegas (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, Santa Fe even). This is a great part of the country to travel around, and the weather is getting nicer every day.

However the thing about traveling around Texas is just how darn BIG it is -- the drive from Santa Fe to Austin is very long (around 700 miles, which is more than a very full day on the road). Though driving to Austin would bring you thru New Braunfels, TX, which has a great old music hall ( http://www.gruenehall.com/april2011.html )

And then to head on from Austin to to New Orleans is another 500 miles, each way.

So I think, with less than a week for all this, you need to make a choice between New Orleans and Austin -- then again, you could do your Las Vegas loop, then hop a flight to Austin, then another to New Orleans, and do it all. Just don't do it all by road -- or you will end spending too much time in the car.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

(in case you're wondering, I sent this message months ago but didn't post until after the trip...)

Boston to California -- with 2 Dogs!

Hi Jamie,

I'm planning a road trip from Boston to Santa Barbara in August. I'll be traveling with my daughter, best friend, and two dogs. Route 6 to Route 10 interests me as I love the coastal scene and would like to visit family in Georgia and friends in Texas. I'm not sure how many hours a day we will last in the car or how far we'll make it in between stretching and fetching stops. Can you help me figure out were to stop at night, how to find pet friendly lodging and how many hours I should be driving per day to make it to our sleeping destination each night?


Thanks so much!

- Heather

>>

Hi Heather -

Many thanks for writing to me at Road Trip USA -- I hope I can help you & your fellow travelers to have great time on the road this summer.

Starting with the basics -- where to spend the night -- I'll point you toward my favorite group of nice, moderate priced motels: Best Western.

Independent and locally owned, well run, and usually with a lot more personality than your national chains, Best Westerns are very welcoming and comfortable, and almost all will let you bring your dogs indoors with you at night.

Now for the harder part, planning days and stops. Boston to Santa Barbara -- and back again? -- is a BIG TRIP. It's roughly 3000 miles, and I would count on a good 10 days each way, traveling something like 300 miles each day -- with nice long breaks for leg-stretching and sight-seeing. When I road trip I stop all the time -- and though I don't have dogs, I do have young children, who are pretty indistinguishable from puppies most of the time, so I think I know what works.

:-)

Every couple of hours, get out and walk around for 20 minutes, minimum. If you're near a town, walk around downtown and do some window-shopping. Or bring a tennis ball and play fetch -- basically, you'll all benefit from getting out of the car, as often as possible. If you drive 2 hours, exercise for a little while, drive some more, then stop and have a meal and a nice walk, then drive some more and find a place to stay, the trip will be a blast.

Drive 5-6 hours a day, at around 50/60 mph, and everyone will be happy. If you can share some of the driving with your friend, or your daughter, you could maybe expand the daily limits this a little, but any more than 400 miles a day and you run the risk of developing white-line fever (I know when I'm driving too much, because I start chanelling Merle Haggard!)

About your route, the Atlantic coast has some excellent destinations, but August is peak season and places like Ocean City MD and Myrtle Beach SC can be "zooed out", as we say here in California for "very crowded". Further south, both Georgia and Texas can get very hot in August, but Savannah for one is gorgeous, and worth the sweat. Ditto San Antonio Texas, and Bisbee Arizona, and most of the other destinations and detours I highlight in Road Trip USA.

Hope these suggestions help you all have a great time.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Pacific Coast Highway in July

Hey Jamie,

First off, I love your site. I've spent many bored hours at work looking at your routes and planning many road trips (some completed, some yet on the schedule.) My wife and I are going to California this July. We are starting from San Diego, and making our way up to Napa over the course of 10 days. We have several stops planned and the timing is fairly well set by a wedding in LA and a visit with family close to San Francisco. We are thinking of staying in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, with family near San Fran, in San Fran, and in Napa.

My main question is; Do you think it is too much driving to do Santa Barbara to Monterey in one day? We know that it is going to be our main day of driving, but we also would like to be able to drive up route 1 and enjoy the sights and not feel too rushed. We have to stay in Santa Barbara the night before the drive, but I guess the stop in Monterey could be changed to something closer (although we would really like to visit Monterey.) Your thoughts on what sights to see and if that is biting off more than we can chew for one day?

Thanks a lot.

Nick

>>

Hey Nick --

Thanks for your nice message and kind words. San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Napa Valley... What's not to like? Sounds like a fun time.

About the Santa Barbara to Monterey leg, it IS indeed a long day's drive, especially along the stunningly scenic but very very slow Hwy-1 drive thru Big Sur. Because it is such a windy road, and often full of slow-pokes in big RVs, the drive "up" north along Hwy-1 from San Luis Obispo to Monterey can take 4 or 5 hours, but if you follow US-101 it's more like 2 hours (at 80 mph, the standard speed).

Having said that, I do have a viable option for you: make the run from Santa Barbara to Monterey via US-101, then the next morning do a scenic drive south down Hwy-1 thru Carmel to Big Sur. Carmel has a gorgeous beach, and some very expensive art galleries, and it's a lovely ride from Carmel down to Big Sur. You could definitely make it there, have a lovely lunch somewhere (at posh Nepenthe, or the most homey Ripplewood?), and then make your way back via Monterey and up to SF (or with family near SF?), without having to rush at all.

The best parts of Big Sur are found in these 30 miles south of Monterey -- the stretch further south is less glorious (but still breathtaking!).

If you go this way you do add some backtracking mileage, but you get to see Big Sur with fresh eyes, and without any pressure. If the weather is fine, plan a stop at Point Lobos state preserve just south of Carmel, which has a very pretty stretch of coastline, and lots of sea otters playing in the waves.

Big Sur is less than an hour from Monterey, and from Monterey, the trip to SF is only another 2 hours (unless Silicon Valley traffic gets in your way!), so you've got 4 hours driving maximum.

I've done the various permutations of this trek twice a year or more for the past 30 years, so I know it all pretty well. The Salinas Valley actually has some pretty spots, too, including two lovely old Spanish Missions, one right off US-101 (at San Miguel), and other (San Antonio, in Jolon) tucked away on a disused Army Base that used to belong to Wm Randolph Hearst, of Heart Castle fame. (Carmel's Mission was the HQ of the whole enterprise -- not surprisingly it's very nice, as well.)

Plus there lots of John Steinbeck connections, if you like that sort of thing. King City is "East of Eden" central.

Monterey itself is definitely great -- some fine old buildings and gardens in the "Historic" downtown, a great Aquarium out at Cannery Row, and gorgeous scenery all make it well worth a stop. I also love the adjacent hamlet of Pacific Grove and the beach at Asilomar (which is a nice place to spend the night -- Asilomar is owned by the state of California, and is a preserved / restored 1920s YWCA encampment, with gorgeous rustic buildings, right on the waterfront. The lobby has a pair of handsome old oak pool tables, next to a raging fireplace too -- my idea of heaven! :-)

I've got tons more details and info in my Road Trip USA books -- one on Pacific Coast Highway route, another on the whole USA -- which have more (and more up-to-date!) info than what's "up" on the website. But even if you knew nothing about anything you can't go far wrong around here -- it's a gorgeous part of California.

This is more than you asked for, I think, but I hope it helps. Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Best Truck Stops? for TV show!

Hi Jamie,

I am a television producer researching a show idea. Specifically I am looking for a truck stop with character. As the Pilots and Flying Js of the world have modernized truck stops and turned them into mega-plazas, the old fashioned truck stop is becoming a dying breed. I was wondering if you had run across any memorable truck stops in your travels?

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

Shelley
Writer/Producer for ?? Media

>>

Hi Shelley --

I have been searching for the same thing! There used to be great truck stops, all over the country, full of Humphrey Bogart types straight out of "They Drive by Night" (my all-time favorite B Movie!)

About the only real cool truck stop I can think is way up in Wells River, Vermont -- it's called the P&H, but it has lost some character since they replaced the classic 1960s "big rig" wallpaper with something dull and flocked. The food is still pretty good, though.

Doubt that helps, and sorry it took me a while to get back to you -- but like good local radio stations, good truck stops are rare birds indeed.

Good luck, and thanks for thinking of me and my Road Trip USA world.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

3-month Road Trip -- Buy or Rent a Car??

Hello there!

I thought I would write and ask for your advice as me and three of my friends are planning our American roadtrip. We are from England and we will be heading to the states from early August and be leaving at the end of October, we work out roughly with travel etc we'll have about 85 days on the road.

As far as route we wanted to do something along the lines of : Start in New York City - head down to Florida, do Orlando/Miami etc, then from here drive through Texas etc, to California, then visit LA, San Fransisco and finish in Las Vegas. Obviously with much in between! Does this route seem sensible to you?

Also any advice you could give us would be greatly welcomed, we will all be 21 when the trip happens, we are going to rent a car and stay in motels/camp/maybe sleep in the car.

Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Bobby
>>

Hello Bobby --

Thanks for writing in to me at Road Trip USA.

Sounds like you all should have some "Top Gear" type TV show follow you on your American adventures...Here's a formula for fun:
(4) X (young men aged 21 on the road) X (85 days) = anything can happen!

The route you outline sounds good for a start, and my most useful suggestion, I think, will be for you to look into buying some pretty good camping equipment so you can really enjoy yourselves (while saving some money on motels). I don't really see sleeping in the car as a comfortable alternative, except maybe on some rare occasions where you're doing a very long, all-night drive across Texas, for example...)

There are some very good camping supply stores in the US -- the biggest major one is called "REI", who have stores all over the US. You can get a good tent for around $300, and camping out, and cooking for yourself, is a great way to stretch your budget, stay healthy, and maybe meet some agreeable fellow travelers. Camping is harder in urban areas, where life in general is lot more expensive -- if I were you I'd aim to spend as much time as possible in the Great Outdoors, which is really the best thing about the USA (especially all those wonderful national parks in the West -- Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, etc etc.

No matter where you are, sleeping in your car is not really an option -- if you ever do manage to nod off, the police will wake you up at 2am and "move you on", as I think they say over there in the UK.

Another thing, be prepared for some hassles renting a car at age 21 -- many of the major rental companies only deal with people aged 25 or over. Or they charge a premium -- an extra $20 or so a week, in my experience. And you may find it more economical to plan your trip as a series of loops -- getting one car for a big loop around the Southeast, then another to see California. Otherwise you can end up paying higher rates or exorbitant "drop-off" fees, if you return the car to a place different from where you originally rent it.

These are the main potential hassles -- but they will be more than outweighed by all the crazy fun you can have road-tripping around the USA.

Tempting as it may seem from Hollywood movies, when cruising around the USA, try to avoid the temptation to drink booze while driving. And don't pick fights with rednecks, or bikers, or anyone else, either!

:-)


Hope it all works out, Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Dallas to Montana

Hey Jamie,
I received your book from my very good friend last Christmas (we like to road trip together). We have ohhhed and ahhhhed over the places in your book and want to go to them ALL!

This spring, last week of May, first week of June, I am hitting the road solo as I drive from Dallas to see my friend waaaaaay up in northwest Montana, the tiny town of Trego. So, I am wanting to go the back roads, I hate the interstates, but realize I must stay fairly close to support my Starbucks addiction. Last year I drove from Big D up to northern Kansas and had to map it very carefully, no Starbucks after Salina, KS! Thank goodness for their little instant packets (did you know if you put one of their regular roast packets into a carton of chocolate milk, and shake it up, it tastes as good as an iced mocha!).

Anyways, I want to go back roads, but I want to go up one way and return another. Thinking go out through the panhandle of Texas, through Colorado, Wyoming and then up through Idaho, cross back into Montana through the NW corner and drop down to Trego that way. Since you have traveled a lot more miles on the highway than I, what time frame should I give myself for this drive? Three days? Four? I want to putz around along the way and see some stuff, but also putz around on way home (gonna go across MT, then straight down through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas (Auntie Em), OK then home), again, traveling back roads as much as possible.

I'd like to camp a night or two in some of the national parks, but really would like to find some real whacko type places to stay (not Motel Hell or Bates Motel, but you know what I mean). Suggestions?

OK, I think that is enough. Thanks for a great book and any tips you can throw my way Jamie! Keep on rolling along!

Lisa in Dallas

===>>

Hey Lisa in Dallas --

Many thanks for your enthusiastic message -- just the thing I needed to shake off the late winter doldrums!

I hope this crazy, tornado-swept Spring is heading into summer by your late May / June kickoff -- weather will have a lot to do with how much fun you have out on the road. If you are lucky, the fantastic Going-to-the-Sun could be open and clear just in time for you to drive it -- that is one of my all-time favorite roads. I one time drove all the way there in along night from Seattle, just so I could watch the sun rise over the Great Plains. Fantastic -- then I dozed off and woke up hours later in a wildflower meadow (lovely!) surrounded by defecating mountain goats (not so lovely!...)

Life on the road.... :-)

From Dallas to tiny Trego is a good 2000 miles, so I can't see doing it in less than 4 days, especially if you want to "putz around." And the mileage is the same on the way back - plus however long you want to stay up in our friend's tiny town (which is north of Whitefish, isn't it?).

There definitely are some great lodging options for you on this trip -- not least the mighty East Glacier Lodge, with its lobby built from whole Douglas Fir logs (with the bark still on!). Also unique is the Glacier Gateway Inn in Cut Bank - a motel where you are welcomed by a giant, 25-foot-tall Penguin (who says "Welcome to the Coldest Spot in the Nation".) And further west, on your way to Montana, off US-93 in Stanley Idaho there's the ever-charming Danner's Log Cabins, a 1920s landmark.

For camping, I have had some lovely nights under the stars off old US-50 in Arches National Park -- which is easy to get to from the road, unlike Canyonlands and some of the other, more remote areas of Utah. And further north along scenic US-93, Idaho's Craters of the Moon is pretty cool, too -- and the campground there should be clear of snow by late May.

On your way back, down along US-83, if you're willing to "rough it " a little, there's a neat "wacko" lodge in the middle of the Great American Nowhere, south of North Platte Nebraska: the Dancing Leaf Earth Lodge, a reconstruction of an ancient / prehistoric Native American dwelling. Check it out:
http://www.dancingleaf.com/hist.htm

OK - hope you have a great trip,and please say hi for me to Carhenge (in Alliance NE...) as you fly on by!

Happy Trails, and thanks again for getting touch,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

RV, or not RV? That is the Question!

Hi Jamie,

Hope you are well.

My husband and i are from the UK and we are planning a road trip in the US starting in July this year for 4 months. We have set out a provisional route, starting off in Rapid City South Dakota. Our plan is the then follow on the yellowstone park and going up to vancouver, going down the west coast working our way over to florida and up to maine. We plan to cover all starts, bar Kansas, Oklahoma, north Dakota, Iowa, nebraska, minnesota, wisconsin.

My question really is how is the best way to go about doing this. With a route planned we are trying to decide is we should hire a car, or rent an RV. My concerns with an RV is that we have to take everything everywhere, even if we go out for dinner. As America is not like the UK where things can be within walking distance. My concerns with driving is that we are staying in hotels/motels all the time. Whereas an RV we can cook food. Also there is the issue of one way rentals.

If you have any advice that could help it would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Louise

===

Hi Louise --

Many thanks for your message, and I hope you have a great trip. That is one Grand Tour you have ahead of you!

If it were my trip, I would opt to hire a car over an RV -- RVs make a lot of sense for larger groups, or families with small kids, but I find them to be quite isolating and cumbersome. Also, RV campgrounds, even in the national parks, tend to all look alike, whereas with a car (and especially if you are willing to hike a couple hundred yards from the parking lot) you can really "get away from it all".

And to expand your cooking options, once you're in the US you could easily buy a little butane camp-stove and some cooking gear -- ideal for making a quick cup of tea, or a light lunch in some pretty picnic spot. I find I cook much healthier food than I can buy in a restaurant.

And if you feel robust you can buy a tent, too; this is actually the best way to explore the US, especially for a couple -- we call it "car camping", and if you like the Great Outdoors it is a fabulous way to see the country. You could also opt to balance the occasional wilderness camping nights with a stay at a nice motel or national park lodge -- with its log ceilings and rustic charm, Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone is one of the my favorite places in the planet!

Or, you could look into renting or buying a trailer / camper, which you could sleep in and cook in without the bulk and gas mileage issues of a full size RV. There are some very cool tarilers out tehre -- maybe after the trip you could ship it home and become a full-time "traveller"...

:-)

Alternatively, you could go the RV route for a first few weeks in the more "outdoorsy" areas (Yellowstone, Canadian Rockies?, Oregon coast, Yosemite??), then swap to a car for your cross-country and East Coast segments. I can't really imagine that it would be much to drive a big RV around the narrow, busy streets of the older cities of eastern US (like Charleston SC, or Savannah GA, or Boston or New York)

Though the US public transit is pretty limited compared to those in Europe or the UK, there are also some great train journeys you might want to add to your already complicated plans -- the Coast Starlight train down the California coast, for example, lets you see places you can't get to by car.

Finally, wherever you go, if you want to be within walking distance of your dinner spot, rather than have to drive all the time, one other option you might want to look into is the "Historic Hotels of America" , some 200 wonderfully-preserved older hotels that have banded together to challenge the anodyne chain hotel companies. Here's their URL: http://www.historichotels.org/

There are such a lot of possibilities when you contemplate a trip like yours, I feel I should end here or I can waffle on for another many pages. If you wanted to write back to me once you start sketching out an itinerary, I'll be happy to try to give you some more specific suggestions, but I also wanted to say I hope you get a chance to check out my 900-page book of Road Trip USA routes -- the book has a lot of info and ideas (and pictures) in addition to the materials I have put "up" on the website.

Four months is a very long time -- I am envious, to say the least, and wish you all the best, embarking on this great adventure.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
----
Road Trip USA

Oddball Road Trip -- Minneapolis to the Grand Canyon

Hi!

I am going to visit the Grand Canyon with some friends in April or maybe May for the first time, and I’m very excited!

I am thinking about driving back to Minneapolis on my own, taking three days for the drive.

Which route would you suggest? I am not much interested in museums, but love stopping at odd sites (like the world’s largest ball of twine in Darwin, MN or the Babe statue in Bemidji, MN) and love finding the best local eats and beautiful scenery.

Thank you!

Kathryn

==

Hello Kathryn --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help with your trip plans.

Three days is not a _huge_ amount of time to get you home from Arizona -- that's about 1700 miles, without any significant detours (such as heading up to Bemidji -- which is worth a trip on of its own, for sure! So is nearby Brainerd MN, where the Paul Bunyan statue pictured above still lives.)

A couple of places that are on your route, and well worth seeing, did come to mind. First and foremost is my favorite Midwest "odd site": magnificent Carhenge, a recreation of Stonehenge, made entirely out of old, American cars. It is truly cool, and located in a pretty part of the world -- the Sand Hills of western Nebraska, outside the town of Alliance. (Here's a URL: http://www.carhenge.com/ )

Carhenge is very near a couple of other great roadside attractions: Mount Rushmore, which you've probably heard of, and the giant statue of Crazy Horse, being carved into a nearby mountain.

To get to Carhenge and Mount Rushmore from the Grand Canyon, I'd recommend driving via Salt Lake City, then heading east onto scenic old US-40 into the town of Vernal Utah, which is home to some very photogenic pink concrete dinosaurs (another classic icon of roadside Americana)

Finally, between Mount Rushmore and Minneapolis, right off I-90, stands the wonderful Corn Palace of Mitchell SD -- whose facade is totally decorated in colored ears of corn. URL: http://www.cornpalace.com.

Hope this helps you have a great trip!

Drive safe, and Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Pennsylvania - Louisiana - Las Vegas Road Trip

Hi Jamie,

Love your books, bought them years ago when I was just a 15 year old dreaming of a USA roadtrip. Now I'm 21 and about to go and stay with a friend in Glen Rock, PA for 3 weeks in June (I'm from the UK). We want to go on a roadtrip to Las Vegas and would love to go through the deep south (Louisiana etc) on the way. Do you think that 3 weeks is a long enough time to see a vast expanse of the south US and Vegas? Also would you say sleeping in motels is the most effective way? My friend has an Audi TT, not the most comfortable car to sleep in. We would like to spend about 3-4 days in each state along the way.

Thanks a lot!

Emily

==

Hi there Emily --

Many thanks for writing to me at Road Trip USA, and I'm very pleased to hear you like my books!

You've got quite an adventure ahead of you -- and a speedy Audi should make your driving a lot of fun. Will your friend let you drive his/her car? That would make it easier to cover all the many miles you are contemplating.

Seeing as you are young and resilient, I think you can definitely manage the long haul cross-country, and back again?, in your 3 week time frame. Especially if you can mix a few leisurely days of driving, eating, and sight-seeing with a few "all-night" drives, for example across the 1000-mile-wide expanses of Texas and the Great Plains.

Motels are definitely the best option, and there are also a few nice hostels (in youthful, energetic, music-loving Austin Texas, for example) that are good places to connect with fellow travelers while you're on the road.

To get you started off from Glen Rock, I'd recommend you head over to Gettysburg then follow the Appalachian Trail south, maybe alternating some scenic portions (like the Blue Ridge Parkway). with faster drives along I-81. Asheville NC is a fun place to linger and explore, then I might suggest you run across Tennessee via Nashville and Memphis. The Mississippi Delta south of Memphis is a mecca for American music fans, and nearby Louisiana is another great place to explore -- I really recommend the cruise along the Great River Road, with as many detours as you can afford thru the lively "Cajun Country" west of New Orleans (which I assume is also on your itinerary)

In July I don't recommend staying very far south when you get to Arizona -- Phoenix can be baking hot, all summer long -- but the mountains around Santa Fe New Mexico are gorgeous, and from there you could head toward Las Vegas via the cliff palaces of Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelley, and a stop at the breathtaking North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Then are you planning to drive all the way back to Pennsylvania? If you can swing north to Yellowstone National Park, that's an amazing part of the world, but it's not really a place you can see, or at least fully appreciate, unless you have a couple of days to spend watching the geysers spout and the buffalo roam. If you are running out of time the Grand Tetons are easier to appreciate in passing, and on your way back east you can also see Mount Rushmore, to add to your checklist of Road Trip icons.

Hope the trip works out, and that you have a great time.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Virginia to Texas, via Mississippi

Hi Jamie,

I'm a 19 year old college student, and planning a road trip for the month of July. I'm leaving from Newport News, VA and my first stop will be in Greenville, SC; then a small town in Mississipppi, then on to Austin, TX.

What route do you recommend for this? US-50 sounds really interesting, but I'm honestly intimidated by cliff and drop-offs. I don't think it should be a big problem, but what are your thoughts?

- Daniel

==

Hi Daniel --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I hope I can help you plan a fun road trip this July.

There are just about an infinite number of roads you could follow to get from Norfolk to Austin, but one scenic and historic route that might be very interesting came to my mind first: the Natchez Trace, a leisurely parkway built in the New Deal 1930s.

To get there from Greenville, I'd recommend looping a little ways north, through scenic Asheville and the Great Smokies National Park -- a beautiful spot, so long as you can avoid the crowds (this is the most popular National Park in the whole country!) None of the drives are very scary, if that's what you mean by being afraid of of "sky drives"...

The very peaceful and quiet Natchez Trace Parkway, which follows the much older route between Nashville TN and the great little Mississippi River town of Natchez, could get you most of the rest of your way. There are a lot of nice stops in interesting, lively cities like Jackson MS (and Tupelo MS, birthplace of Elvis Presley!), as well as "natural" and historic sights, like Emerald Mound.

From Natchez it's a nice run across the "Cajun Country" bayous of Louisiana into Texas and Austin.

Sounds fun? Hope you have a good trip!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA