Appalachian Trail -- for 5 Days?

Hey There!

My husband and I are interested in the AT road trip for mid-October. What is the recommended time for the trip, there and back? We have 5 days off, do you think this would be enough to get up and down, with minimal stopping to tour places? Thanks for your help!

Amanda

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Hey there Amanda --

Mid-October is an excellent time for the Appalachian Trail road trip, especially for the more southern portions (New England hits its "fall color" peak in late Sept / early Oct, but the Blue Ridge should be at its gorgeous peak a couple weeks later...) The exact dates of the fall foliage season vary every year, depending upon the weather, so check things out before you set off; one good starting point for info is the Weather Channel website:

http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/fallfoliage/


Depending upon where you are starting your road trip, you could definitely see a lot in 5 days -- though I think you might have to do some freeway driving, there or coming back, to get to all the great places. The good thing is that, near the mountains, even the Interstates aren't too bad -- I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley is one of the country's most beautiful drives.

But do be aware that some of the mountain-top roads, like the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, and the wonderful Blue Ridge Parkway, make you take it slow, with speed limits as low as 35mph. And wherever you go, be sure to get you of the car and do some walking, otherwise it can all just start to blur together.

Hope you have a great trip!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

December Driving -- Yosemite to Memphis!

Hi!

My fiancé and I are planning a 4 week road trip to the US (from Australia) in December 2011. Our plan at the moment is to rent a car in San Diego, head to Joshua Tree, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, then up through Fresno to San Francisco, then down through Big Sur past LA back to San Diego.

We have estimated around 10 days for that trip, is that long enough in your opinion? We are then flying to Austin and will pick up another car there and head across to New Orleans, then up to Memphis, Nashville, Asheville (for Christmas day hopefully) then drop the car in Raleigh – we know about the one-way drop off fee but are prepared to wear it.

Then we’ll get the train to NYC from there. We had estimated 8 days for this leg of the trip. Are we being too ambitious? I would prefer not to spend 8 hours each day in the car if possible...(I know we'll have a few long days though). If you have any suggestions or thoughts we’d love to hear them.

Thanks so much

Lucy

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Hi Lucy --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and I'm happy to say I think your timings are just about right -- though I do hope you will be able to include Yosemite National Park as a detour on your Fresno-to-SF itinerary, because Yosemite Valley is pretty spectacular, even in December.

On the second half of the trip, it all sounds great -- it's not too much driving, but I fear you might want to have more time in places like Memphis and New Orleans, which are fun and fascinating places to explore. As is NYC.

What a wonderful trip!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Fall Color RV trip -- out west or up north?

Hello Jamie!

I am hoping to get your advice on a road trip. We live in Georgia and plan to take 2 weeks off the end of October, early November. We have a diesel motorhome and plan to take our 2 small dogs with us. We can’t decide on which route to go to make the best of our trip. We have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone.

But we also love the fall leaves and like the New England States. We can't decide which is the best in the amount of time we have. We want it all about the journey and not necessarily the destination. (although seeing a national park is amazing). My husband has health issues with walking and may get worse as the years go on so we want to make the most of our journey. We have been of course to Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois (born there) Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina( the usual places close to where we live). We flew to New York and San Francisco one year doing the tourist thing.

Our kids are older now so they wont be traveling with us. Just the dogs. We are in our 40’s and will have to go back to work so 2 weeks is the most we can do. I keep reading online trying to get advice but it’s so difficult…

Can you help??

Thank you!!

Denise

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Hello Denise --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and for an October trip I think I'd go for the New England option -- you could follow the Appalachian Trail route north, and watch the autumn leaves turn color.

And you wouldn't have to hurry, whereas if you tried to head west to Yellowstone and back in 2 weeks, you have to rush -- the USA is a mighty big country!

Even if you don't make it all the way to New England, the Appalachian area is wonderful for traveling -- lots of lovely small towns, magical forests of Shenandoah National Park, plus all sorts of historic sights.

Hope this helps --

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Five Weeks in Fall - Chicago to LA

Hello!

I recently bought your book and it's been a fantastic help towards
planning our road trip. Myself and 3 friends are coming over from
England in 5 weeks (in late September), and will be driving from Chicago to Los Angeles.

However, Instead of doing the whole of route 66, we are travelling through
St.Louis, Kansas, Colorado and Utah before arriving in Las Vegas. We
then hope to make the long journey from Las Vegas to San Francisco
before heading back down the west coast to La. Have you ever made the
journey from Las Vegas to San Fran? If so, what road did you take and
what sights are there to see? Also, knowing the states we are driving
through, are there any 'must sees' on the way?

The 4 of us have only visited the USA a handful of times to visit the
major cities like New York and Hollywood and I don't think it's quite
sunk in how much of a monster trip this will be? Is there any advice
you would give 4 Brits travelling the states? Any places to avoid or
customs to take into consideration?...I heard tipping was a huge thing
in the USA for example, especially in bars and hotels?

Thank you so much.

Rich

Newcastle, UK.

==

Hello Rich from Newcastle --

Many thanks for buying my book and writing in to Road Trip USA.

I hope you and your friends have a fantastic time, and don't worry too much about tipping -- the US is a pretty inexpensive place to travel, especially compared to the UK, so even if you give your waitress or barman a 15 or 20 percent tip, it won't be too painful for your bank balances.

For the Las Vegas to SF trip, the classic route is to head via Death Valley and Yosemite National Parks. This is an amazing drive, and takes you from intense desert heat to sublime alpine scenery, all in a 300 mile cruise. The Highway-120 route, from Mono Lake over Tioga Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains into Yosemite, is truly unforgettable.

For the rest of the route, one of many "must-see" places, like the Canyonlands of Utah, as seen in the great-but-gruesome recent movie "127 hours.”

And if you are a thorough-minded sort of trip planner, I can also recommend bringing a copy of the Rough Guide to the USA (which in the spirit of full disclosure I worked on a few hundred years ago..) It has a more "English" take on the USA, while my Road Trip USA book is more all-American in spirit.

And get yourself some good road maps – and one of you should buy a data plan for a mobile/smartphone, so you can Google Map your way around.

But basically, I'm sure you'll find that the USA is a really easy and hospitable place to explore. You will have a blast!

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Motorbiking -- Seattle to Southern California

Hey JJ --

I’m going to be on the west coast in mid-October and was looking to ride from Seattle to LA…

How long is the trip?? I was thinking 4 full days, not night riding (Saturday thru Tuesday).

I’m sure it’ll get cold, I’ve got the gear. I can’t imagine it’ll be warm, even in LA.

Any insight you can give would be appreciated!


DAVID

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Hi David --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and sorry it took me a month to get back to you.

You could definitely do the Seattle-to-LA run in 4 days, but to make it that fast you'd need to take a lot of freeways (namely I-5).

The more scenic coastal route would take closer to a week, or more, depending on how much time you can spare (and how often you are tempted to stop and enjoy the views, and the food!)

For an "in between" route I'd recommend a focus on US-101, with a few Hwy-1 coastal detours whenever the weather and your mood suited a slower scenic ride.

You're looking at 1,250 miles, minimum, more like 1500 if you take in the gorgeous Oregon coast (which is beautiful and has lots of nice towns along the way.)

And despite what you anticipate, the weather in coastal California October is just about ideal -- with less fog, and fewer RVs. Nights and mornings can get chilly, but not freezing. And LA is 72, all day every day.

(And if you don't believe me, just watch the Steve Martin movie "LA Story"...



Hope this helps,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

U Haul aross America!

Hello Jamie,

Thanks for all the great information on your site. I had never considered US-50 as a cross-country route before reading your description of it, but now I'm itching to check it out.

I'm hoping you help me decide if US-50 will work for a trip I'm planning. At the end of summer I will be renting a moving truck (and bringing a friend along as copilot) and driving from New York to San Francisco. Unfortunately, because I'm moving for work, I'm on a pretty tight schedule and have only eight days in which to do the drive. This will not be my first cross-country trip, nor my last, so I don't feel any pressure to "see everything" – but I'd much prefer to take an enjoyable, scenic route (possibly with some camping along the way) rather than I-80, especially since I'll have to keep my speed low in the truck anyway.

We were thinking of making some time at the beginning by heading straight from New York to St. Louis, and picking up US-50 there. I figure we can make it to St. Louis in a one-day marathon drive, and then have a week for the rest of the trip. Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Are there any alternative routes you would recommend for our timeframe? Any advice you could give would be appreciated. Thanks!


All best,

Jim

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Hello Jim --

Many thanks for writing in to Road trip USA, and sorry it took me forever to write back to you.

If you haven't yet made the trip, I can strongly recommend US50 as a route -- even if you follow the Interstates all the way west to the Rocky Mountains, the ride across Colorado and Utah and Nevada on US50 is much more enjoyable than I-80, for sure. Or if you take I-80 all the way to Salt Lake, consider the detour across Nevada via US93 and US50 -- 100x more visually appealing than the long haul into Reno.

And while a U-Haul is not exactly ideal for crossing mountains and exploring national parks, the roadside scenery (and food!) is a lot more appetizing along the "Loneliest Road".

Hope this belated note helps a little, and hope you have (had?) a safe and fun move west.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Western USA Road Trip -- from India

Hi Jamie

Me and my husband are planning a road trip of west coast USA in November 2011 for about 12-13 days. We are travelling from India and will be taking the flight to Los Angeles.

We wish to cover, in this order: Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Monterey, Carmel and Santa Barbara. We are also planning to do Oahu (Hawaii) from Los Angeles post our road trip.

Please note we are not planning to do San Francisco as we have limited time and we would prefer Yosemite National Park over SFO. I have attached an itinierary, so you can know where we are thinking about going.

Thanks,

Road Trip Newbies from faraway India

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Welcome Newbies -- --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA!

I have a couple of thoughts about your trip plans. First -- that sounds like a great trip! Have you been to the USA before?? You are in for some eye-opening experiences.

Thinking practically, I have some suggestions for you. One would be to change the order of your itinerary slightly, so you don't have to "back track" -- if you go directly from San Diego to the Grand Canyon, and then go on to Las Vegas after seeing the Grand Canyon, you will save many hours and many miles of driving. (Unless you intend to fly from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon, which is a possibility...)

Also, from Las Vegas to Yosemite is a long way, especially in November when the mountain roads can be closed by snow. I think it may be better to stop en route, outside Yosemite -- maybe in Fresno California.

(Warning: Fresno and surroundings is not scenic in itself, but it makes a good easy base for a restful overnight before traveling on to super-scenic Yosemite!)

Hope this helps you make a great trip.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

8,700 miles, 280 hours – Travel Blog!

Hey Jamie –

I used your book to help plan for a huge 4,500 mile loop starting and finishing in Denver over about 50 days. I've doing a leg of The Loneliest Road, then Pacific Coast, then Oregon Trail before dropping back to Denver with a few longcuts into Wyoming/Nebraska. I've made it across the loneliest highway to San Francisco, next leg is up the West coast on Highway 1.

I'm blogging my way round and have found some great random spots off the beaten tracks based on your recommendations. Check out my post on the salt flat I stumbled on just after Sevier Lake Beds outside Delta, UT :

http://rockieburgerrun.blogspot.com/2011/06/flat-can-be-fabulous.html.

Cheers

Rob


==

Hey Rob --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and thanks for sharing your amazing adventures. I've enjoyed skimming thru your posts and look forward to the virtual ride -- blogspot is the next best thing to being there!

Would it be OK if I added a link to your stories from my Road Tripper blog? I suspect a lot of others would like to track your tales.

Welcome home, and thanks for sharing. (And "Viva Dion & the Wanderers" !)


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Alabama to Nigara Falls

Dear Jamie,

My husband and I are retirees who have decided to hit the road for a trip from our home in Birmingham,AL, to visit friends at their summer home in northern Vermont. We would like to take 2 routes, maybe going up the east coast and returning through the mid-Atlantic region. My husband wants to see Niagara Falls before we return south.

We will drive our car and want to stay in B&B's,old inns, or just chain motels when convenient and practical. We plan to take plenty of picnic supplies so that we can enjoy as many lunches outdoors as possible. We plan to take this trip in mid-to-late September of this year (maybe this week!).

How long should we plan for the trip?

What would you suggest for, generally, the best routes?

Many thanks,

Merry



===>>>

Dear Merry --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and sorry it took me until now to get back to you. I hope you are still planning to take the trip!

The best "Road Trip USA" route to get you from Birmingham to Vermont would be the Appalachian Trail, which has everything you are looking for -- B&Bs and picnic spots in abundance. The scenic roads along the mountains are lovely, and there are enough faster roads and freeways nearby (like I-81 thru the Shenandoah Valley) so you don't have to spend forever getting there and back (and Vermont is one of the prettiest places in the country, so I wouldn't want to exhaust you getting there).

To come back via Niagara Falls is no problem -- and while you are in western NY (cruising around the Finger Lakes region on the way. which I describe in my US-20 / "Oregon Trail" road trip -- I'd also recommend a stop at Chautauqua NY, which is another very special place.

Hope this helps --

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
--
Road Trip USA

Honeymoon Road Trip -- SF to Memphis!

Hi Jamie,

I'm getting married next August and my dream honeymoon is to drive across America. I've never done it, but have always wanted to. Since my fiance and I have already traveled around the world together this is the perfect time to see our own country.

We have a few ideas about what we'd like to do, but I definitely need some advice, here goes:

We'd like to rent a car (so we only drive one way and can fly back) at our home in San Francisco then drive to Woods Hole, MA. In Woods Hole we'll take a ferry to Martha's Vineyard for a few days before flying back to CA from Boston. On the drive from CA to MA I'd like to stop at

A) the Grand Canyon (never been!);
B) Tulsa, OH (to visit family), and
C) Nashville & Memphis, TN (for the music and the King).

Questions:

1. If we spend a day or two at each stop along the way how many days will it take to drive to MA?
2. Also, is there anything along that route we should make sure NOT to miss, or NOT to be suckered into?
3. And finally, I'd love to read one (or more) of your books. If this is the trip we'd like to take which book should I read. It seems like our grand honeymoon adventure falls in between a few of your routs so I'm not sure.

Thanks so much, for taking the time to read this, for your help and for the fabulous website!


~ The soon-to-be Mrs C


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Hi Mrs. Soon to Be --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA - and I'm glad you like the website. I hope you'll get the chance to check out the Road Trip USA book, which presents even more info in an even more appealing way. (Or so I like to think...)

I've got a new edition coming out next Spring, just in time for your trip.

But first, some affirmation: I think it's wonderful idea to celebrate your marriage by touring the great union of states that makes up the US of A.

Now, some advice. Since you want to see the Grand Canyon, have you thought about starting your trip with a flight to Las Vegas, and getting a car there? You didn't say if you're getting married in SF or where, but for some people Las Vegas is an ideal "wedding night" destination. Lots of super romantic, super deluxe honeymoon suites are available in all those decadent hotels!

And hopping a plane sure seems more romantic than starting off married life stuck in traffic on Highway 101...

Next stop: Tulsa. did you mean the one in Oklahoma? If so, the road to take is a classic: Route 66, which winds from the Grand Canyon east across New Mexico thru Santa Fe et al, right into Tulsa (which has some cool Art Deco towers, if you like that sort of thing).

Then you can stay south and make your way to Memphis, which more than Nashville is the place to pay your respects to The King. In fact, both Elvis and MLK are significant figures here -- and the live music is fantastic.

And August is actually the peak season for Elvis tourism in Memphis , with all sorts of events and celebrations occurring in the week leading up to the August 16th anniversary of his demise (nearly 35 years ago).

From Memphis you can veer northeasterly towards Woods Hole, perhaps following along the Appalachian Trail -- via the Blue Ridge Parkway and other great roads, then makingyour way out to Cape Cod. I cover this whole route in the "big book" of Road Trip USA, and more recently in a minibook just on the Appalachian Trail route.

Hope all this info helps you plan a great Honeymoon road trip.

Congrats, and Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen

Portland to Boston -- in 2 weeks?

Hi Jamie,

Myself and my friend have finally booked our flights to drive this great trip. We fly into Portland and out of Boston and have 2 weeks to drive the route... but mapping it out etc, I'm now in a panic that its gonna be all drive and no play!!! We have done several road trips together through the southern states and also Canada, but this is the longest by far.

Do you think 14 days is really enough time to do this trip in?

We are planning driving our first day spent in Portland then up early and leave Portland to Vale, stop over here then Vale to W Yellowstone where we will stop in Yellowstone for 2 days. We then leave for Cody and stop over in Cody as a day to have a shorter drive on and a free afternoon. Then the next day leaving Cody for Keystone and Mount Rushmore with an overnight stay.. then on to Sioux City or Falls.. not sure which is best! Overnight here then on to Chicago with 1 day in Chicago. Leaving here for the long drive onto Buffalo and Niagara with one day stop over there and then onto Boston leaving only the day we fly out as the only day we get in Boston!

Is there a better way to plan this trip with the time we have??...

It would be great to hear your views and any tips on this long trip if you have any. We are planning the days when we have 7/8hrs driving to stop at interesting points along the way but will be only quick photoshops.

Many thanks for any help!

Sarah



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Hi Sarah --

Many thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA -- you didn't say when you are hitting the road!...

But if you haven't yet set off, I think you'll find that 14 days is plenty of time.

(Obviously having a whole month or so to zigzag across the country would be even better, but then again a work-free life of leisure & luxury would be pretty nice, too, wouldn't it? ... )

Portland is among my favorite places, so it should be a good start for your trip. I'd head east thru the Columbia Gorge, stopping to listen to all the lovely waterfalls before heading on to Vale (whose brown flatness will be a sudden sharp contrast to the lush canyons of the Columbia.)

Then across Idaho, up into Yellowstone for 2+ days, I'm jealous. Cody next, then Keystone / Mt Rushmore (and Wall Drug, I hope!).

You said you were pondering Sioux City or Sioux Falls; given that choice I'd opt for Sioux City, but if I were in charge I would probably decide to make this a longer day and go all the way across the Great Plains to really nifty little city of La Crosse Wisconsin. La Crosse is very quaint yet lively, with a nice old downtown plus all the burgers / beer / ice cream etc any road tripper could want.

If I didn't desperately want to see all there is in Chicago, I might be tempted to extend and enjoy the next part of the drive by winding a ways south from La Crosse along the Mississippi River to Galena IL, another very quaint, characterful place with good food (I cover the route in the Great River Road section in Road Trip USA!). Also, for baseball fans, just west of here there's the Field of Dreams, a real road trip icon...

We're maybe a week into your trip by now, and already 2/3rds of the way across the USA. Take a break in Chicago? Then bomb east along I-80, with a couple quick detours to keep you sane (Toledo is fun -- great art, good baseball, and famous hot dogs).

I've done the Chicago-to-Boston run in a very very long 48 hours, with a break at Niagara Falls, so you do have plenty of time. Linger a while in Buffalo (art and architecture!), or maybe shift a couple of days to earlier in your plans -- at the start, for example, the Portland area is very cool, and you might want to head all the way west to Cannon Beach, (and out to Cape Cod at the east end?), just so you can have the full-on, ocean to ocean experience.

What's another 200 miles, if it gives you such nice bookends... :-)

Even if a cross-country trip like this does entail a couple of long days behind the wheel, if you break them up with a few quick middle-of-nowhere junk-shop tours, or a nice long lunchtime walk, they won't feel so exhausting. I don't recommend the all-night drive, though -- in my experience any time you save, you end up giving back because you need to sleep all day to recover.

Good tunes, or a few good audiobooks (Little House on The Prairie, even, for that northern Great Plains stretch!), are great companions, and will definitely help the hours and miles pass more happily.

The whole shebang sounds like a great trip.

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
----
Road Trip USA

College road trip -- East Coast or Appalachian Trail?

Hi Jamie!

Me and 3 friends will be gradating college in June, and wanted to go on a
road trip together. We really liked the Appalachian Trail idea, or the
Atlantic Coast. We are graduating college so don't have a lot of
money, nor do we know what the cheapest options would be (i.e. RV,
camping, motels, etc.). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,

Allie

===>>

Hi Allie --

Thanks for writing into Road Trip USA, and congrats on finishing college!

About your celebratory trip, if you don't mind dealing with the vagaries of the weather, camping out is the best way to see some of the country without mortgaging your future wealth to some credit card company. Even though it's close to so many big cities, the Appalachian Trail corridor offers some fantastic camping places, and if you had some agreeable friends to run a car-shuttle you could do some longish-distance hiking without having to exile yourself from civilization. When I was 19 I did a lot of hiking through Delaware Water Gap, Shenandoah & Blue Ridge Mountains areas, and the experiences have stayed with me for the past 25 + years. (In a good way!)

Camping, even if you haul tents and stoves in your car, saves money (on hotels and food, because you cook for yourselves), and I think it helps you appreciate places more, too.

Walking around lets you absorb a lot more than you can at 75mph, behind a windshield, for sure.

The Atlantic coast areas have some great camping spots, too -- the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Mary;land, which I cover in my US50 "Loneliest Road" chapter as well as in the Atlantic Coast book -- is gorgeous and very historic. As are the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and the Sea Islands of Georgia.

(Just make sure you bring copious amounts of insect repellent, because the bugs can get intense!)

Even when camping, you may want to splurge every now and then on a nice motel, for a shower etc, but if you are prepared to camp out even occasionally you'll save money and get to see (and hear and smell..) a lot more than you do if you stay indoors.

Sorry this took me a while to write -- hope you have a great trip!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

California coast (and Mexico!) with Teenagers?

Hi Jamie

Just found your website, we are travelling from Ireland to San Francisco, staying 3 nights there before travelling to LA.

We have allowed 3 days for this, we stay in LA for 3 nights and have allowed 4 days before we reach Las Vegas. We stay there 3 more nights and have 4 days before we fly back from San Francisco.

We have pre-booked our hotels in the large cities but are free to do whatever in between, we have hired a rental min-van. We are 2 adults and 3 kids: 18,16 and 14.

I would like to visit Mexico but if we do that we probably will have to cut short some travel time in Arizona.

Do you have any recommendations? Your site is a wonderful and a great help.

Thank you

John

===

Hey John --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA.

Three weeks is an enviable amount of time for your tour, and three days is an ideal time for the SF to LA run -- I do the 400 miles with my family every November, and we usually break the trip up with a first night in Monterey/Carmel (gorgeous coastline, fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium, and world-famous golf courses too...) It's only about 2 hours from SF, so Monterey could be an easy start to your road trip.

Next day we drive the breathtaking Hwy-1 route, south thru Big Sur. Stop at nature reserves like Point Lobos, or a half-dozen others, and get out of the car as often as you can, to take in the views (I have a pretty full tour in my Pacific Coast Highway book, parts of which are also "up" on the website...)

Make your next overnight stop near Hearst Castle, maybe in the nice nearby town of San Luis Obispo. Hearst Castle is a hoot -- a massive mansion full of European art treasures looted by William R Hearst, the Rupert Murdoch of his day. It used to be surrounded by a live menagerie of lions and tigers and bears, but it's still a beautiful setting -- allow half a day for Hearst Castle, if you choose. If not, there are miles of nice beaches, acres of wineries -- lots of possibilities.

For the 3rd day I'd make my way to Santa Barbara, an upscale but very attractive resort community, with more great beaches (with teenagers in tow, I'm thinking beaches are a big attraction for you...) Rent surfboards, go fishing, or take a "whale watching" trip out to the offshore Channel Islands National Park.

Alas, Santa Barbara hotels are pretty pricey, so be prepared for a dent in your budget.

After LA, you mentioned wanting to go to Mexico -- I should warn you that the parts along the California border are pretty grim, but there is a gorgeous spot on the Sea of Cortez, called Puerto Penasco, which you can reach from near Phoenix . (Yankees sometimes call Puerto Penasco "Rocky Point"...)

If you do brave the trip to Mexico, make 100% sure your tourist visa will allow you back into the USA -- this is very serious, and US border guards have no sense of humor!

From Arizona you could loop up to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, and then to get to Las Vegas I'd recommend taking the long way, looping east around the Grand Canyon via the Navajo Indian lands (like Monument Valley, as seen in all those John Ford Western movies, and/or RoadRunner cartoons...)

After Vegas I'd say head across Death Valley (it'll be hot, but it makes a good story!), then make your way to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park (give Yosemite a full day at least, and stay over night if you can -- it's fabulous, one of the prettiest places on Earth!)

From Yosemite you can get to SF airport in less than 5 hours. Then another 12 hours in the air, and you're landing in Dublin.

:-)

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Fly / Drive Fun with Kids

Hi there Road Trip USA ,

My wife and I are considering taking our two young daughters ( ages 7 & 5) on a road trip out west. We have approximately 2 and half weeks to accomplish a round trip this coming June.

We were wondering if you could give us some tips on places that would interesting for the entire family. As previously mentioned, the girls are young and we need find stopping places and highlights that would entertain them as well as ourselves.

We're also wondering about travel time since we do want to see places of interest but still be able to get back home (to Georgia) by the end of the vacation. Perhaps there's a 'loop' trip we could make where we could maximize what we are able to see.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Bill

===

Hi Bill --

Thank you for writing in to Road Trip USA, and having traveled with my own youngsters (who were once 5, and 7...), one thing I've learned is that littler kids don't really need a big famous (expensive!) attraction to have fun, so you don't need to be very ambitious in your planning. Some of the most fun we've had on trips has been in "unexpected" locales, like old forts, where we wander around sitting on cannons and clambering through the gunports, or simply going for a walk in the woods, or on a beach.

Fort Pulaski, near Savannah, is a great example near you. It's in a beautiful location, in a lush green marshland between a good beach and a great, historic city. And it's free for under-15s!)

St Augustine FL has a lovely old fort, too -- it's also the oldest city in the eastern US, and has some great attractions (incl the pricey but fun Alligator Farm!)

I've also had a lot of fun at "living history" parks, where people recreate the "Old Days". Natchez MS is a great example, though this might be more appealing when your girls are a little older. The Natchez Trace Parkway has some intriguing history and scenery, and the whole "Plantation Alley" tour along the Great River Road to New Orleans is a great road trip, if you wanted to get some miles away from home. You could head west along US80, thru historic Selma and Montgomery, then return via the Gulf Coast.

And of course if you are really ambitious to see the West -- in your subject line you had California! -- there's the whole wonderful world of the western National Parks, though for these I might suggest hopping a plane and doing a fly-drive trip, out of Las Vegas up through Zion and Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, for example.

Or maybe to Yosemite and the California coast. However, to get all the way west from Atlanta by road is a _long_ undertaking (a good week each way, at 350 miles a day!), and in my experience lots of driving is not exactly ideal with little kids on board.

Hope these ideas lead you to a nice vacation, wherever you go.

Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
=
Road Trip USA

See Live Bears! NYC to LA trip

Hey Jamie --

My boyfriend and i were wondering if four weeks is enough for us to get from NYC to L.A., probably in June/July.

We are from Sydney and would really like to see some sights and national parks - with bears if possible ;) . What do you think?

Thanks so much

Anna & Dave

==

Hi Anna & Dave --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and don't worry: Four weeks is plenty of time to get from NYC to LA -- you could even make it back again, if you want to do a whole lotta driving.

It's about 3000 miles each way, and I figure 300 miles a day is a good rate -- 10 days each way, plus however long you want to linger in cities, or run around with bears, along the way.

If you want to be sure of seeing bears, there is one neat old tourist stop in New England, called Clark's Trading Post, where a family has been training and caring for bears for generations. It's a day's drive north of NYC, and really fun, if a little bit politically incorrect.

If you want to see "wild" bears, I'd definitely suggest you head to Yellowstone and/or Yosemite national parks, in Wyoming and California respectively. Both are gorgeous and unforgettable, and well-populated with bears. Many bears can be seen along the drive from the town of Cody -- I cover this stretch in my Oregon Trail route in Road Trip USA. (Book and online!)

If you really want to see them in the wild, Yellowstone is the place: take care, because they do bite! Here is a an interesting blog to whet your appetite:
http://www.yellowstone.co/tripreports/2011/051711.htm


Yosemite, which to my eye is even more spectacular than Yellowstone, also has tons of bears -- so many they are a big problem, breaking into tourist's cars to eat peanuts and chocolate bars. Signs say, "A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear..", because bears that get used to being fed have to be destroyed.

Hope this helps you have a great trip, Happy Trails,


Jamie Jensen
---
Road Trip USA

Happy PARK (ing) Day

Big Day.

Not only is today Mexican Independence Day (feliz cumpleanos a todos nuestros vecinos del sur!)

and my Dad's Birthday (Happy # 89!),

September 16th is also:

PARK(ing) Day, an annual, worldwide event that invites citizens everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good.

After all, we all need a little more "green" in our lives!

Converting a few parking spaces to green spaces is a thought-provoking concept, and mostly a lot of fun:

http://parkingday.org/