Words from the Dad on travelling across the USA
Well my Wife’s enthusiasm, courage and drive has finally paid off, she has drawn me out of the well called ‘home renovating’ and into the world of travel, I finally got down to the business of planning the first leg of our trip, or at least the first draft.
Cramming the USA into 4 weeks; this will have to be the title of my first book and a bestseller at that if we can pull it off. New York to LA the long way around, would also work. We have hired a Mobile home probably modest by American standards but 31ft of Motor home across the Smokey Mountain pass without any barriers and on the wrong side of the road by my standards is rather large.
The first draft of the route plan is as follows, please keep in mind that I have spent precisely 2 hours behind the wheel of my ‘Lonely planet guide book’ so I see myself as quite the professional, but any comments and guidance would be considered at this stage, or at least till draft 2 comes out. The idea is to head out of New York and drive South, taking in Washington DC, onto Paramount King’s Domain where we will let the kids run riot for a couple of days. Then we are going to take just a fraction less time than the mighty North took to defeat the South in heading through Civil War country and then the race is on to the Blue Ridge parkway and one of the nearby Parks. We are going to tiptoe quietly through West Virginia avoiding any re-enactments of ‘Deliverance’ and head towards Tennessee where we will pay homage to the King.
And that is as far as my late night candle burning has gotten me; somehow I still want to see Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco and end up in LA with enough time to take in Warner studios and Disney Land. My feelings on this matter is, that to achieve all this in the timescales we have we will have to trade the Motor home in and hire a Pontiac firebird….but all that later.
If anyone out there has anything they wish to add please feel free, I would love to have any comments and ideas as to this plan and any additional sites and sounds that we should take in along this route.
Kind regards and travel safe
The Dad
thedejagers
February 23rd, 2006 at 4:23 am
that is one serious looking motorhome!!
you’re probably right, by US standards is a mini but I wouldn’t want to be driving it that’s for sure!! at least you won’t be living on top of each other in it…. if you have any of those dreadful ‘rainy days’
have fun – I’ll be looking out for your messages, particularly once you leave the US…
February 23rd, 2006 at 8:24 am
Hello DeJager family – complete stranger here. I just wanted to say that I think it’s cool that you guys are driving across the US. It reminds me of the many trips I took with my family as a kid! You wanted comments on your plan – here they are. Don’t overlook Colorado/Wyoming. There are great campgrounds and scenery there on your way to the west coast. West Virginia has great white water rafting if you’re going to be there during the summer. The Rocky Mountains are more stunning to me but you will probably meet more “characters” in the Smokies. Here’s an interesting website about quirky USA roadside attractions: http://www.roadsideamerica.com
have fun on your trip! Sara from Chicago
March 8th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
Hey Dejagger Family,
Sounds like you guys are going to have a marathon journey ATW and have a great plan picked out. That is a very nice motorhome even by our standards 😉
Anyway, Have fun and enjoy our beautiful country and the rest of the world for that matter. Except for France of course, they are too bitter and jealous over there.
NYC, Vegas, The Grand Canyon are must see places. On the way to the grand Canyon a great stop for the kids is a Dinosaur Footprint fossill place and the petrified forest was somewhat interesting. Things I enjoyed as a kid. Both in Arizona.
But as far as a real reccommendation, you really ought to spend some time in Utah, As far as natural beauty and views I give the nod to utah over colorado, easily. http://www.utah.com/nationalparks/
March 8th, 2006 at 11:38 pm
Have you been using Google maps, with a satelite view?
http://maps.google.com/?ll=36.200737,-112.452171&spn=0.012173,0.020127&t=k
Oh you could beat the heat on the way to the grand canyon
http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/glen_canyon.htm
March 9th, 2006 at 2:09 am
Thanks for your comments.
We really value all hints and tips and will definitely include them in our travel book.
Regards
The De Jager Family