It's been a long time since I've posted, but I still occassionally drop in to a keep an eye on the trouble makers 
It's come time for me to have a question, and I know you guys are a great source of info.
Two years from now my wife an I are hoping to take 3 weeks and drive cross country with our son, who will be 9 at the time. I've wanted to do this for years, and I'm hoping to have the resources by that time. The whole point of this trip is to see our beautiful country. I've never been west of the East Coast in a car, so I'd like to get out and see the country. Because of this, I want to stay away from highways and interstates as much as possible, and stick to local roads. I want to see the local flavor, sleep in the local motels and eat in the local restaurants, and see the local color. I want to avoid cookie cutter national chains and miles of interstate concrete as much as possible. I want to really experience what other areas of the country are like. That's why we're taking 3 weeks to make this trip. We will have no itinerary at all, except a general direction in which we wish to go and a few things on our must-see list. I just want to drive until we find something that captures our interest, and we'll stop and check it out for as long as we feel like. We'll have no schedule.
We have a pop-up camper that we can tow to camp wherever possible to help keep costs low, and it will come in handy in a few places like our national parks if we want to stay a few days.
My question is this: I know from our Frapper map that we have people from all over the country on this board and I'd like to hear some fun local things in your area to see or do. Good places to eat or stay, tourist areas to see, interesting things nobody else knows about, etc. I want to see the country. Really see it. These should not all be car-related things, but something my whole family can enjoy. My wife and son are not car buffs. Anything in New England is out this time, we will not be making it there this trip. Everything mentioned should be west and south of Pennsylvania. Some things that might be neat to see would be local factory tours. I thought the Corvette factory in Bowling Green for me, and the Longenberger Basket factory in Ohio for my wife. Things like that.
As I said, we'll have no set schedule, but we do have a general idea of where we want to go and the major things we want to see. We plan, at least for now, to head directly west into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. I have a friend in Chicago. If he's still there in 2 years we may go there to visit him. We'd like t head into the Dakotas to see Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, the west towards Yellowstone and some of the other beautiful national parks in the Rockies area. Then to California and into the Napa Valley, then make the scenic drive down the coast a ways. We'd then head back east on a more southerly route and see Las Vegas (a place I've always wanted to visit), and the Grand Canyon. We'd continue east through northern texas, oklahoma, arkansas, etc the gradually turn north back toward home (picking up the corvette museum in KY on the way). Anything along this general route is fair game. We wouldn't mind taking a day's detour to see something out of the way if it was worth it. The whole point of this trip is to see and experience what the country is made of.
I'd love to hear what you guys do for fun, or where you take the family during the summer. This trip would likely be taken in late June, 2008. What type of things take place in your area in June? County fairs, factory tours, great fishing, minor league baseball games, even somethig that's just really neat to see like a particularly scenic spot... I'm open to suggestions.
Anyone who may have taken a trip like this in the past, I would love to hear how it went, what you did/saw, what you would do differently, what can't be missed. My mom and dad did almost this same trip for their honeymoon, so she's given me some ideas, but I know there are things out there that only locals know about, and those are the things I'd really like to hear.
Thanks in advance!
It's come time for me to have a question, and I know you guys are a great source of info.Two years from now my wife an I are hoping to take 3 weeks and drive cross country with our son, who will be 9 at the time. I've wanted to do this for years, and I'm hoping to have the resources by that time. The whole point of this trip is to see our beautiful country. I've never been west of the East Coast in a car, so I'd like to get out and see the country. Because of this, I want to stay away from highways and interstates as much as possible, and stick to local roads. I want to see the local flavor, sleep in the local motels and eat in the local restaurants, and see the local color. I want to avoid cookie cutter national chains and miles of interstate concrete as much as possible. I want to really experience what other areas of the country are like. That's why we're taking 3 weeks to make this trip. We will have no itinerary at all, except a general direction in which we wish to go and a few things on our must-see list. I just want to drive until we find something that captures our interest, and we'll stop and check it out for as long as we feel like. We'll have no schedule.
We have a pop-up camper that we can tow to camp wherever possible to help keep costs low, and it will come in handy in a few places like our national parks if we want to stay a few days.
My question is this: I know from our Frapper map that we have people from all over the country on this board and I'd like to hear some fun local things in your area to see or do. Good places to eat or stay, tourist areas to see, interesting things nobody else knows about, etc. I want to see the country. Really see it. These should not all be car-related things, but something my whole family can enjoy. My wife and son are not car buffs. Anything in New England is out this time, we will not be making it there this trip. Everything mentioned should be west and south of Pennsylvania. Some things that might be neat to see would be local factory tours. I thought the Corvette factory in Bowling Green for me, and the Longenberger Basket factory in Ohio for my wife. Things like that.
As I said, we'll have no set schedule, but we do have a general idea of where we want to go and the major things we want to see. We plan, at least for now, to head directly west into Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. I have a friend in Chicago. If he's still there in 2 years we may go there to visit him. We'd like t head into the Dakotas to see Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, the west towards Yellowstone and some of the other beautiful national parks in the Rockies area. Then to California and into the Napa Valley, then make the scenic drive down the coast a ways. We'd then head back east on a more southerly route and see Las Vegas (a place I've always wanted to visit), and the Grand Canyon. We'd continue east through northern texas, oklahoma, arkansas, etc the gradually turn north back toward home (picking up the corvette museum in KY on the way). Anything along this general route is fair game. We wouldn't mind taking a day's detour to see something out of the way if it was worth it. The whole point of this trip is to see and experience what the country is made of.
I'd love to hear what you guys do for fun, or where you take the family during the summer. This trip would likely be taken in late June, 2008. What type of things take place in your area in June? County fairs, factory tours, great fishing, minor league baseball games, even somethig that's just really neat to see like a particularly scenic spot... I'm open to suggestions.
Anyone who may have taken a trip like this in the past, I would love to hear how it went, what you did/saw, what you would do differently, what can't be missed. My mom and dad did almost this same trip for their honeymoon, so she's given me some ideas, but I know there are things out there that only locals know about, and those are the things I'd really like to hear.
Thanks in advance!
Except in summer when it's 110 degrees, HA
Although I have yet to push it 
). So if you don't want to spend $5 for a bottle of water or $12 for a hamburger just bring your own Ham and cheese sandwiches and drinks.
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