Route 66 trip- NY->CA and back

[MossRoad]

On your way back stop in Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Devil's Tower, the Crazy Horse Monument, Mount Rushmore (crazy horse is much more impressive), Rapid City, SD, the badlands, Wall Drugs, Fort Pierre National Grasslands, The Corn Palace, Souix Falls, SD.

Then you could either drive up north through Minneapolis and across the upper peninsula of Michigan, see Lake Superior, take a boat ride to see Pictured Rocks, the Tahquamenon Falls(the 3rd largest waterfalls in the U.S. east of the Mississippi), see the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point, the locks at Salt Ste Marie, then head south across the Might Mac ( Mackinac Bridge, the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the western hemisphere). Then head down to South Bend, IN to see the Studebaker National Museum and the campus of Notre Dame (cheer or boo, your choice), then down to the Indianapolis Motor Speeway for the museaum and a lap around the track. Then head east to Dayton, OH and see the Air Force National Museum at Wright Patterson. It's FREE!!! Incredible display of aircraft from Wright Flyer to modern stealth aircraft. Hundreds of planes, all indoors and did I mention, IT'S FREE!!!

Or you could skip the northern leg at from Souix Falls, and head over to Chicago, see a Cubs or White Sox game, the Skydeck in the old Sears Tower, then hit South Bend, Indy, Dayton, etc....

Anyhow, that should take a few days off your agenda.... :laughing:

 

[Redlands Okie]

Route 66 trip- NY->CA and back

For the original plans of the OP I suspect a month is going to be a fairly tight schedule with a bit of sight seeing. Couple of weeks is going to be one of those drive by the sights vacation on one that long in miles.

 

[MossRoad]

Re: Route 66 trip- NY->CA and back

For the original plans of the OP I suspect a month is going to be a fairly tight schedule with a bit of sight seeing. Couple of weeks is going to be one of those drive by the sights vacation on one that long in miles.

Depends how you do it. Several years ago we drove from Indiana to Yellowstone and back. The first day was a 10 hour drive. Then we never had more than a 2 hour drive between destinations for the next 11 days. Then a couple long days drives and we were home. 14 days total. Never felt rushed or that we missed anything.

But for the OP, just the drive from the Hudson Valley to St. Louis as 15+ hours on the best of days.

 

[shaeff]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm making notes and putting pins on our map.

A little back story that makes this an exciting but kindof scary adventure for us. This is truly the only time we'll get to do this just me and my wife. She's between jobs right now (Registered Nurse), and my job was supposed to give me the month off but decided last minute that I couldn't have it. Therefore I resigned. We have a bunch of money saved so we'll be ok, but it's frightening to be two adults, unemployed, with a house and mortgage/associated bills.

She'll get a job quickly when we return, me, I have no "specialty", so I may have to work odd jobs until I find something again that pays as well as my current job. Really sucks how this all went down, but it is what it is and we'd regret skipping this trip for the rest of our lives.

Much of it to us is the drive across America. Once we get all our pins on the map we'll have a much better understanding of how long it takes to get from one place to the next, then we'll see what may or may not need to be eliminated.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

 

[MossRoad]

YES! JOBS SUCK!!! :laughing:

It was the first year our last child left for college. We both had 5 weeks of vacation. Our plans were to start traveling extensively now that we were empty nesters.... I got let go after 30 years when the company outsourced production(all production staff, about 65 people). So I had to take a new job, and that means very reduced vacation. Puts a monkey wrench in the plans, for sure. Fortunately, my new employer has a ton of good benefits, and I'm already up to 3 weeks off after 1 year, so it's not that bad.

I say, if you have the time and ability and the means, go for it! :thumbsup:

Who knows if you'll get the opportunity again? :confused3:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

On your way back stop in Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Devil's Tower, the Crazy Horse Monument, Mount Rushmore (crazy horse is much more impressive), Rapid City, SD, the badlands, Wall Drugs, Fort Pierre National Grasslands, The Corn Palace, Souix Falls, SD.

Then you could either drive up north through Minneapolis and across the upper peninsula of Michigan, see Lake Superior, take a boat ride to see Pictured Rocks, the Tahquamenon Falls(the 3rd largest waterfalls in the U.S. east of the Mississippi), see the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point, the locks at Salt Ste Marie, then head south across the Might Mac ( Mackinac Bridge, the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the western hemisphere). Then head down to South Bend, IN to see the Studebaker National Museum and the campus of Notre Dame (cheer or boo, your choice), then down to the Indianapolis Motor Speeway for the museaum and a lap around the track. Then head east to Dayton, OH and see the Air Force National Museum at Wright Patterson. It's FREE!!! Incredible display of aircraft from Wright Flyer to modern stealth aircraft. Hundreds of planes, all indoors and did I mention, IT'S FREE!!!

Or you could skip the northern leg at from Souix Falls, and head over to Chicago, see a Cubs or White Sox game, the Skydeck in the old Sears Tower, then hit South Bend, Indy, Dayton, etc....

Anyhow, that should take a few days off your agenda.... :laughing:

I'd like to see the UP myself.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Well Shadetree3 left out the Arcadia OK round barn picture and I just happen to have one. If you stop be sure to go inside and go upstairs and LOOK UP. Absolutely incredible view, the rafters all curve up and are different lengths to meet the peak. Keep in mind its a wood shingle roof.

That stretch of rt 66 is nice. Just a couple of mile west of the round barn is a soda pop shop. Incredible amount of flavors. They have burgers etc also. Hard to miss since they have a great big pop bottle / light on the edge of the road.

View attachment 561237

Don't live too far from Arcadia; often cruise to Pop's. Oklahoma has quite a few places of interest, probably way too many to see, but here's a link:

Drive Route 66 | TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site

I suggest that you stop at the Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo. The food is good, and who knows...some one may try to eat the 72 oz. steak. My big attraction is they have the best calf fries in the world. We always stop there, and even if we eat a steak, we order an appetizer of calf fries, which incidentally, is larger than most entrees. Try it, you'll like it!

 

[MossRoad]

I'd like to see the UP myself.

Start here...

Lake Superior Circle Tour - adventures around the worlds largest lake

 

[MossRoad]

And I forgot to mention the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. Top notch!

And if you time it right, you can hit the Sotheby's car auction in Auburn, too. We did that once. My jaw dropped at the amount of money and the fantastic array of automobiles!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

RM Sotheby's - Auburn Fall 218

 

[shaeff]

Awesome, thanks again everyone!

Leaving tomorrow morning!