What is the best way to plan a road trip across the US?

Answer 1

First determine your starting point. Decide how many days you wish to travel and what sights may be of interest.

Some people prefer to take the faster route of using only Interstate Highways. They may not be the most direct, but few are toll roads and all are limited access highways. Odd numbers run north and south, even numbers run east and west.

If you prefer a slower journey that provides the opportunity to visit places of an older era, or where time may move a bit more slowly, consider travelling along the roads called 'blue highways.' The blue highways were displayed on road maps before the highway system was constructed, which connected towns across the country. Most are numbered as US highways rather than state highways.

Having travelled virtually the entire USA, whilst doing photography and an ongoing travel segment for a British newspaper, I had the fortune to visit every state.

I used a programme called Auto-Driveaway, where companies had cars belonging to private owners, who needed their car driven to a new location. I would pop into the offices, enquire as to where they had cars going to and I'd choose a destination. You can negotiate with the company for additional days, provided you're polite and reasonable and do not excessively exceed the anticipated mileage. You pay a cash deposit for the car. You receive it with a full tank. You are responsible for all petrol, but are reimbursed for oil, windscreen cleaner, transmission fluids, etc.

When you are within an hour or so of your destination, you call the owner of the vehicle at the number provided and arrange a meeting. The owner will inspect the vehicle and then return, in cash, the deposit you left at the originating point. That's all there is to it. These companies operate in every major city on either coast and some cities in-between. You receive no pay, whatsoever, for driving the car. You are expected to deliver it as clean as you received, or you may forfeit an amount of your deposit.

Some of my favourite journeys were along the southern route of Interstate 10, which runs from Jacksonville Florida to Los Angeles. I stopped in Alabama, Missouri, went 'tubing' down the Ichetucknee River, a spring fed river that travels six miles along pristine and magnificent forestry. The water was so clear and clean you could not only see the bottom, where during most of the trip, your feet could touch, you could drink the water!

I stayed in New Orleans and explored the French Quarter, visited the antebellum homes in western Louisiana, and enjoyed the friendships I made along the way. In Texas I made it a policy to try a different barbecue style each and every day. Just past the Texas border, in New Mexico, I spent a day at the White Sands Missile range, and explored the sands where you felt as if you were in the middle of the Sahara desert. I spent a day at Carlsbad Caverns, one of the most memorable parts of my trip, spent the night in the mountains in Cloudcroft New Mexico, and spent an evening relaxing in the rough and simple spas of Truth or Consequences New Mexico.

If you are interested in reading one of the most popular (famous) books on unique travel across and around the nation, get a copy of 'Blue Highways' written by William Least Heat Moon. It was on the New York Times best seller list for two years!

There are other magnificent journeys, such as the trip from Washington DC, along I-81 through the Blue Ridge mountains, visiting the Railway museum belonging to Norfolk & Western Railways, in Roanoke Virginia, then heading up route 220 to The Homestead in Hot Springs Virginia, where I had trouble leaving due to my addiction to the water therapies, massages, and luxurious food and surroundings. It was only to be surpassed by The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where the Washing Post did an expose on the Top Secret bunker beneath the resort, designed to house and protect for up to two years, all of the US congress and senate! Tours are finally available and it is truly mind boggling.

Then on to St Louis, where I had to ride the 'Arch' and dine on an original paddle-wheeler on the great Mississippi, where I met Morgan Freeman, who took me to some of the most amazing jazz I'd ever heard! Then just across the Missouri border, I found in the 2 horse town of Brookville Kansas, the Brookville hotel. No one knows of it, yet it has been famous since the 1800's. It's a family style dining room....don't miss it.

Then the looooong drive began. Kansas City to Denver. It is beautiful, yet can be monotonous. The time you get to go around a curve, it is such an exciting change from the hundreds of miles behind you, that you'll want to turn around and take the curve again. But it is lovely. Sit in the middle of a corn field at night and look up at the stars. Virtually no light interference from mother earth!

In Denver, stay at the Brown Palace, head west on I-70 to Evergreen Colorado, elevation 8,000 feet. Get off at the evergreen exit and see on the north side, free roaming bison. Then on the south side, lunch at the unique restaurant just off the road.

Continue on to Idaho Springs and spend a night in the ancient underground caves, enjoying the natural hot waters. Continue on the next day to Glenwood Springs and make sure to spend an hour or so in the open hot springs baths! No matter what year, it's amazing.

And after you cross the continental divide, at the highest vehicle point in america, head downhill to Aspen to either go skiing or mountain hiking.

Next state Utah and onward depending whether you prefer the quaintness of Reno and the mountains of the Sierras. Or verge onward towards Las Vegas (Lost Wages) Nevada, where whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. It's a 'Bon Journey' whichever route you choose.