We have just returned from a two month, seven thousand mile, road trip across America.
We traveled on two lane roads as much as possible, avoiding interstates, and made a point of stopping and exploring small towns and cities along with the parks we were camping in. Our transportation was a mid-size pickup pulling an eighteen foot mini RV.
We stayed in state parks almost every place we stopped. Our routine was to travel no more than three hundred miles at a time and to stay at least two nights at every park. This gave us time to stop when something seemed interesting and a full day to unhook the camper and go exploring the local area.
We went looking and what we found was that America is still there.
This is the first in a series of posts on our adventure.
For any American who had the great and priceless privilege of being raised in a small town there always remains with him nostalgic memories... And the older he grows the more he senses what he owed to the simple honesty and neighborliness, the integrity that he saw all around him in those days.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Awesome! So jealous! Have long wanted to take Rt 20 from Fenway to Seattle (the only break is in Yellowstone but could deal with that). Also want to take Rt 1 (or A1A) down to Florida Keys. Hope you and the Queen had a blast!
ReplyDeleteWell that’s a great little rig, BP! Any plans for future trips?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great trip. I used to enjoy just going out on the road with no preplanned destination at the end of the day but now it seems to get a campsite you need to have reservations as they fill up. Takes the fun out of an impromptu vacation.
ReplyDeleteThe last impromptu vacation I did was 25 years ago with 3 kids under 12 and a dog. Drove 1800 miles in 2 days to get to Glacier NP. No reservations. Got to the park at 5am and got a campsite when someone else left. Most fun I’ve ever had.
Yeah the reservation system is a PITA. State parks tend to put all their campsites in the system. The Feds are better but the system is spreading there.
DeleteThat is outstanding!
ReplyDeleteGuys, note it is ASM826 who made the trip -- and a great one too! I hope you enjoyed New Hampshire, and please let us know what you saw and when. Maybe you hit foliage season and have some great pics?
ReplyDeleteIt was Vermont, New Hampshire is on the list for an upcoming trip, and we were there in August. Lots of great pictures but the leaves are green.
DeleteMea culpa - sounds like a fun trip. You should have included the return home as Z just to close the loop
DeleteDrove right past me at H.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that you stayed at Cooney State Park for one of your Montana stops. We'll be driving by there tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteCorrect, spent three nights there.
DeleteWas "G" Allegheny State Park? Or the Allegheny National Recreation Area?
ReplyDeleteYes, it was Alleghany State Park.
DeleteI'm not surprised that "America is still there". The closer you pack people together the more they turn inward. In North Dakota you help your neighbor even if he's an SOB. You might need his help some day. In a big city you probably don't even know the other people on floor 28. Of course in places like NYC and SF there will always be a small cohort of mad, creative, live for the moment people who thrive there. And that's great, we need a few around. But they grow up, grow out of it, or become sad, paunchy ex hippies who have accomplished nothing since they - to their considerable surprise - turned 30.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Raleigh at the start. Between K and L you passed Sidnaw. A dad and son team own the turf airstrip there.
ReplyDeleteFor much of that route, I suppose that state parks were the only public option but out West and in the North Woods, there are lots of Federal options. They may have been closed now but for a repeat, I recommend them.
ReplyDeleteWhile Eisenhower was not exactly the inventor of the road trip (that distinction belongs to Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and some guy I had never heard of), he was the first to document a coast to coast road trip done as part of his assignment in the Army.
And you completely avoided Ill-i-noise. Good!
ReplyDeleteAm interested to read of your travels.