Planning the big loop - e2w&back
OK, after two years of getting her to go for longer and longer trips, I'm ready to head west from the east coast. Looks like the general route is I81 to I40 to AZ, then north and back. Don't have ro...
Forum Discussion
While applauding your plans and wishing you the best, I don't know that I'd try to pre-plan all the nightly stops so far ahead of time. Number 1, it eliminates the serendipitous stops, side trips, and extended visits that make a vacation all the more memorable. And Number 2, an unscheduled delay can throw off all the rest of the time, perhaps forcing you to cancel or cut short some other visit.
It's great to have a list of the places/things/people you want to see, and a general outline of what direction you want to be going in, but there's so much between Virginia and Flagstaff. I-40 is fine, but there's honestly not a whole lot to see or do between OKC and Albuquerque. Coming home, it depends on how far north you plan to go before you make your right turn. I-70 through Utah and Colorado is not to be missed, but from Denver to St Louis is pretty much deadly boring, IMO, and sorry to offend natives. I-80 is not a whole lot better, but it it were me, I'd probably make a left at Denver up I-76 to I-80 in Wyoming and go east along the old Platte River Valley, through Iowa and then down from the Quad Cities area towards, say, Charleston WV along various routes.
The problem with planning along interstates is that they may be the FASTEST way from place to place, but rarely are they the most INTERESTING, and almost never are they the most scenic. A lot also depends on what you might want to see in the Central Time zone just west of you - if you've toured that area already, then you can buzz right through it and spend more time in the Mountain TZ.. :)
It's great to have a list of the places/things/people you want to see, and a general outline of what direction you want to be going in, but there's so much between Virginia and Flagstaff. I-40 is fine, but there's honestly not a whole lot to see or do between OKC and Albuquerque. Coming home, it depends on how far north you plan to go before you make your right turn. I-70 through Utah and Colorado is not to be missed, but from Denver to St Louis is pretty much deadly boring, IMO, and sorry to offend natives. I-80 is not a whole lot better, but it it were me, I'd probably make a left at Denver up I-76 to I-80 in Wyoming and go east along the old Platte River Valley, through Iowa and then down from the Quad Cities area towards, say, Charleston WV along various routes.
The problem with planning along interstates is that they may be the FASTEST way from place to place, but rarely are they the most INTERESTING, and almost never are they the most scenic. A lot also depends on what you might want to see in the Central Time zone just west of you - if you've toured that area already, then you can buzz right through it and spend more time in the Mountain TZ.. :)
