Decision Time: Where to go?

[Newbienac]

Hello all. I've been reading more threads about the need for time to see and experience and spend time and God Willing, in trying to imagine mileage from Tallahassee Fl., I should be able to afford maybe four to six weeks. I'd LIKE to begin in Oklahoma picking up some of Route 66 which meanders pretty much it seems, throughout OK. Then proximity-wise, would it seem reasonable to go to the Teatons, Glacier National and Yellowstone?

I'm traveling on this first venture in my 1990 Toyota Dolphin with two big dogs and maybe another friend leaving first of May. Choosing/hoping for cooler weather cuz of the dogs actually.

I'd like to hear your consensus on what seems most logical to go to first and best route WITHOUT hitting the main drags as I won't be doing much over 55 mph and prefer to stop, shop and Gaul to and from. Ill go with the majority voice here as I'm like, overwhelmed this first round. Then we'd like to take another route back to Tally.

Between thinking about what needs to be considered overall, not to mention narrowing down what the heall to use to track my route WITH my GPS, I can hardly think straight lolol.

Ya'll are lifesavers, and so knowledgeable In this new world unto itself. A woman who doesn't know how to spell "mec hanical repairs" let alone how to get from A to Z. Pretty scary....

Thanks, as always ---
Newbie(Beth)nac

[Hank85713]

You are really trying to hump a lot of road in 6 weeks even if hustling to OK! Once in OK, go to amarillo in tx, and go north towards colo on 87/287, pretty much nothing but miles and miles of miles, but there is Palo Duro canyon you can visit just so of amarillo, plus in amarillo there is the texan steak house, the cadilac cemetery (just to west). Once in colo you cn go to Pueblo then up I 25 to colo springs (lotsa tourist stuff, manitoo springs, garden of gods, the af academy, up to denver into wyo. Wyoming has the best info centers anywhere, have water, sewer dumps etc. keep north to casper then 20/26 to the west this will put you on track to tetons and yellowstone. To return from this area 189/191 from Jackson to rock springs and then find route home at your leisure as you can continue south to some of the other NP/NM's in north colo and utah.

[Dick_B]

Make an arc on a map for the distance you are willing to travel. Then do a Google search for the State, Town or area that falls within that semicircle. For example search for `_______ tourism' and put the location in the space.
Been to Washington, DC? That's worth a week or more and throw in Philadelphia.

[rexlion]

May is a good time to be in OK as far as temperatures, but do keep an eye on weather forecasts because we can get some tornadoes in May also. Some have been doozies. You might like to tour the historic Coleman Theater in Miami OK. See the "world's largest totem" a bit west of Foyil and the Blue Whale at Catoosa. Shop the Bass Pro Shop in Broken Arrow. Tulsa has a couple of art museums, the Gilcrease and the Philbrook. See the round barn in Arcadia, and stop at POPS for the huge assortment of soda pop brands. OKC is home to the Cowboy/Western Heritage Museum.

For stopping and shopping, you might love Santa Fe and/or Taos for the art galleries and shops there. Then head north to Pagosa Springs, CO and soak in the warm springs there. Drive west past Durango and take a day to see Mesa Verde. Continue west into Utah on 491 and then north to Moab (this road has some amazing sandstone scenery). If the temps are not too hot, I would consider Arches National Park a must-see (allow a day or two here at least). If you are still game to go on north, make your way to the beautiful Tetons; either jog to the west and go through Salt Lake City, or take the shorter route north in CO on hwy 169, then to Vernal UT, Green River WY, and finally Tetons. If you tire of the mountain views, Yellowstone is a short hop farther north.

Now, I really would think twice about continuing to Glacier NP so early in the season. As it is, you will be in Tetons/Yellowstone at a time when night temps will be close to freezing and snow is quite possible (we got snowed on in Jackson Hole on 6/13/99, and you will be there weeks earlier!). Northern Montana can be pretty chilly and much of Glacier NP will still be socked in with snow; the beautiful Going to the Sun Road doesn't open until July. Forget Glacier this year and knock about 900 miles off your drive. Instead, I would suggest leaving Yellowstone and meandering east through WY (see Devil's Tower, perhaps) and into South Dakota, where you could visit the town of Deadwood and iconic Mount Rushmore. After that you may feel like scampering home by the shortest route.

Here is the big thing to keep in mind: It is a vacation, it is supposed to be fun. If at any time it stops being fun, change what you are doing! For example, if you find yourself tiring and wanting to head home early, do it. Or if you hear of someplace you hadn't thought of before to see, go see it. Don't sew yourself into a schedule that's hard to get out of, other than (of course) being back home when you must be home. Stay loose and flexible, relax, and enjoy the journey.

BTW, you can use maps.yahoo.com 'directions' feature to calculate trip mileage. Just enter starting point and keep adding destination points, and it will show a route on the map with driving time, distance, and directions. It's a great tool.

[Newbienac]

Just to clarify, we'll hustle a tad up to Oklahoma and will go no further for Route 66 then There. My intent is to somehow get north from Oklahoma to the Tetons, Yellowstone and, maybe, Glacier national -- then points south again. Hope that makes more sense... Thanks.

Beth

[BB_TX]

Pretty ambitious undertaking, especially for a first venture and not knowing "how to get from A to Z".
First consider that Tallahassee to Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, etc. and back home and taking in at least part of Rt 66 along the way you are looking something in the range of 6,000 miles. Assuming you take the full 6 weeks you are going to be averaging 1,000 miles per week, nearly 150 miles per day. Driving no more than 55 and you "prefer to stop, shop and Gaul to and from" you are going to be constantly on the move. You would not spend two nights in the same place very often.
Now can it be done? Certainly as long as you are prepared for the above.
I would recommend getting a book, or books, on Rt 66 and plan to limit it to the Oklahoma and Texas panhandle sections. Then you could turn north thru TX panhandle and northern NM to I-25 and north thru Colorado and into Wyoming and cut across to the Tetons, before continuing north to Yellowstone and Glacier and back home on a more northerly route as it may be getting hot in the south by the time you return in June.
A second person would sure be an advantage to share the driving as that will be one tiring trip.

[kknowlton]

Route 66 is way far south of the parks you mention (Yellowstone, Tetons, Glacier). On the other hand, those parks closer to 66 (Grand Canyon comes to mind, perhaps Zion, Bryce, Death Valley) will be hot in the summer. For 4-6 weeks from Florida, that's a lot of territory, IMO. Do-able, yes, but you say you will be taking it easy and going slower than many do - in which case you may not have enough time to do justice to all of those parks. I'd cut one of them out - again, just my 2 cents. It's a big country. 🙂

An alternative: do just some of the 66 that's available (and there isn't a lot of it), don't go all the way to California, but head north once you get to NM or so. Lots of pretty scenery from there thru Colorado, Utah & Idaho on the way up to the Tetons.