COME DOWN TO MIAMI!!

J/K, I know that's way out of the way.
Have you been to Grand Canyon or Yellowstone? I would choose the route never traveled, to experience something new.

I've been to the GC, He's been to Yellowstone....

We did go to Miami 2 years ago.... There's no way I'm driving there from here again :)

I've been many of the routes :) I'm going to have to say Yellowstone, even though it'll be jammed. But it's so beautiful. I've been twice and can't wait to go back.

10 we didn't like so much

40 we've done a few times and there's New Mexico which is a favourite of mine. Last time, we took a detour to Santa Fe and loved it. And the cinder cone park and pueblos (I'll have to look up the name) near Flagstaff is great.

70 we did once. It was nice

80 was a favourite of ours. And the one we'll take next time we do the cross country thing.

A bit of advice:

Don't try this in the early, morning sickness prone, especially hormonal stages of pregnancy.

I'm not sure whether I would pick Jellystone or Grand Canyon if I had to choose one. But I'd love to go a northern tier route someday.

Oh, yeah. We had such big plans for our big adventure, and they all went down the...uh, never mind. LOL! Of course, we were also on a tight schedule between winter storms, which didn't help. Y'all picked a nice time of year to do this.

I'd go whichever way is farthest from anywhere you stand a chance of going again anytime soon. For me, that would be the northern route.

And Kansas is bad but Texas is worse. Heh.

If you want to avoid anything really mountain-like 10 is good. When I was going out to Norfolk in January from Fresno I went (IIRC) 5-10-20-30-40 and that worked pretty well.

What sort of scenery you're interested in is important, too.

I am so jealous. :)

Well, if you follow route #2, you know the beautiful northeast corner of Iowa is only 35 miles off of Interstate 90, if you exit where I90 passes La Crosse, WI... (hint hint)

I would say make the effort to got I-70 through Colorado once you are west of Denver it is fantastic, then take it to the I-15 and hit the great Utah Parks like Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion. (I enjoyed Bryce and Zion far more than the Grand Canyon) But all four are wll worth the Trip.

I worked with a guy from Fresno once, ironically he was only there on weekends and worked in Camarillo during the week because the job prospects weren't as lucrative.

If you're not pushed for time, stay off the Interstates and drive the back roads. (Recondo 32 and I came all the way back from Tacoma to Savannah that way.) DEFINITELY head north and see South Dakota and Montana. DO NOT miss Glacier National Park.

Just my two cents worth.

WOW! Thanks for all the input. We have done the I-70 thing MANY times between CA and Denver, because darling hubby was born there and his family is still there. That's how we started the trek out here.

Don't worry Deb. No morning sickness to worry about. And we got sedatives for the dog's carsickness.

We did back roads between 70 and 40 in Missouri and Arkansas. That was so beautiful.

I-40 to I-35 in Arkansas was quite nice too along the Western Side.

There is so much in Florida/Alabama area you can do if you make it this way: Bellingrath Gardens, caverns, Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, old Forts. If you make it further south (not Miami!), there is Universal Studios (more fun for adults), Sea World, Cypress Gardens.

Depends on what you like. AAA is great for helping out. Even though I treck to Pensacola every year, I found AAA had some cool stuff I didn't know about in Florida along our route.

Just make sure you give yourself enough time in each place to enjoy it. ok? Not like one trip I did where we only had 1/2 day for each thing. UGH. Never again.

I took 20 out here! Take a look at it!

OOH, something I know a decent deal about.

My suggestion, and this is because I haven't done it before, drive out I-70 out to Moab Utah (Arches National Park), then down to National Bridges National Monument, around to Page AZ. Then decide if you want to hit up the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, or go to Lake Powell. ( You might also want to hit up Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Four Corners while you're in the neighborhood)

After that, hit up Zion National Park, and spend a night in Mesquite Nevada.

My follow up suggestion, take my favorite route from Vegas to Mammoth Mountain. From Vegas, go up US 95 towards Reno. Wave at the aliens on the nuclear test site. Make a left at Lyda Junction and take Nevada State Route 266 west towards Fish Lake Valley. Enter California (road becomes CA168). Stay on 168 towards Big Pine. You'll be able to do a cut off towards the Bristlecone Pine forest, the oldest trees in North America, if not the world. This will take you over Westguard Pass, where the road becomes quite narrow for a short distance. Make a right in Big Pine, and head north on US 395

Then head North up to Yosemite, and take a left towards Tioga Pass (CA 120). After Yosemite, you're home free to Fresno.

Just be warned, there aren't many gas stations on this route. It's easily drivable, if you know your milage, and distance between fuel stops.

I have to second the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola as worth a stop if you go that way. Very cool if you have any interest in that sort of thing. I've been six or seven times. :)

Glad to hear the dog's got meds. Carsick is awful.

We are headed out on our road trip tomorrow. Planned stops in a whirlwind circuitous route, Grand Canyon, Monterey, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore.

If fundage holds out... if not... well I hope the people at rest stops are generous.

:D

So... photoblogging from the road?

We plan to add photos, these first two days have been a whirlwind... Kids have been good... Journals are on the blog. Tomorrow night, maybe photos... if not the day after fer sure. Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon.

Heh... or were you asking CalTechGirl? lol!