In June, my wife and I will be driving from Baltimore to Las Vegas, where she will be starting a new job. We have decided to make it a fun and leisurely trip instead of just staying on I-70 for four or five days.
We can take between 10 and 14 days overall, and we have two definite stops: in Kansas City, MO, to visit her brother, and Zion Canyon National Park just before we get to Vegas. Please keep those in mind when making suggestions.
We don’t need complete itineraries (although if you want to go to the trouble, feel free), just your ideas about fun, weird, amazing, or beautiful things we could see or do on the way. Obviously, we won’t go way far out of the way, so don’t bother recommending the Florida Keys, but we may go a hundred or two miles off the beaten track.
We’re also interested in particularly scenic routes that would get us off the Interstate.
I have no great advice, although there are some wonderful things to see along the way. However, allow me to say that everyone should drive across the country at least once in their lives, if for no other reason than to see just how BIG this country is!
Before I read your approximate route I was going to post about the (World’s Only) Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. Might be a bit too far afield, but if you’re ever doing a more northerly driving tour check it out.
In the “Largest Ball of Twine” vein, which is where I most like to travel, I’d recommend the Racing Greyhound Hall of Fame in Abilene, KS. If you want some actual enrichment from your trip Pres. Eisenhower’s Presidential Library is nearby (as are his boyhood home, and eternal resting place.)
If you’re carnivorous, and the timing works, the best steak dinner I’ve ever had was at a place called Cohen’s Chicken (yeah, I know. But I ordered steak) in Junction City, a little east of Abilene.
My favorite of the “grand circle” of National Parks which includes Zion are Arches and Mesa Verde, which could be worked into your route. If you do decide on Arches you won’t be far from the Hollywood Stuntmen Hall of Fame. (More on the Ball of Twine end of the spectrum.)
Speaking of food, I probably should have mentioned that my wife keeps kosher, so any suggestions for great kosher restaurants along the way would also be welcome.
I remember the Amana Colonies of Iowa as interesting. There’s a museum about the history of the utopian religious sect that founded the town, and shops for handcrafted textiles, furniture, cukoo clocks, and some seriously good strudel. I haven’t been there in ages, looking at their website it seems to be a much more sophisticated operation than when I was there. I don’t know if that’s bad or good.
The Herbert Hoover presidential museum is somewhere nearby.
vis-a-vis kosher eating, I found this state by state listing:
If you have a half day (or more) to spare, you can see some really amazing scenery and make a quick stop in Arches NP (or maybe just have lunch in Moab). Hop off I-70 on exit 214 and take UT128 south towards Moab. You’ll end up driving along the Colorado in a deep canyon with towering red bluffs on either side. At the end of UT128, go north on UT191 and the entrance to Arches is right there. I-70 is only another 25 miles or so north on UT191.
If you guys are actually moving to Vegas, you’ll be pretty close to the spectacular southern Utah parks, so you may want to save those for long weekend outings and such when you actually live there instead of trying to squeeze them in on the way out. Spending some days in the Colorado Rockies or the Santa Fe area would be my vote for fun areas you won’t be able to go back to as easily.
[QUOTE=GreasyJack;If you guys are actually moving to Vegas, you’ll be pretty close to the spectacular southern Utah parks, so you may want to save those for long weekend outings and such when you actually live there instead of trying to squeeze them in on the way out. Spending some days in the Colorado Rockies or the Santa Fe area would be my vote for fun areas you won’t be able to go back to as easily.[/QUOTE]
While GreasyJack has a good point. Getting back to EASTERN Utah is not a short drive from Las Vegas. I recomend the route that blondibear suggests. Good side road with plenty of pull outs to play by the river. Santa Fe is just down HWY 191, (well more like 370 miles) or you could hook back up through Grand Junction, Colorado, then go south on US 50/550. If you keep south on US 550 you will go through the San Juan National Forest on the way to Sante Fe. Pretty drive.
I am all about two lane blacktop roads, But, Glenwood canyon on I-70 is absolutally stunning. The speed limit is 50 MPH The locals do not obey it, but tourist almost always do, just so that they can see the canyon. Both the scenery and the engineering needed for this road to exist are well worth your time. There is a nice little rest area at No Name exit near the western end of the canyon. On the western end of glenwood canyon is the town of glenwood with many attractions. They have hot springs, caves, a tram to the top of the hill, and of course shopping. I am sure that I misssed many things to see there.
The Grand Canyon, together with Niagara Falls, are the two “Must See” places in the USA, in my book. On your trip, don’t “waste” the time to see Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon, because once you’re settled in Vegas, these are in your back yard. You can catch these on separate weekend drives; Zion and Bryce together.
Focus on the sights far from Vegas, since you likely won’t ever get the chance to see all of them ever again. Your cross-country drive is a great opportunity now.
Put another way, a Baltimore-to-Vegas drive is roughly a minimum of 2,500 miles. You might think Niagara Falls is too far out of the way, but a Baltimore-to-Niagara-to-Vegas drive is about 2,800 miles. On a trip of that magnitude, 2,800 vs. 2,500 miles is worth it to see one of the best things this country has to offer.
If you’ve already done Niagara, then see something else, but focus on what’s far from you instead of a Zion that you can catch anytime, once you’re there.
In St. Louis, yes the arch is beautiful and I recommend that. The museum of Westward Expansion there is quite good. Nearby is the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, and the US Army Corps of Engineers has an interesting museum of the Great Rivers (Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois). The museum shows how the big rivers are tamed and controlled, as much as Mother Nature will reasonably let us, anyway, with dams, levees and erosion control measures; and gives a good understanding of how much of the country is drained by the mighty Mississippi.
If you do take I 70 through Colorado, about halfway through Glenwood Canyon is the trail to Hanging Lake. It is well marked on the road. It is a short but difficult hike to the lake, which is spectacular. The trail gets quite steep and there is some scrambling over boulders, but the payoff at the top is absolutely worth it. Wear good shoes.
What are your interests? Sports, Arts, History, Architecture, Oddities? You will most likely be coming through Indy and I’ll be happy to try to give you some ideas here if I know what you are interested in.
