Help me plan a road-trip!

So, I’m going to be road-tripping from Colorado to New Jersey this summer. We’re going to be leaving Colorado Springs on June 4th, give or take a day. Ideally, we’ll head south, spend a night or so in the Grand Canyon, and then head back East. Ideally, we’ll be back in Philadelphia by the 13th, but there’s a little bit of flexibility there, too.

So: Grand canyon, got it. I’m thinking maybe we’ll stop in Santa Fe, because A) I’ve got friends who are spending the summer here, and we’d be able to crash with them, and B) it’s a cool town I want to show my sister around. Then, it seems, there’s a whole lot of farmland between here and the east coast.

Suggestions? Cool things to see and do? Advice?

(money is kind of an issue - this’ll be a very recently commissioned Air Force officer and a FlatBroke college student).

Passing through Denver on the way back?

Well, some idea of the route you’re taking might help.

East from Santa Fe could mean a lot of things.

Expect to take most of a day to get from Santa Fe to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It will take even longer if you want to see the north rim. Now, the last time I drove from New Mexico to Pennsylvania, here’s what I did. Got on I-40 (this is basically what you’d have to do leaving the Grand Canyon anyway). Headed to Oklahoma and caught some toll road. Angled towards the northeast, going around St. Louis. Eventually caught I-70.

This is probably your fastest way. Another way I can think of is to head all the way back to Denver and catch I-70 east and just stay on I-70.

If you’re headed through Oklahoma City, the Bombing site is actually quite nice to visit. It’s actually quite beautiful at night (my favorite time to go).

I don’t know how to tell you this, but, well, the Grand Canyon is WEST quite a ways from Colorado Springs, about a 10-hour drive. It is straight west from Santa Fe, which is a great little town you should spend at least a day in.

Avoid Texas like the plague and do what someone else suggested and visit Oklahoma City, then head northeast on 44. Unless of course you have a hankerin’ for the South. In that case, pass through N’Arlens on your way to PA. It’s a great town.

Personally (and keep in mind, I love driving and visiting new places), I would do this:

Since you want to go to Santa Fe, and from there northeast, this seems like a golden opportunity to travel the famed Route 66. There’s a (really really) really detailed description of how to go West to East on the original route here.

If you just want to approximate it, From Santa Fe, hop down onto I-40 and head east. You’ll go through Amarillo on your way to Oklahoma City. There, grab I-44. You’ll head through Tulsa, Springfield (Missouri), the Ozark Mountains and to St. Louis. Go on through St. Louis and pick up I-55. You’ll pass through Springfield (Illinois) and Bloomington-Normal on your way to the Route’s termination in Chicago.

There’s so much sightseeing and history along that route, just along the parts I’ve visited (from Missouri on). Though money’s an issue, most of it (being of natural or historical interest) is free.

Just on the parts I’ve visited:
[ul][li]Lambert’s Cafe, just outside of Springfield, MO: interesting and quirky restaurant. Costs money, obviously, but you gotta eat someplace.[/li][li]Ozark Mountains in MO: Just plain beautiful. I imagine they’re trumped by the Rockies (never been), but they’re comparable to (though much smaller than) the Appalachians. Really interesting caves and water features.[/li][li]St. Louis, MO: Tons of stuff. You’ve got a really cool campustown, you’ve got an amazing historic riverfront district, and of course, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (a.k.a. “The Arch”). If you want to pay a few bucks, you can go up inside the Arch, and that’s pretty cool. It’s the nation’s tallest National Monument at 630 feet. There is a museum underground at its base which I think is free or cheap and of course it’s free to just sightsee in the park at the base of the arch.[/li][li]Springfield, IL: Lincoln’s Tomb, Old State Capitol, lots of Lincoln-related stuff.[/li][li]Bloomington, IL: The home of Steak n Shake.[/li][li]Chicago, IL: Too much to list. Hang out on Navy Pier for free, or just wander around downtown and through Marshall-Field’s.[/li][/ul]

From Chicago, you can hug the Great Lakes and go through Cleveland to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and on to New Jersey. Alternatively, you could drop down through Indianapolis, cut across to Columbus, then on to Pittsburgh and such.

Anyhow, just some stuff to consider.

Swing down south and come through Houston. I’m quite sure if you let us know when you’ll be coming through, some of us Local Dopers will be glad to show you around and possibly spring for a meal or two to help on costs.

Never take I-10 across Texas. Ever. Texas never ends. Yeah, you want to go to New Orleans. But you’ll never get there. Texas never ends. <echo>Never Ends!!!</echo>

But should you be taking I-40 across from Oklahoma City, you must stop at the Mecca of America…

Graceland

Oh come on! Tacky 70s furniture? What happens when good money goes bad? THE JUNGLE ROOM??? Oh yeah.

If you’re trying to do this on the cheap, I would recommend the following as accomodations go:

  1. Camp! Get a AAA camp guide and spend part of the road trip camping. MrWhatsit and I have done this several times on various cross-country road trips, and it’s really fun and saves money, too. We tended not to camp more than two nights in a row, because I like hot showers and cable TV, but it is definitely an option to consider. Bring an air mattress and an air pump and you’re good to go.

  2. Motel 6. 'Nuff said. Just remember to bring your own toiletries.

  3. If he’s military, you may be able to stay the night at military bases. MrWhatsit, who is retired Navy, got us into lodging at an Air Force base somewhere in Colorado, once. Part of the barracks had been converted into guest lodging that was available to active and retired military. It was extremely cheap. I can ask MrWhatsit for further details if you want; our trip was 6 years ago so the details are somewhat hazy to me now.

If it’s anywhere near your route, I’d suggest stopping in Alliance, NE to see Carhenge. It’s a life-size replica of Stonehenge built out of junked cars. There is no way that a verbal description can do justice to this little piece of Americana. It’s not near anything, but it was well worth the 30 miles out of the way that we went to see it. I even bought a coffee mug at the local gas station/gift shop. (OK, it’s just a gas station that sells Carhenge coffee mugs next to the freezer case. But still.)

Since you’re starting from Santa Fe, you could follow the old Santa Fe Trail for part of the way. If it’s anything like the Oregon Trail or the Lewis & Clark expedition route, there are probably a lot of interesting historical markers along the way. This might also get you off the interstate and onto the more interesting and varied state routes. My one caveat about going off-interstate is that you should make sure to have food in the car. One day while traveling the Oregon Trail on several state routes and county roads, we went six hours before finding an acceptable restaurant. (I refused to eat at an establishment called the “Kreem Kup,” and to this day am mocked mercilessly by MrWhatsit for it.)

There’s a book called “Road Trip USA” that has a nice guide to various US roadside attractions. I actually never found it to be all that helpful, but friends of mine swear by it.

Good luck, have fun, and let us know how it goes!

Whatever you do, get a Valentine One radar detector before you need. If money’s a huge issue, put it on a credit card and sell it on Ebay when you’re done - it’ll cost less than $50. Easy, safe, 100 MPH cruising beats spending the entire trip in the right lane getting burned and then getting pulled over in Podunkville when they reduce the speed limit on an interstate to 35 without putting up a sign.

Make sure you take the back roads through the mountains. It’ll be worth it for the drive alone, let alone the scenery.

You have no idea how true this is. Not to mention that the scenery ain’t the best…

Take back roads the entire way. Last year I drove a little truck from Muskegon to Albuquerque and didn’t use an interstate once. It was interesting. Sure, it took a bit longer, but it was a road trip. Interstates don’t qualify for road trip status.

And I second the idea of going through the Ozarks.

If you are flexible on your route, heading through South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore and the badlands is quite a wonderful road trip - and then continuing on to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons is fantastic (although out of your way - highly worth it).

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “duh SHAY”), is, IMHO, even better than the Grand Canyon. More intimate, yet more beautiful, and still plenty big. Take the ranger- (usually Navajo-) guided walk along the canyon floor (great cliff dwellings), as far as Spider Rock.

It’s in the “Four Corners” area, a few hours east of the Grand Canyon. After Canyon de Chelly, you’ll likely pass Shiprock, a spectacular volcanic plug in the desert, as you begin to make your way east.

And I would suggest that, until you find a place where both using such a device and cruising at a “safe” 100 MPH is legal, you not follow such advice. I might even suggest that giving advice that involves breaking the law is a bad idea that can get you in trouble on this message board.

If you are going to the Grand Canyon in the middle of summer, go to the North Rim, not the South Rim. This is important. At the North Rim you will see one of the most spectacular sights on the planet. At the South Rim, you will see a solid wall made of backsides of other tourists.

Also, while driving to the North Rim you can stop at Monument Valley on the Arizone-Utah border, also spectacular. And the Glenn Canyon area is a good place for boating and hiking, with fewer crowds and less traffic. You might also try one or more of the parks in southern Utah if you have enough time. I second the recommendation of camping out as much as possible, but do be aware that it gets hot in the desrt during summer.