A couple nights ago hubby decided to change our South Carolina to Colorado trip into at true cross country trip by adding San Pedro, CA as a destination. He has family out there, who'll we'll be seeing in CO anyway, but I've never been to CA or touched the Pacific so he thought it would be cool to visit them before the party. Our route looks something like this:
Charleston, SC
Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Memphis, TN
Little Rock, AR
Oklahoma City, OK
Amarillo, TX
Albuquerque, NM
Flagstaff, AZ
San Pedro, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Boulder City, NV
Kanab, UT
Shiprock, NM
Montrose, CO [where we're staying for the 100th bday party, which is in Austin, CO]
Grand Junction, CO
Denver, CO
Topeka, KS
St. Louis, MO
Nashville, TN
Kannapolis, NC
Cary, NC
Okeneechee, NC
The places in NC are side trips, really. I'm taking an aerial silks workshop at a dance studio in Cary with a friend, and it just so happened to be at the end of the vaca. Hubby wants to meet up with some friends in Okeneechee for a Monte Carlo SS meet up - we haven't seen them in a couple years. Kannapolis is where my parents live, and we get free room & board in NC there
So far I made a list of things to see/do, our actual time schedule will dictate if we get to do it all. I'm being pretty touristy, and used a website called Roadside America to find most places along the route.
Atlanta is no big deal, I can go there for a weekend trip any time. In Birmingham, I put down a Civil Rights park, because some of the statues and history seemed interesting. From there it heads to Memphis, where we'll spend the night. I put down Graceland as something to see. My TL at work says I MUST go to a restaurant or bar and listen to a true blues band. I also put down Elvis's first house, though you can't tour, getting a picture would be fun. The Peabody ducks sound cute, but I don't know if we'll catch them at the Peabody Hotel if we end up there.
Little Rock, mainly want to see the AR river, and maybe find Little Rock's little rock. Sounds touristy. Depends on time. The longest serving WWII sub sounds interesting as well, and the electric chairs & torture telephone.
In OK City the OKC bombing memorial and anchor from the USS Oklahoma are on my list. I was only 8 when the OKC bombing happened but I remember reading and hearing A LOT about it. The USS Oklahoma anchor is historic, and I like historic things. Also want to stop at Lucille's Famous Route 66 Gas Station in Hydro, OK, just for a pic with the Mustang
In Amarillo, I put the Cadillac Ranch
When I was originally planning the trip, I was hoping we'd go through Amarillo for that. Maybe will bring the spray paint, but probably not. They encourage spray painting the cars according to Wikipedia and all the travel sites I saw about it. The Helium Times Columns Monument just because it was interesting looking.
Want to stop at the Route 66 Midpoint for a picture.
Maybe stop in Albuquerque for the Cruising San Mateo I - Chevy on a Stick.
In AZ we're going to head north from Flagstaff to see the Grand Canyon. Probably will only get to see the South Rim, but seeing anything is more than I've ever gotten to before! From there it's back down and headed across the Mojave to San Pedro. We'll visit with hubby's family if they are there, and I will jump in the Pacific!
On the way back, we'll go to Vegas. It turns out two of our Charleston friends and their wives are going to be in Vegas the same time we plan on driving through, so we're going to take some time to hang out with them. They're there after winning a billiards tourney here in Charleston. Got some fun things to take pics of on the Strip.
In Boulder City, we want to see the Hoover Dam. Then to Kanab, UT if we have time to visit Best Friend's Animal Society
I donate $ to them every year it would be nice to visit them. The scenery is GORGEOUS in their pictures. After that, we want to go to Four Corners (Shiprock, NM) and stand in the 4 states at once
From there we're going up to Montrose, CO, where we're staying at the Black Canyon Creek? Inn with my in-laws. We got a double room suite for $90/night. Party time at the Inn! Hubby's grandparents will be staying there as well, and I think his family from San Pedro. Saturday the 21st is hubby's great-grandma's 100th birthday party (I believe she turns 100 on the 18th) so we'll be in Austin, CO for the day. Then we leave the 22nd and head up to Grand Junction to see the Colorado National Monument, then east to Denver where I'm going to meet up with a friend I haven't seen in about 10 years. Then to Genoa, CO to see the Wonder Tower attraction
Out to Topeka, KS to see Truckhenge, then to St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch and touch the MS River. Maybe take a tour of the Budweiser plant if there's time.
From there it's off to Nashville, maybe stop at the zoo out there, and possible the Lane Motor Museum, depending on time again. As long as we're in Cary, NC by 6pm on the 27th we're golden
If anyone has any suggestions along that route, let me know
Going to have A LOT of pictures! Taking my laptop with me, along with my Sony DSLR camera, old digi cam, and video camera. That way I can upload pics each time we spend the night in a hotel. I also have to worry about the first week of school starting the day after we leave CO! So I'll be doing school on the road since I took all online courses.
Whew! Going to be a long, fun adventure!
Charleston, SC
Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Memphis, TN
Little Rock, AR
Oklahoma City, OK
Amarillo, TX
Albuquerque, NM
Flagstaff, AZ
San Pedro, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Boulder City, NV
Kanab, UT
Shiprock, NM
Montrose, CO [where we're staying for the 100th bday party, which is in Austin, CO]
Grand Junction, CO
Denver, CO
Topeka, KS
St. Louis, MO
Nashville, TN
Kannapolis, NC
Cary, NC
Okeneechee, NC
The places in NC are side trips, really. I'm taking an aerial silks workshop at a dance studio in Cary with a friend, and it just so happened to be at the end of the vaca. Hubby wants to meet up with some friends in Okeneechee for a Monte Carlo SS meet up - we haven't seen them in a couple years. Kannapolis is where my parents live, and we get free room & board in NC there
So far I made a list of things to see/do, our actual time schedule will dictate if we get to do it all. I'm being pretty touristy, and used a website called Roadside America to find most places along the route.
Atlanta is no big deal, I can go there for a weekend trip any time. In Birmingham, I put down a Civil Rights park, because some of the statues and history seemed interesting. From there it heads to Memphis, where we'll spend the night. I put down Graceland as something to see. My TL at work says I MUST go to a restaurant or bar and listen to a true blues band. I also put down Elvis's first house, though you can't tour, getting a picture would be fun. The Peabody ducks sound cute, but I don't know if we'll catch them at the Peabody Hotel if we end up there.
Little Rock, mainly want to see the AR river, and maybe find Little Rock's little rock. Sounds touristy. Depends on time. The longest serving WWII sub sounds interesting as well, and the electric chairs & torture telephone.
In OK City the OKC bombing memorial and anchor from the USS Oklahoma are on my list. I was only 8 when the OKC bombing happened but I remember reading and hearing A LOT about it. The USS Oklahoma anchor is historic, and I like historic things. Also want to stop at Lucille's Famous Route 66 Gas Station in Hydro, OK, just for a pic with the Mustang
In Amarillo, I put the Cadillac Ranch
Want to stop at the Route 66 Midpoint for a picture.
Maybe stop in Albuquerque for the Cruising San Mateo I - Chevy on a Stick.
In AZ we're going to head north from Flagstaff to see the Grand Canyon. Probably will only get to see the South Rim, but seeing anything is more than I've ever gotten to before! From there it's back down and headed across the Mojave to San Pedro. We'll visit with hubby's family if they are there, and I will jump in the Pacific!
On the way back, we'll go to Vegas. It turns out two of our Charleston friends and their wives are going to be in Vegas the same time we plan on driving through, so we're going to take some time to hang out with them. They're there after winning a billiards tourney here in Charleston. Got some fun things to take pics of on the Strip.
In Boulder City, we want to see the Hoover Dam. Then to Kanab, UT if we have time to visit Best Friend's Animal Society
From there we're going up to Montrose, CO, where we're staying at the Black Canyon Creek? Inn with my in-laws. We got a double room suite for $90/night. Party time at the Inn! Hubby's grandparents will be staying there as well, and I think his family from San Pedro. Saturday the 21st is hubby's great-grandma's 100th birthday party (I believe she turns 100 on the 18th) so we'll be in Austin, CO for the day. Then we leave the 22nd and head up to Grand Junction to see the Colorado National Monument, then east to Denver where I'm going to meet up with a friend I haven't seen in about 10 years. Then to Genoa, CO to see the Wonder Tower attraction
Out to Topeka, KS to see Truckhenge, then to St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch and touch the MS River. Maybe take a tour of the Budweiser plant if there's time.
From there it's off to Nashville, maybe stop at the zoo out there, and possible the Lane Motor Museum, depending on time again. As long as we're in Cary, NC by 6pm on the 27th we're golden
If anyone has any suggestions along that route, let me know
Whew! Going to be a long, fun adventure!