OT: Roadtripping the USA Here and Now!, Travel updates on the last pg.. Options

[pillay2k]

Hi all i'm coming to the US!! Well me and my best mate are planning a road trip which we have been hoping to do for some years now. We are really looking for sights and people to meet along the way. Our schedule is quite tight with many one night stops but we are hoping to cover as much ground as possible in the 6 weeks we have. Got to see a few 914 on my travels too... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/santa_smiley.gif)
A link of our planned route can be found by throwing this in google maps! (Cant get it to link...)

**UPDATE**
from:los angeles to:san francisco to:South Lake Tahoe, CA to:Las Vegas to:Flagstaff to:beaver, UT to:Park City to:rock springs to:rapid city to:denver to:poncha springs to:pagosa springs to:Albuquerque to:amarillo to:oklahoma city to:dallas to:houston to:new orleans to:panama city to:Atlanta to:Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina to:Washington to:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to:New york



Any comments on the route and places we should be stopping or staying at (very limited budget!!) would be great. Basics are heading out 2nd March returning home 13 April. Major stops are NY, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, LA and Orlando for at least 3 days each.

Cheers,
Fabian & Nick ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drunk.gif) )

[ConeDodger]

There has to be a reason you are going to Souix Falls and Pennington South Dakota. These are not tourist spots although the people are wonderful.

The Badlands are amazing. The people are terrific. Wall Drug is amazing if only for the fact that they promote it beyond belief for what it is. The Corn Palace in Mitchell is a joke. I have a picture of myself standing in front of it somewhere doing an 'I don't get it pose'.

Are you looking for natural beauty? Want to see the great cities? Are you visiting friends?

[pillay2k]

There has to be a reason you are going to Souix Falls and Pennington South Dakota. These are not tourist spots although the people are wonderful.

Are you looking for natural beauty? Want to see the great cities? Are you visiting friends?

In a word no... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
We wanted to go to Chicago and also Mount Rushmore and sensible stops for average amount of driving per day meant that Souix Falls would be a good place for an overnighter... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

The route is open to modification as long as we don't add another 1000miles to the current 6k!

In terms of what we want to see/do is pretty much open.... We are just looking to see as much of the US as we can and have as much fun meeting lots of different people as we go (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
I have only ever been to LA with a little road trip to Las Vegas & San Fransisco (i have 2 aunts who live in Redondo and Torrance) and Nick has only been to Florida to do the touristy thing...

Other than the stop in LA and Park City, when i have a friend working a ski season, we are looking to generally wing it everywhere else!

Really nice to get input from people like yourself!

Thanks

[ConeDodger]

There has to be a reason you are going to Souix Falls and Pennington South Dakota. These are not tourist spots although the people are wonderful.

Are you looking for natural beauty? Want to see the great cities? Are you visiting friends?

In a word no... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
We wanted to go to Chicago and also Mount Rushmore and sensible stops for average amount of driving per day meant that Souix Falls would be a good place for an overnighter... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

The route is open to modification as long as we don't add another 1000miles to the current 6k!

In terms of what we want to see/do is pretty much open.... We are just looking to see as much of the US as we can and have as much fun meeting lots of different people as we go (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
I have only ever been to LA with a little road trip to Las Vegas & San Fransisco (i have 2 aunts who live in Redondo and Torrance) and Nick has only been to Florida to do the touristy thing...

Other than the stop in LA and Park City, when i have a friend working a ski season, we are looking to generally wing it everywhere else!

Really nice to get input from people like yourself!

Thanks

Ahhh... That explains it.

As you leave Minneapolis/St. Paul area which is one of the nicest cities in the country, you will drive through lots of rural farm land. You will be struck by the number of lakes. Minnesota license plates say "Land of 10,000 Lakes" but if you count ponds there are probably 100,000 bodies of water left over by the ice age land sculpting. Lots of rocks left behind too. You will see piles of glacial dropped rocks that the farmers have dragged off the field to make room to plow.
Sioux Falls is a moderate size city built around a river. Rent a bicycle and find your way to the bike trail that circles the entire city. It is about a 20 mile ride and next to the Sacramento American River bike trail it is probably the best I have seen. The East side is fairly oldish and has the industry including the stock yards and prison that have been there since the 1800's. The drive from Sioux Falls to Mt. Rushmore is LOOOOOOOOOONNNNG. You can break up the monotony by stopping by the Corn Palace which is just a local auditorium in a small town where the high school basketball games are played. On the outside they use unshucked corn to do a mural. They advertise it every other mile practically on the freeway to get you to stop. When you see it, your first thought would be why in the world did they go to all that effort to get me to stop? It is no big deal. Wall Drug is the same way. Old 1800's drug store that they advertise incessantly on the freeway as you drive. Fun to say you were there and take some pictures. The Badlands are amazing. Get off the freeway and drive the little loop into Badlands National Park and you will see the deer just stand on the road in front of you. You have to drive slowly through them because they apparently are aware they are protected.

I have always loved Mt. Rushmore. Be sure to spend some time in Deadwood which is just about 15 miles away. Kevin Costner owns one of the casinos there. I guess he bought it when he was shooting a movie there. Think actual 1800's buildings that have been preserved and are being used as tourist traps. There is another mountain sculpture just up the road from Mt. Rushmore. The same sculptor Gutsum Borglum was commissioned by the Lakota Sioux to carve their legendary chief Crazy Horse into a mountain. Mr. Borglum died before it was finished but his family and the Native Americans have continued the effort. I last saw it 20 years ago so maybe it is close to completion.

Just a short ways into Wyoming is a natural rock formation called Devil's Tower. Well worth the trip.

The weather in March can be "unsettled". Take that to mean it can change in just very short time. I remember riding my motorcycle down to see a friend in Winona from Minneapolis and having the temperature drop 50 degrees on the way back. It can and does rain some part of every day in the spring and tornadoes are not out of the question. It is generally warm and humid. Do not fu*k with the tornadoes. Get somewhere safe and stay there until they punch out for the night. They will mess you up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Be sure to visit as many 914World citizens as you can and bring a laptop to update us on your travels... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[pillay2k]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

Thank you so much that is an absolutely awesome write up! I will be adding these points to our ever expanding itinerary....

We are a bit worried about the weather but hopefully we can get a robust vehicle and i think our average of about 200miles on the driving days shouldn't be pushing it. We generally wont be in a major hurry so if we do have to stop fair enough!

Will defiantly have the laptop aboard and will keep in touch with the board during the journey. One and all will be welcome to share a beverage of their choice with us! Hope we can meet and greet along the way... might also look into picking up some '14 bits and pieces along the way (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) , i love how many member vendors their are making parts for our cars.... (oh no this could get expensive!!)

p.s. As the world is always in need of another progress thread i will eventually get round to adding mine..

[ConeDodger]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

Thank you so much that is an absolutely awesome write up! I will be adding these points to our ever expanding itinerary....

We are a bit worried about the weather but hopefully we can get a robust vehicle and i think our average of about 200miles on the driving days shouldn't be pushing it. We generally wont be in a major hurry so if we do have to stop fair enough!

Will defiantly have the laptop aboard and will keep in touch with the board during the journey. One and all will be welcome to share a beverage of their choice with us! Hope we can meet and greet along the way... might also look into picking up some '14 bits and pieces along the way (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) , i love how many member vendors their are making parts for our cars.... (oh no this could get expensive!!)

p.s. As the world is always in need of another progress thread i will eventually get round to adding mine..

I think you may find that 200 miles a day is going to be leisurely. American Freeways are designed with 70MPH speed limits. In many places, if you set the cruise control at 70 you will be passed by everyone else who is doing 80. There is very little sign of lane discipline. I joke with my Asian wife about the number 1 lane being renamed the Asian lane because she heads right over there and camps in that lane. So don't really expect people to drive on the right and pass on the left as it should be.

I hope you will not have too much trouble with the steering wheel on the left and driving on the other side of the road! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

Bottom line is that if you are doing mostly freeway driving, 200 miles is a 3 hour day +or-. Plenty of time to get off the freeway and explore the little towns and stuff. That is the real America. That is where the character of America lives. If you are going to hold up at a hotel and use the pool or go to corporate restaurants you may as well stay home. Outback Steakhouse is the same everywhere. Near Deadwood is a place called Sturgis. It is the location of an annual motorcycle rally. On the main drag through town there is a place called the Roadkill Cafe. The sign states "you hit it we cook it". Not true but it is an indication of the character and culture. If you want to experience America stay away from any business that is owned by a corporation.

Please do keep us informed of your travels and try to meet up with as many of us as you can. This is as much fun for us as it is for you...