Planning a cross-country trip for next summer. Fifty Nifty United States and all that (although, I sigh, Hawaii and Alaska are off the table).
So tell me, where should my husband and I go?
I drove to Arizona a few years back when our daughter was moving out there. We focused on music with visits to Nashville, Memphis and Graceland, San Antonio to hear Mariachi music, Austin and finally Phoenix, home of the Musical Instruments Museum.
That was so much fun I’d happily do it again.
But why? The country is so full of possibilities.
We could make an American icon trip… Grand Canyon, Pikes Peak, Mississippi River,
Two weeks of open road….where would you go?
Mount Rushmore, Death Valley.
Or perhaps a literary tour and visit places made famous by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain and Flannery O’Connor.
I want to see America. Of that I’m sure. My visits last time took me to a local restaurant in Texarkana, a Sunday picnic along the Skyline Drive, a drive past Bill Clinton’s home in Hope — unscheduled stops that were unforgettable.
So tell me where to go. If you like, send me links to your blog posts, Pinterest boards, Instagram pictures, Facebook albums. I read so many wonderful blogs and never can hear enough travel stories, so I want to hear yours.
I’m going on hiatus for a few weeks. I have a novel to promote. (DIVIDED LOYALTIES is coming July 27 — inspired by my traveling days and the heroines of the Civil War.) But who knows? If I go, I’ll have to write.
A Day Away Travel 
take old route 40, the Lincoln Highway. Start in Pennsylvania, go through historic Gettysburg, where the climactic battle of our Civil War took place. (If you are there July 4th weekend, there are scads of re-enactors re-fighting the battle) Go through Ohio on Rte 40 along the Ohio river, and stop at Blemerhasset Island. continue through Kansas and Missouri, taking in the Eisenhower Presidential library and birthplace, the Harry Truman Library and birthplace, the Kit Carson merrygoround, Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy, and the Garden of the Gods. Then you can leave Rte 40 and head north by the Colorado National Monument (a spectacular mini-Grand Canyon, and try to be in Salt Lake City Satruday night so that Monday morning you can attend the free concert by the Mormon Tablernacle Choir on Temple Square. From there you can go south through Las Vegas to Los Angeles, or straight across Nevada and through the California State Capitol of Sacramento (lovely Capitol building and parks) to San Francisco.
Wow. This sounds like a great trip through American history. Thanks.
If we have 2 weeks to road trip, we’d do a drive from Los Angeles to New Orleans!
That looks fun. (Love New Orleans) Besides the obvious cities, Phoenix, Tucson, Austin, where else would you stop?
Some say San Antonio is a good stop for Texmex! The real Mexican food of Texas!
You could always take Rt 50 for its entirety. Although, if you go see the Grand Canyon, TAKE ME WITH YOU!!! Please?
That’s an interesting idea! Meet us on the north rim!
It’s a date. 🙂