This is my dream road trip. I would love to just hit the road and follow this map to each destination that they have marked. I saw this a couple of years ago and I couldn’t wait to show it to Phillip. We both really want to do this when we retire. I would definitely consider this a trip for empty nesters because I can’t imagine even attempting a trip like this with children!
This trip makes at least one stop in all 48 states in the continental US. What I really love about it is that you can start from where ever you live. Since it makes a stop in every state you can just pick up the trip at the stop in your state and be on your way! This is a 13,699-mile trip that if drove straight through would take 9 days but personally I think you would need to take at least a month to do it right.
Shorter Road Trips
Phillip and I enjoy taking road trips but we have never attempted one even comes close to this. The longest we’ve taken was from Birmingham, AL down the east side of Florida to Key West and back up the west side of Florida back to Birmingham. That was a 2,450-mile adventure that took us 10 days to accomplish. We had a blast stopping whenever we wanted with no plan and no place we had to be at any given time.
We’ve taken a few shorter ones when the mood hits us. We have hopped in the car with no place in mind and ended up eating lunch in Memphis. You just can’t beat the Barbeque at Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous. Now that you have an empty nest making these kinds of trips are entirely possible and only limited by your imagination.
Where I’ve Been
This map shows all of the places Phillip and I have been in the last couple of years. As you can see we have mainly stuck to the southeast but this does not show our California trip. We flew there, rented a car and took a mini road trip in the middle of our vacation! We ended up in Las Vegas for a night! I would tell you more about that but as they say, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.
Where the Ultimate Road Trip Takes You
Here is a list of all the places this road trip will take you:
- Grand Canyon, AZ
- Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
- Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID
- Yellowstone National Park, WY
- Pikes Peak, CO
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
- The Alamo, TX
- The Platt Historic District, OK
- Toltec Mounds, AR
- Elvis Presley’s Graceland, TN
- Vicksburg National Military Park, MS
- French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
- USS Alabama, AL
- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL
- Okefenokee Swamp Park, GA
- Fort Sumter National Monument, SC
- Lost World Caverns, WV
- Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, NC
- Mount Vernon, VA
- White House, Washington, DC
- Colonial Annapolis Historic District, MD
- New Castle Historic District, Delaware
- Cape May Historic District, NJ
- Liberty Bell, PA
- Statue of Liberty, NY
- The Mark Twain House & Museum, CT
- The Breakers, RI
- USS Constitution, MA
- Acadia National Park, ME
- Mount Washington Hotel, NH
- Shelburne Farms, VT
- Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
- Spring Grove Cemetery, OH
- Mammoth Cave National Park, KY
- West Baden Springs Hotel, IN
- Abraham Lincoln’s Home, IL
- Gateway Arch, MO
- C. W. Parker Carousel Museum, KS
- Terrace Hill Governor’s Mansion, IA
- Taliesin, WI
- Fort Snelling, MN
- Ashfall Fossil Bed, NE
- Mount Rushmore, SD
- Fort Union Trading Post, ND
- Glacier National Park, MT
- Hanford Site, WA
- Columbia River Highway, OR
- San Francisco Cable Cars, CA
- San Andreas Fault, CA
- Hoover Dam, NV
So there you have it… the ultimate road trip. I’m ready, are you?
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