Taking the parameters which are:


"flying into Dallas during March, for roughly 2 months, and wanting to include Yellowstone" (wait, I shouldn't have used quotes there... but I wanted to somehow signify a capsulized thought)

A - because it starts in MARCH (I won't pretend to know whether that means the 1st or the 31st - and yes, I KNOW 'somewhere in between')... you should probably concentrate on SOUTHERN reaches upon arrival.

Given your interest in Memphis... go directly there from Dallas first, and then due south to New Orleans just because it is reasonably near, fairly warm, AND significant.

Maybe you could stand New Orleans for 3 days... but do study and decide that for yourself.

Staying with my 'southern' inspiration... I would then go across Texas via San Antonio (I guess), debating all the while whether to give Houston more than a day or two (your call).

I'd stay in San Antonio for a day or two at least, to rest up. There are some scenic areas in West Texas between San Antonio and El Paso (on or off the main freeway - but concentrate on side trips making circles to the south, from Interstate 10)

You might as well look around El Paso for a day or two, at least to break up the trip. A night in Las Cruces, NM should be nice, and interesting. You should then stick with your southern leaning, postponing your move northward as long as possible (I've witnessed a full blizzard in Denver in mid-April myself - and have only been there perhaps 3 times).

SO, the Grand Canyon is definitely calling you after looking around Phoenix and Tucson on the way there.

With all the time you have, you could even include Death Valley, CA before perhaps doubling back to Vegas and then up through Utah... a night or two in Salt Lake City should be pleasant after various paths through southern Utah for natural scenery.

Finally make your move northward toward Yellowstone... maybe 3 days-ish in that area (??)... and later, depending on whether the winter weather has gone away yet, pick an especially scenic path south into and through Colorado.

With all the time you seem to have, find your way to Aspen, CO and perhaps Telluride or the like.

Eventually you could go east again (from Denver?), or maybe north up to the Dakotas (Mount Rushmore, SD??) before heading due south and at some point a bit east to get back to Dallas for a flight back to OZ.

In general, tiz perhaps best to lean as late in March as you can, AND have southern targets in sight for the first few weeks of your journey, JUST IN CASE the northern weather is unfavorable and uncertain.

A mid-March arrival does have you around until mid-May, when the weather is much more accommodating in the northern and/or mountainous regions.

This is just a general backbone of an idea.

WOH!! Thats awesome, thankyou so much. I've been reading some trip reports this morning (Aus time ) and I'm getting quite enthused! We have been to the Grand Canyon but Dh would love to go back and spend some more time. Thanks for the weather tips, as we can be flexble with departure we will absolutely go later rather than earlier.

I probably should of mentioned that I love the thought of some Southern Plantation/Garden type visits. And I just read a TR about the food in NO and I'm salavating.

Thanks again.

Even the "south" in the Rockies might be a bit chilly given the altitude (check Google for altitude of various locations). But you could do a long trip that would dip south after you've visited Louisiana and the southern Mississippi river by going to San Antonio (nice missions there in addition to the Alamo -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/4516721330/in/set-72157623718580201 ), Big Bend National Park, areas in New Mexico before heading north, hoping that it has warmed up by then. It would be a long trip. All forts of things to see along the spine that is the Continental divide:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/collections/72157624514560099/

Great advice from NorthwestMale. I'll throw this out 'cause it's another option given that you've got two months.

Driving through the Rockies in April / May can be dicey. In Colorado those can be our snowiest months in the mountains. Eastern Wyoming is lots of wide open spaces, not that much great scenery except some isolated pockets.

What if, after Memphis and NO, you stayed south, made your way across New Mexico then headed north to Yellowstone through Utah? There are loads of fabulous large and small parks and unique small towns you can hit on this route. It's prime time for many of them, desert in full bloom and all that.

I live in Colorado and it's wonderful here, so not trying to steer you away, but for April / May having a plan B could be good.

mmmm all such great advice, we got caught in a blizzard last year, trying to get to out of Italy...for us Tropical Australia folk it was pretty terrifying. So we sure don't want to risk that again.

I think you are going too early in the year. If you stay in the far south you will be OK. But a lot of the country you will be traveling though will still be in winer or perhaps early spring - and esp Yellowstone. Some roads aren't even open until the end of May. And passes through the mountains can still get snow in June.

It the territory you want to se is fixed I would start in May instead so by the time you get to the mountains the chance of any real snow is gone.

Personally live in the southeast on the Gulf Coast

lots of awesome stuff to see if you have not been.

Go to Dallas a bunch a great town.

weather2travel.com climate guides head south first

carrentals.com cheap DFW rentals classic.mapquest.com

My route take what you like Hill Country San Antonio

Hang a left to Houston on I-10 neworleansonline.com a must

Boloxi casinos Mobile Pensacola www.orangebeach.com area

where I live is beautiful best for beaches and seafood...

Head back up to Dallas via Natchez Vicksburg Shreveport

Then head north to Amarillo www.bigtexan.com FREE 72 ounce

steak if you can eat it all tonnes of fun pick up I-40

historic66.com route to Santa Fe Taos over the Raton Pass

up toward Durango Ouray on to yellowstone.com then

shoot back to Dallas via Thermopolis Cheyenne

Denver Pikes Peak on down...

That is the way I would do it...

Lots of great deals on cupon hotels along the way...

Personally get my best deals betterbidding.com Priceline

bids get me great 3 stars and up from $35...

Happy Travels!

Okay, so we are now thinking.............

Our friends have asked us to go to Vietnam & Cambodia in March, finishing up the first week of April. So we might do that, then head to the States towards the end of April, starting South.

That will have us 'finishing up' mid to late June, is that a better time of year?

Excited now, I will start researching all your suggestions.

Now you are doing much much better. April is great weather in the South and then when as you head north things will be good. The later you can wait the better, unless for some reason it is a really light snow year up north.

Just one quick question. Will we have the car hire drama of picking up in one state and dropping of in another? It would seem 'silly' to go back to Dallas if we can fly home from somewhere else.

Yes, sometimes the drop fees are a lot and sometimes they are not much difference in price.

Rocky Mountain National Park really needs to be after Memorial Day(which is the last weekend in May). That is the weekend that they normally open up the main road. You don't want to miss that.

Really Mid-June is when Yellowstone gets everything opened up. If you arrive there on the first week in June there is a good possibility that all the roads won't be open.

I like in Oklahoma. Right on the Arkansas border. Frankly, there isn't much to Oklahoma that I would come as far as you have to see.

So lets say you take a 7-14 days to do New Orleans, Nashville, (Maybe a stop at Pigeon Forge/Smoky Mountain National Park/even Dollywood), and Memphis. Don't miss the plantation homes along the river road near NO.

In Arkansas, I really like Petit Jean State Park and The Buffalo National River area. You could spend a day or two at those.

You might enjoy stopping for a couple of days in Branson, Missouri. I wouldn't do it if you did Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. They are very similar.

Then head to Colorado. There is a lot that could be done in Colorado. Mesa Verde National Park, Durango Train, Great Sand Dunes(perfect time to see it is last of May or the first of June for the little creek that runs through it), Rocky Mountain National Park. A lot of the ski resort like Aspen, Crest Butte, Breckenridge, etc have a ton of things to do in the summer as well. So you could do 10-15 days there.

Then on to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. I would probably spend a week or so there. Maybe 2-3 days in the Tetons and 5-7 days in Yellowstone. You will want to make lodging reservations for this ASAP. Stay "in park".

An option would be to return to Dallas. Come back thru Utah. I like the parks in Utah far more than the Grand Canyon. Arches, Bryce, and Zion are spectacular. You could hit Mesa Verde on this route as well. Then come back thru New Mexico and see Carlsbad Caverns. The bats usually are good toward the end of June.

Still another option would be to include- Mount Rushmore and Black Hills area of South Dakota.

If you started your trip more towards the1st or 2nd week of May and ended on July 4th, you could see a fireworks show somewhere. Plus, the weather would be more cooperative(most likely). Addison(which is North Dallas) has a great fireworks show.

There are many good restaurants, stops, hikes, etc that I will mention when you get a little more detail ready.

Many car rental companies will not rent a car for more than 30 days at a time. One way to fix this would be to rent for 28-30 days from Dallas (return to Dallas) and then fly or take the train to another city and rent another car for the remainder of your trip. Salt Lake City usually has better rates on rental cars than Denver.
I agree with the others. Delay the northern part of the trip.

Your new plan sounds perfect. You'll be out of SE Asia before the really brutal pre-monsoon heat settles in, and you'll be hitting the US parks before the heavy tourist season begins. The odds of decent weather has greatly improved.

Agree with spiro's recommendations: Great Sand Dunes at the end of May / early June, and Rocky Mountain National Park after that. Mesa Verde (also not to be missed) and the Durango train could be done in between those two by making a long C-shaped loop through Colorado. You could make your way to places like Ouray, Grand Canyon of the Gunnison, Crested Butte, Aspen, Leadville, Steamboat Springs, Grand Lake. Lots of options.

Have fun planning!

Thanks so much Spiro' & co. Just perfect.

We can't delay too much longer as we will need to be back before they end of our financial year (june 30).

"So lets say you take a 7-14 days to do New Orleans, Nashville, (Maybe a stop at Pigeon Forge/Smoky Mountain National Park/even Dollywood), and Memphis. Don't miss the plantation homes along the river road near NO.

Still another option would be to include- Mount Rushmore and Black Hills area of South Dakota."

To the above let me say it all sounds wonderful but 'Dollywood' would not be 'our thing' but having said that I will be doing a bit of 'Elvis' in Memphis!!!! And Mt Rushmore would be wonderful. Will definately take up the advice to stay 'in' N/parks, we learnt that and were very grateful for Yosemite.

We will have to do some research on cars, in Europe last year for 3 months, we leased a car, which worked really well.

I will start a new thread when my map is on the wall and we start getting down to the nitty gritty.

Thanks again.

Um, don't try the 72-ounce steak... LOL (not that the first few minutes of it wouldn't be heavenly... but, well, "heaven" might be on your itinerary soon after if you shoved-down the whole thing)

Generally I can understand the thought process which suggests not flying into and out of Dallas, but the logistics of it sound good for Aussie travelers, AND you can take so many paths to and from Dallas that you wouldn't need to double-back over much territory at all.

FURTHERMORE, SAAAAAAAAAAAAY, with all the time you have, you want to make one loop toward the south, during, say, your first month-ISH, (er, "south", to Americans, often means "east" from Dallas - LOL - don't ask!) Lets call it "the DEEP South". and then circle back around and end THAT rental period at Dallas (yet again) before getting a NEW rental there, for the west and northern segments.

That would solve any 30-day rule, PLUS you wouldn't have the aggravation of more air travel. I think there is more going on "in the middle" of the USA than there is "in the middle" of OZ... so you really could connect two rentals and keep from running into a problem.

Nowthen, a GREAT bit of advice, with all that time YOU have, is to rent your vehicle in the Dallas area AWAY from the airport. Take a bus/shuttle into town, maybe even stay a night, and rent a car at a local rental outlet (but still with one of the BIG rental companies). The airports charge staggering amounts of taxes and 'fees' that ring-up "PER DAY" on rental cars.

Avoiding them for nearly two months worth of daily fees, could really help your budget.

When projecting your return, you make time to return the vehicle downtown and then use public transportation to get back to the airport to fly out.

(or you even get a room near the airport, stow your luggage there, and have a much easier trip to the remote rental office at which you'll save lots of money)

Hope that makes sense.

Again wonderful advice. I'm having such fun planning this, especially now that 'I have discovered' the Natchez Trace!!

So far I've found out that we can hire a car for up to 62 days, but Dh is in charge of all things car. And I'msure it wouldn't be a hassle to drop off and collect another one.

Yep, theres pretty much nothing to see in middle Australia

I would check out Austin and vincinity when in Texas. You would like the vibe of Austin then maybe a stay overnight in Fredericksburg. A possibility would be heading down to Big Bend National Park in Southern Texas. April is wildflower time in Texas.

If you go to Austin, I would do The Schlitterbahn waterpark. Awesome! If you go to Austin, I would include San Antonio too.

IMOP, Big Bend isn't worth the effort. Having been to 30 of our 58 National Parks(I am a huge huge fan of National Parks), it would rank near the bottom for my least favorite. We enjoyed it and were glad we went, but having only 2 months, I wouldn't go there. Again, IMOP.

It is also my understanding that a lot of the fees are waved for foreign travelers. I think that most car rentals are a much cheaper rate for those coming from abroad. Totally makes me mad though.

So thrilled that we might see some wild flowers, I love to take photos, so thats exciting. Thanks all.

If you like flowers then, depending on the route you settle on, consider this lesser known area of Colorado: the Comanche National Grasslands. There is an ancient mudflat with one of the largest collections of dinosaur tracks in North America.
I've seen astounding wildflower displays there in late May.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comanche_National_Grassland

Nearby is Bent's Old Fort, a fascinating slice of American history.
http://www.nps.gov/beol/index.htm

(ponders) IF the fees ARE waived for foreign travelers, then hopefully they can price various rental possibilities, list their foreign origins, and the huge FEES won't show up when pricing and comparing.

(I know almost nothing about whether that is true or not... it will be a learning experience, but the OP should go through the motions of pricing car rentals enough so as to establish where they're from, before comparing price quotes)

Some random thoughts:

Schlitterbahn waterpark @ 50 years of age? I would steer clear of that. However, that area of Texas is beautiful - we call it the Hill Country.

I would suggest Fredricksburg - great little town, German history, beautiful! While there you could hike/climb Enchanted Rock.

President Johnson (LBJ) (36th President of the US) was raised in the hill country. there is a national historical park that is interesting if you're in the area.
http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/planyourvisit/directions.htm

Then if you choose to head to New Orleans, you can stop by Brenham, Texas to sample some great homemade ice cream -- Blue Bell. It's only about an hour south to get to Schulenberg ...

Between San Antonio and Houston is a small town, Schulenburg, that has Painted Churches. A hidden gem in Texas. http://www.klru.org/paintedchurches/churches.html

If you're interested in plantation/southern homes, I would head to New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi. http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/

Thanks jill_h, sounds wonderful & yes plantion/southern homes are on the list. (Think Gone With the Wind, apologies if I've just broken some code of tackines ) The painted churches also sounds great.

Also planning a short, 3 week, trip to Asia just before this one. So all this help is wonderful.

jill_h,

Part of the park is older, but then there is also a huge fairly new section too. Saying you wouldn't go there because of its age is like saying you wouldn't go to Disney because of its age.

The older section is really landscaped well and offers a lot of shade to get out of the sun. The newer section is more wide-open concrete(like all the rest of the waterparks in the world). Having been to pretty much every major waterpark in the US(indoor and outdoor), it is certainly easy to see why Travel Channel ranks it #1.

Certainly Theme Parks aren't on everyones agenda, but this is hands down the best waterpark with the best rides that I have been to(including both of Disneys-which I also think are great ones).

spirobulldog..........sorry for not acknowledging your response. We're pretty much 'over theme parks', having done it all when the kids were younger, inc' both the Disneys. Now its 'us' time , which for us means great scenery and regional food & wine. But all responses are terrific, you never know who else may be reading for planning and will use some hints that I may not.

spiro - i was commenting on the fact that the OP said that they would be 50 -- not that the theme park was 50.

LOL I didn't pick up on that jill_h........pretty funny.

LOL I'm 44 and still love it.

aussiedreamer,

Looking back at your original post, I was curious as to your favorite place you've visited so far?

I think I have covered everything on your list(just a tad of New England-I haven't really done it right). Yosemite would be my favorite and Chicago would be at the bottom.

I think you'll find the food to be the best thing about the South. Cajun and BBQ.

Colorado and Utah has some great scenery. I think you will be blown away by Yellowstone. It's very awesome.

A lot of the Utah parks do require some hiking to see the "must sees". How much hiking do you like to do?

spiro' just to clarify I'm OFFICALLY still ONLY 48!!! LOL

I think my favourite memory of the USA will always be our first visit to NYC (we've been 3 times now). But driving from Boston up into New England was fabulous, and yes Yosemite was awesome. Over the years I guess we've moved from loving big cities to loving the country side. And food & wine really are a huge part of our travels. Anything from street food in Hong Kong to Michelin starred restaurants and all things in between.

As for 'hiking' which us Aussies tend to call more 'walking, (Hiking for us conjures up hardcore trekking for hours or days at a time), dh can go for hours & hours. I'm pretty good on level ground, not too rocky. (Born with a form of spina bifida, so have terrible ankles after a series of surgeries) We love to pack our back pack with a picnic lunch & a thermos (even the occasional bottle of wine has found its way into that bag, especially in France ) & just wander off for however long we like.

With your timeframe I'd probably stick to touring the South. If you want to throw in a National Park, just go to Big Bend.

Spiro, in all fairness, isn't some/much of your 'love' for the park (at 44) tied to it simultaneously bringing back many, many memories of the times you've been there in the (distant) past?

(if that wouldn't apply to our O.P. then perhaps we should differentiate a bit {shrug} )

NorthwestMale,

I'm not following you. Are you talking about the waterpark or National Parks?

I first visited the Schlitterbahn only about 10 years ago. I think I've been 4 times total. It is about 7 hours from our house(Oklahoma). We have been there a couple of times on our way to San Antonion. The other times were just to the water park and that's all we did. Probably stopped and ate in Dallas.

... whatever "IT" refers to... you tell us

It refers to the noun in the previous sentence not the previous paragraph. So it refers to Schlitterbahn.

I really have no clue what your previous post was asking, telling, or what your intentions were.