On April 17, I am driving from St. Louis, MO to Salt Lake City, UT. I am a single woman (40 yrs. young), have no kids, & most likely will be driving by myself. Can anyone suggest some interesting/fun things to see/do along the way. I plan on just taking my time on the drive, since getting there is half the adventure. And I would also appreciate any advice on places to stay, I'm looking for offbeat, different places (but safe).
Thanks a lot,
Laura
Driving to Salt Lake City
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If you are taking I-70, you could take a short detour down to Moab, Utah and Arches National Park. This is a beautiful area and good place to spend the night (or two).
I'm meeting my sister that lives in Salt Lake. Moab & Arches are places that we were probably going to go to and we plan on maybe doing some camping at one of the parks.
Thanks for the reply.
Along the way, you could stop in Lawrence, KS. It's about 5 or 6 hours from STL. It's a really cute, vibrant college town (home to the University of Kansas). Things to check out include the beautiful campus, downtown (Mass. Street) and the university's museums (Spencer Museum of Art, natural history museum, etc).
Downtown, there is a brewery/restaurant called Free State, which I highly recommend.
If you enjoy history, stop in Independence and visit the Truman Home and the Truman Library. I found them both very interesting when I drove I-70 a few years ago.
Also, in Abilene, Kansas is the Eisenhower Library and Boyhood Home.
All of these places are open every day except major holidays and are an easy exit off the interstate.
I found the rest of the drive on I-70 to be fairly boring until you are in Colorado.
If you're interested in spending some time in a hot springs pool, there are a couple of places in Colorado that might do you well.
If you travel I-70 between Denver & Grand Junction, stop at the town of Glenwood Springs for the night. They have a great hot springs pool (http://www.hotspringspool.com). A great place to stay would be right across the street from the hot springs at the Colorado Hotel. President Teddy Roosevelt used the Colorado Hotel as his base of operation when he'd come out here bear hunting.
If your route through Colorado takes you off of I-70 and onto U.S. Hwy 40 instead, you can soak in the 15 hot spring pools at the small town of Hot Sulphur Springs (http://www.hotsulphursprings.com). Stay at the Riverside Hotel - you can't get more offbeat and eclectic than the Riverside (but bring cash or check....they don't take credit cards). Be forewarned though...the word "sulphur" is in the name for a reason. The water is loaded with minerals that are supposed to be fantastic for your skin, but may be a bit less appealing to the nose for the uninitiated
Hwy 40 will also bring you through Steamboat Springs where you can choose to either soak in town at the Old Town Hot Springs (http://steamboathotsprings.org), or at the more secluded Strawberry Park Hot Springs (http://www.strawberryhotsprings.com/2005).