LoveItaly

Lena, that is what I like about road trips. Seeing small towns, having lunch in some small cafe, checking out the area. And I agree with you moneygirl, to get from point A to point B is not my idea of fun as I hate to spend all day in the car driving on the freeway. To get to a location I prefer to fly.

This thread is giving me spring fever even if spring has not arrived in California. It is really raining in the Sacramento Valley.

jamaltay

rkkwan, you are right. Flexibility is the secret to a great road trip. I like the part about not planning ahead. My wife and I once drove from Toronto to Phoenix. It took six weeks to get there. The only thing that we knew when we started out was that we were going to Phoenix and we had time. We decided day to day where to go. By the time we got home we had hit Niagara Falls, Sault Ste Marie, Mackinaw Island, Mall of the Americas, Custer State Park, Black Hills(Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Deadwood), Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountain NP, Pikes Peak, Carlsbad Caverns and Tombstone. What inspired that trip was one my parents took a few years earlier when they left for a three day trip to Lake Tahoe and came home 3 1/2 months later, buying clothes on the road because they only packed for three days. They hit most of southern Canada and the US on that trip. I knew I would never be happy until I did a road trip with no time limit and no itinerary. IT WAS FANTASTIC.
8-)

ellen_griswold

We absolutely love road trips. Grew up taking them, visiting all 48 lower states by the time i was 12. Still did the trips to europe and disney, but summers were in the old chevy wagon crossing the country.

I married a certifiable beach bum, but soon converted him when we took our first cross-country road trip in 1996. We thought it would be "THE" one and only out west trip, so tried to do alot in a major loop from coast to coast, approx. 7,000 miles in just under 4 weeks. Happily, it wasn't our last, we've done nine cross country road trips since - each between 6 - 8,000 miles, each just under 4 weeks.

We're like Caph, we like covering lots of ground, then staying put for 2-3 nights. We plan each night's lodging but still leave wiggle room for changes.

We started on the 'see a little of alot' routine when we thought our first cross country trip would be the last, and loved it! Since we've been fortunate to take nine similar trips, we've been able to sample most of the country, returning to our favorites for additional time on the way to exploring new areas. If i had to do it again, i might focus more on one region at a time because as others have said, we could have spent much more time at many / most places!
But thats not how it worked out for us and i'm not at all sorry in the least. They've all been spectacular trips in every way.

In fact, we're currently trying to squeeze in one more road trip with our kids - our 10th - tougher to coordinate each year and yet somehow more fun. However, this summer, we may have to fly and do the rental car thing... Did i mention i want my babies back? Enjoy yours while they're little; they grow way too fast!