ceb1222

lazuli: Okay, "greater Harrisburg" is a bit of a stretch for me... My hometown is actually a little over an hour away from Harrisburg, but I'm from the middle of nowhere, so that's the closest "big city". I'm from just south of Pottsville, also nicely aligned with interstates - sandwiched between 78 and 81!

wannabe3

I have driven across the US several times on parts of Interstates 10, 20, 40, 70, and 80. I'm still waiting to go across the US on 90. One of the last east-west trips was from MA to CO Springs and back with 3 children fighting in the back seat. We found so many motels with vacancies that we didn't make a reservation for our last night on the road--on the way home. However, we found out that there was a huge Grateful Dead concert in Zanesville, Ohio and had to continue driving all the way through Ohio to Washington, PA before we could find a room. Then, of course, we were exhausted and the children were ready to watch TV.
I have also driven both coasts--with the exception of the Northern California to mid-Oregon coast--about Mendocino to Florence. I stay on Rt.1 if it is on the coast, but I take 1A, A1A, or any other road that stays on the coast. I do the same on the west coast. When the PCH leaves the coast, I take what ever road still hugs the shoreline for as long as I can. Many years ago I even drove along the coast south of the border from Tijuana to Ensenada.
I love driving the coast of Maine from Lubec to Kittery. Some of the time I'm on 1, but many times I'm not. In Lubec, I always go over to Campobello Island, which is in Canada. I was there last year and did not need a passport, but I think you do need one now. I love this quiet area, but I also love to continue the drive and explore every point from Lubec to Bar Harbor and Acadia. From Bar Harbor we continue through Blue Hills, Belfast, Camden to Moody's Diner. Then, we begin again with every point explored until we reach Georgetown, Bath, Brunswick, Freeport and we hope to arrive in Yarmouth in time for the Clam festival. We have visited the area from Portland to Kittery so many times that it takes days to visit all of our favorite places.

I still love Route 1 from Key Largo to Key West, but it is becoming more and more crowded. I also hate to see the number of Key Deer killed each year. In fact the last time I visited Big Pine Key, I didn't even see a Key Deer.
In case you can't tell I love long drives.
Other beautiful drives--the coast of Lake Michigan from Milwaukee, all around Door County, to Green Bay, Upper Peninsula Michigan--we strayed from Lake Michigan to see Picture Rocks and the ships going through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie. We went through the Straits of Mackinac, over the big bridge, then continued down the west coast of the lower Peninsula of Michigan to Sleeping Bear Park. Then we took the car ferry back to Wisconsin, which we love to do.
Another great ride is down the DelMarVA peninsula to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I can taste those crabs now!
There are just too many great road trips to list.
Not to mention I just returned from Alaska where we put almost 2000 miles on our rental car trying to see as much of Alaska as we could by car. Every highway was different but all beautiful. The loneliness of the Richardson Highway in summer surprised us. We wouldn't see another car for miles.
I haven't even mentioned the Southwest--the area south of Tucsan is one of my favorites. Watching hummingbirds at the Santa Rita Lodge or in someone's yard in Patagonia, AZ (tiny quirky town--where when they say that the road continues because the stream is not very high, they mean that you'll be able to drive through it!)is one of my favorite things.
Wish I were on the road now!

lazuliangel

tovarich: your 2000 and 2004 trips sound wonderful! The Pacific Northwest corridor is just gorgeous, and it's a pity that when we were going to university in Seattle we didn't travel more of it. That was one of our greatest disappointments. Whilst she has been to New England, I've only ever flown into and out of Boston, so I'd love to see that area, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in particular (I'm reckoning that's more a summer sojourn, though, isn't it?)

ceb1222: know how you feel about H'burg being the closest point of reference. It works for us when we're in the States (we're from Lewisberry and New Cumberland), but abroad, we almost always fall back on Philly (two hours east barring heavy traffic on 30 or 76).

We're big coastal fans, probably most of the reason we'd considered doing 1. We're coming up on the planning for 2007's trip and we've had so many great suggestions now--thanks to everyone who has shared their travels with us. We appreciate all the input greatly.

lazuliangel

wannabe3: Alaska has been in the cards for a while. My father's stories of living there for a year when he was a teenager fresh out of high school, plus her parents' repeated cruises, have made us envious. But it would have to be a rental, as you did, because I don't think either of our own cars would make it to North Dakota much less through BC and up towards Juneau.

We'd been given a tip about that upper Maine coast, too, and then over to the islands, which I find fascinating. I'd love even to do Atlantic Canada at some point, though I think I'd be flying solo on that one (LOL!).

I'm glad you mentioned the alternate legs of 1, as I hadn't realised it was possible to still hug the coast a little. It was originally the variety in terrain that had attracted us to it, but I think now we might have to reconfigure based on what everyone has mentioned.

When we moved to Seattle to go to university, we spent the lion's share of our cross-country driving on 90. I think we picked it up just outside of Chicago or thereabouts, though I was following another car and a moving van and trying to keep from being killed in rush hour traffic! But we followed that, apart from breaking down in WY and taking a detour to Mt Rushmore, right the way to Seattle. The Seattle/Issaquah/Snoqualmie Pass extension is some of the most beautiful mountain scenery I've seen. 90 becomes a bit dry and hopeless outside of Ellensburg and then goes through the dust bowl that is Moses Lake (though this can be interesting territory of its own accord). The Columbia River gorge is incredible; and beyond Spokane, as the road begins its climb into Idaho's panhandle and up into the Continental Divide... breathtaking. We've driven it multiple times as students (one of our spring breaks was spent driving around Montana, SK and AB), and at least one time per season. Your best bet is to go in very early spring, because you get the clear roads and therefore, don't need chains on the tyres, but you've also got snow on the mountains and the contrasting green of the native pines. Wow...