John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/21/11 9:54 p.m.

Mrs. Brown has asked to do a cross country road trip for our 10th anniversary next August. The rough idea is to do I70 (the south route) to the Grand Canyon for a few days then trek north to Yellowstone for a couple days then star trekking east to see Mt Rushmore then back home...

Outside of the obvious (more than a week in a Grand Caravan with the wife, a 9 year old and a 3 1/2 year old) am I committing suicide with this trip? Should I just keep it simple and do the north route?

Suggestions?

JFX001
JFX001 SuperDork
3/21/11 10:00 p.m.
John Brown wrote: Suggestions?

Xanax?

Nah, just do it. I'd hit 66 as far as I possbly could, hit 70 as little as possible.

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/21/11 10:02 p.m.

Another vote for staying of the Interstates as far as you can.

aussiesmg
aussiesmg SuperDork
3/21/11 10:04 p.m.

Learn to bite your tongue, it may save a LOOOOOOONG walk home

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/21/11 10:09 p.m.
aussiesmg wrote: Learn to bite your tongue, it may save a LOOOOOOONG walk home

At that point I don't think I would care how long she walks ;)

aussiesmg
aussiesmg SuperDork
3/21/11 10:58 p.m.

Oh you internet tough guy you......

MrJoshua
MrJoshua SuperDork
3/21/11 11:08 p.m.

I75 south! Stop in Gainesville and buy my Miata. I will even sell you an e36 with a hitch to tow it home with.

mtn
mtn SuperDork
3/21/11 11:58 p.m.

Depending on your vehicle and the exact trip, sometimes a rental is more comfortable and makes more sense on the whole. I doubt it would in this case, but just a thought.

What exact route to do think you would want to take? I'll say that if you want to do 66, a lot of it is pretty boring through central Illinois. Just FYI, flat cornfields look the same from a US highway as they do from an Interstate.

z31maniac
z31maniac SuperDork
3/22/11 5:51 a.m.

^Yeah, same here. RT 66 has a few cool things through OK, but on the whole, it's pretty empty and much slower since you pass through some small speedtraps (towns) and such.

Mental
Mental SuperDork
3/22/11 6:45 a.m.

Lotsa cool 66 stuff in OK and New Mexico. Drove to San Diego with the missus last year and we took our time. Caddilac Ranch in Tx and London Bridge in AZ. Food like you would not believe, just dozen's of off the path cafe's and diners and they have come back into vouge in the last few years.

In NM lots of stuff on the side of 40 that paralells 66 that you can sell as from "Cars" to the 9 year old.

Without a doubt it will try your patience, but when Tanner is in his late 20's this will be one of his fondest memories.

Plus I owe you a night's lodging from back in 2005. So when you come through OK, please consider this an invite for a free stay at Casa De Mental. I'll have the missus make her famous enchiladas and you can help me empty my beer fridge.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/22/11 6:52 a.m.
Mental wrote: Lotsa cool 66 stuff in OK and New Mexico. Drove to San Diego with the missus last year and we took our time. Caddilac Ranch in Tx and London Bridge in AZ. Food like you would not believe, just dozen's of off the path cafe's and diners and they have come back into vouge in the last few years. In NM lots of stuff on the side of 40 that paralells 66 that you can sell as from "Cars" to the 9 year old. Without a doubt it will try your patience, but when Tanner is in his late 20's this will be one of his fondest memories. Plus I owe you a night's lodging from back in 2005. So when you come through OK, please consider this an invite for a free stay at Casa De Mental. I'll have the missus make her famous enchiladas and you can help me empty my beer fridge.

Consider it done.

NGTD
NGTD HalfDork
3/22/11 11:17 a.m.
aussiesmg wrote: Learn to bite your tongue, it may save a LOOOOOOONG walk home

Or the cost of a Divorce.

BTW If you don't have them - buy 2 Nintendo DS's (with headsets) - the back seat gets very quiet.

dyintorace
dyintorace GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/22/11 11:29 a.m.

Nothing of substance to add, but couldn't resist. Please consider traveling in one of these...

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/22/11 11:38 a.m.

My Family Truckster is a refridgerator white Dodge Grand Caravan Sport LWB, we have a pair of DVD palyers and one of them has dual screens as well as other multimedia devices (laptop, phones, games) so I HOPE I have that covered.

Keith
Keith GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/22/11 11:42 a.m.

Don't write off I-70 too quickly. The run from Denver to Salina, Utah is pretty good stuff - high passes, twisty canyons, red rocks.

Or dive off I-70 when you get to Grand Junction (stop in and say hi, of course) and then run over 550 or 141 to Durango to continue the run. That section is truly awesome.

joey48442
joey48442 SuperDork
3/22/11 7:09 p.m.

I really dont think you will live through the trip, so you should really go someplace cool, as its the last place youll probably ever go.

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 HalfDork
3/22/11 7:22 p.m.

RT 191 between Grand Canyon and Grand Junction is spectacular. Canyonlands national park and Arches are there- Moab, etc.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker
Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork
3/22/11 7:32 p.m.

For some reason Mrs Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter is playing in my head.

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/22/11 8:12 p.m.
joey48442 wrote: I really dont think you will live through the trip, so you should really go someplace cool, as its the last place youll probably ever go.

Leann has suggested the Grand Canyon would be a hell of a place for her to dump a body. Plan: take great family pics in front of the canyon just before John has his 'accident' and trips over the edge...proof of the happy family moments before the tragedy.....not that I've put any thought into this......(Leann). ****just a joke, just in case something does happen this is no proof of premeditation.

jrw1621
jrw1621 SuperDork
3/22/11 8:37 p.m.

Also a good place to leave one of the Brown-Dirt kids behind.

TRoglodyte
TRoglodyte Reader
3/22/11 8:54 p.m.

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, ya take one down and pass it around 98 bottles of beer on the wall.................

Rufledt
Rufledt HalfDork
3/22/11 10:03 p.m.

whoo hoo road trip! My fiance loves road trips, so maybe i'll get some of them in. one time she went on a road trip with her family (parents and 2 other siblings) that traveled for a month around the circumference-ish of the united states in a rental corolla. Personally i'd rather use a van or something I could sleep in...

When I was a kid, our family road trips were made quite a lot easier by the VCR in our (now my) van. Movies make kids be quiet, sometimes... My fiance's parents kept them quiet by giving them suckers, and their dentist loved it! They all have multiple fillings now... Maybe try the video thing first lol

heyduard
heyduard New Reader
3/23/11 1:14 a.m.

for more planning help, check out byways.org. there's a printed version, too.

+1 for videos. But they will get bored of that as well. Dunno, do they make audio versions of kid books? (checking google....) yep. Audible has a selection.

Have fun!

John Brown
John Brown GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
3/23/11 6:41 a.m.
jrw1621 wrote: Also a good place to leave one of the Brown-Dirt kids behind.

LOLzers That looks JUST like what people figure my kids look like (although one is rockin' a near Beiber haircut)

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