help us plan our trip.

[ziggy]

My wife and I are starting to plan a ROAD TRIP!! for the family for next summer. We will be heading west, grand canyon. But nothing is firm, it very well could yellow stone. We want this to be a slow wondering trip out and back. Any suggestions on stuff to see or do between Cincinnati and out there would be helpful. I dont care what it is, the worlds largest ball of yarn is fine by us. Thanks in advance

[OptiJim]

Grand Coulee Dam is quite a sight. In the summer, they run a laser light show off the face of the dam every night. Here is a link to check out:


http://www.grandcouleedam.com/welcome.html

Good Luck!!!

[Jedi]

Grand Coulee Dam is quite a sight. In the summer, they run a laser light show off the face of the dam every night. Here is a link to check out:


http://www.grandcouleedam.com/welcome.html

Good Luck!!!Grand Coulee Dam scared the hell out of me as a kid. One side water, the other side a big drop. Awesome, I have to go back.

[GOS_Queen]

If you head towards Yellowstone, make sure to go thru South Dakota - I LOVE Rapid City area (Mt Rushmore), Wall Drug, the Badlands - (sigh) all sorts of fun things there! :cheers:

and, if you go to Yellowstone, try to enter thru the east entrance. Cody, Wy has a wonderful museum!

And, then, there's the place of "Custer's last stand" ...

[Pete Hanlin]

Looks like you guys will be going along most of the old Route 66! If so, then let's see- you'll see St. Louis, Champlain, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Gallup, and Flagstaff!

Assuming those cities are on the agenda, the capitol building in St. Louis is pretty cool (and its right next to the Arch- the "Gateway to the West")!

Also, if you're headed to the Grand Canyon, don't dare pass by the Crater! As I recall, its in Arizona somewhere- but its really neat!

Pete

[Spexvet]

I hear Indianapolis is nice. ;)

[dochsml]

My wife and I are starting to plan a ROAD TRIP!! for the family for next summer. We will be heading west, grand canyon. But nothing is firm, it very well could yellow stone. We want this to be a slow wondering trip out and back. Any suggestions on stuff to see or do between Cincinnati and out there would be helpful. I dont care what it is, the worlds largest ball of yarn is fine by us. Thanks in advance

Memphis is always good for a day. Arkansas will surprise you. And if you are going to the Grand Canyon and don't stop in Vegas, it's almost a waste.

[C-10]

If you head towards Yellowstone, make sure to go thru South Dakota - I LOVE Rapid City area (Mt Rushmore), Wall Drug, the Badlands - (sigh) all sorts of fun things there! :cheers:

and, if you go to Yellowstone, try to enter thru the east entrance. Cody, Wy has a wonderful museum!

And, then, there's the place of "Custer's last stand" ...
Do not miss this. I took my wife and children there a several years ago will go back in a minute if I have the time. As a Canadian I really did not want to see Mt Rushmore but when I got there I was in ah! the children enjoy that trip better than Disney land

[Night Train]

Do not miss this. It may seem weird to tour a factory on a vacation but you will be glad you did:

http://factorytoursusa.com/TourDetails.asp?TourID=171&State=KY&Search=&CategoryID=

[chm2023]

Hmm, only things I can think of are Memphis--Beale Street and food and blues; Graceland has to be seen to be believed---Kansas City is a fun place, Sante Fe is beautiful.


Suggestion: don't know how old your rug rats are--if they are in the "are we there yet" age group, invest in a DVD player that you can mount in the car. Don't think it's very expensive and keeps the little urchins quiet. Also, there's some great "car game" books you can pick up at any book store.

(Or just tie them and throw them in the trunk!!!;)) Have fun!!!

[Ory]

Suggestion: don't know how old your rug rats are--if they are in the "are we there yet" age group, invest in a DVD player that you can mount in the car. Don't think it's very expensive and keeps the little urchins quiet.

Keep in mind I don't have children yet, but....

Is it just me or are people becoming reliant on TV/DVD to keep their kids quiet? My family would take yearly trips from Ontario to Florida and my brother and I would read or talk or play games or sleep. We never needed something electronic short of a walkman and I think we were good.

I certainly don't think a DVD system is a terrible idea but these days every minivan I pass has one going.

So now that my little rant is over....I have nothing to contribute to the actual thread. I've never been to those areas. Hope you have a great trip!:)

[chm2023]

Keep in mind I don't have children yet, but....

Is it just me or are people becoming reliant on TV/DVD to keep their kids quiet? My family would take yearly trips from Ontario to Florida and my brother and I would read or talk or play games or sleep. We never needed something electronic short of a walkman and I think we were good.

I certainly don't think a DVD system is a terrible idea but these days every minivan I pass has one going.

So now that my little rant is over....I have nothing to contribute to the actual thread. I've never been to those areas. Hope you have a great trip!:)


You're right. And you're wrong. Right that people are too reliant; wrong that you were good!!!

Hours in the car with kids is one of the circles of hell; my kids were well behaved, but it's too much to expect kids' ideas of peace and quiet to be the same as adults'--why not let everyone enjoy the vacation? I wouldn't recommend one for daily use, but for a long trip, most definitely!! (Again, I am open to tossing them into the trunk, gags etc....)

[coda]

I've done a ton of road trips in the west, more than I'm willing to admit actually, everything from a 2 month meander between the Pacific and the Mississippi and a three day blitz from Cinci home to SF (just after 911 before the planes were back up in the air and I had a wedding to get to). I'm an outdoorsy type person with an archiological bent, keep this in mind when you're parsing my recommendations. (no particulary order)

1. Canyon de Chelle - Hopi/Anasazi cliff dwellings on a reservation, only guided tours below the canyon rim (and into the dwellings), best cliff dwelling sites I've seen
2. Mesa Verde - national park near 4 corners, more cliff dwellings, more scenic than above, dwellings less impressive
3. Tucson - favorite city in the SW
a. living desert museum - more like a zoo, love it
b. atlas II ICBM silo/launch control - now a museum
c. mount whats-its-name north of the city - you can drive to the top, very pretty, interesting animals, etc
4. Zion National Park - enough said
5. Bryce Canyon NP
6. white water rafting along the Arkansas river in CO
7. Rocky Mountain National Park
8. Yosemite NP
9. Yellowstone NP
10. Glacier NP (which I like much more than Yellowstone)
11. Flagstaff is very nice
12. Taos (north of Flagstaff) is nicer, there's a reservation just outside town with a very nice pueblo, each year in the early summer (maybe around the 4th?) there's a pow-wow, it's very welcoming and I've enjoyed it quite a bit.

I can suggest more if you tell me what you're looking for.

[ziggy]

Do not miss this. It may seem weird to tour a factory on a vacation but you will be glad you did:

http://factorytoursusa.com/TourDetails.asp?TourID=171&State=KY&Search=&CategoryID=

Thanks for this tip and all the others. My kids like to watch those "how things are made" shows on TLC so the wouldnt mind these at all. Liz, my wife, has been following your thoughts and ideas and wants to say thank you!.CHM, As for putting the kids in the trunk,, some states frown upon this, although being raised in KY my dad thought of the trunk as "alternitive seating"!;) At the time of the trip the kid will be 9 and 5. The reason for the trip is to show them some of this beautiful country. Grand Coulee sounds great but I dont think we'll get that far west. Please keep your thoughts comming.

Thanks, Paul,liz and the girls.


Ps Ory, try a 6-8 hour car trip with kids, then give me a call and I'll send you one of our portable DVD players:D

[rbaker]

When I retired in 1999 we bought a motor home and spent nearly a year on the road. We visited every State (except Hawaii,) National Park, National Forest and all of the usual places. What a Country. You really can’t go wrong. We finally settled on Oregon as the location for our second home.

What you might want to do is to plan your trip based on your family’s interests. Don’t go to see something just because its there. Try to take your time and get to know the locals. This has always been the joy of travel for us, meeting new people.

Time will be your enemy unless you are retired – it’s tough to try to see a lot when you have just one or two weeks. You may want to select a single destination and fly Southwest and rent a vehicle. For example, fly to Portland, OR, rent a car and visit the Oregon Coast and the Redwoods, Crater Lake, Steens Mountain, Mt. Bachelor Mt Hood, the Columbia River and Mt St Helens (if it is still there.) All of these destinations are day trips and usually no problem with the kinder. Check out some pictures on my web site.

Good luck, Godspeed, and if you are in our neck of the woods, Gold Hill, OR , look us up.