Your favorite Road Trips

I've been on a few in my life. I'll start this off by sharing my memories of my very first one.

When I was about 9, My oldest brother took me on a road trip from Los Angeles to Chicago, Which for me at that age was a big deal. Getting out of the City for the first time in my young life and it really opened my eyes. I saw huge Forests, Vast Deserts, then Corn, lots and lots of corn, for miles, and it seemed like for days, lots and lots of corn.....

Anyway

We had a pretty cool trip, We got caught on the highway in the middle of nowhere in a severe thunderstorm, complete with tornado warnings, the winds buffeted the car quite a bit. All the while I was both Scared stupid and very excited, It was an awesome lightening show that went on and on. Suffice it to say we made it to Chicago, stayed a week, I saw the Sears tower, Went to their Museum, Went aboard a captured German sub there That was cool.

Oh I almost forgot, We had stopped in Reno, I think, on the way out to Chicago. There, I snuck over to a slot machine at a gas station, put a nickle I had in and pulled the arm, they had arms to pull back in the day, and won ten bucks in nickles . Scared the crap out of me as the machine exploded with lights and sounds and spewed out a river of nickles, So much for being quiet about it. My Brother ran over and laughed.

After Chicago my brother went onto Germany and I flew back to L.A. Also my first flight.

I remember flying in late at night, it was a very clear night over L.A. It was all lit up, it reminded me of the movie TRON, one giant circuit board, complete with little tinny cars going to and fro like little bits of data.

I actually have a few more road trips to share, more recent ones with Pictures, Have you been on memorable Road Trips?
Please share your favorites.

a reply to: SLAYER69

My buddy and I did a couple of weeks one summer where we travelled around the country watching baseball games. We started in Cleveland, headed down to St. Louis for a Cards game where we shot craps with the Reds color announcer, flew to Dallas to catch a Rangers game and hustle pool in the right field TGIF, drove to Detroit (getting a nice ticket in Ohio on the way) to watch the Tigers in bombed out Tiger Stadium, drove to Chicago for a White Sox game, caught the Cubbies the next night and then drank beer and took batting practice with the Astros relief pitchers in a bar in Wrigley Town and then finished up in Baltimore.

We caught the Yankees in a few of these cities and since we were staying in all the player's hotels they were all very approachable and hung out with us at the bar. Fun trip.

a reply to: SLAYER69

Detroit to Quebec City over into Maine then down the US coast...Portland, Boston , New York, Philly, Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk....all the way to Miami....ending in Key West....amazing....

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Wow, that's a long trip covering quite a few different regions.

I've never travelled very far really. My most memorable road trips were anywhere heading to a seaside town.

a reply to: SLAYER69

My first real big road trip went from the east coast, Halifax and went to Victoria . I was around 15yo at the time and it was in a large moving van . I was just a helper ,lugging furniture but on the way back while on the strait-est flattest stretch of HWY (Saskatchewan) he put me behind the wheel . :>)

The mountains were something else as a picture (post card) does nothing to convey the feeling you get seeing them .The prairies being flat is a understatement and the nick name big sky country fits it well .The northern lights ,which I got a great show were so low and so active they has a kind of scary part to them .

Unlike you with corn and more corn ,I found northern Ontario to be trees ,more trees with rocks and more trees with lots of rocks . I thought it would never end .Quite boring as I recall . I noticed a big difference between the two oceans .The Pacific was flatter and quieter compared to the Atlantic . I have went to New Found Land once and got quite sea sick on that trip . But yea there is a difference that I was surprised about .

It was the mountains at the end of the day that had me thinking and yacking about when I got back .I gave me a new appreciation for Canada .And it turned out that good old New Brunswick is one of the more picturest places to live and visit .Lots of trees lakes rivers and miles and miles of beaches .

Later on in my life I got a job driving truck coast to coast and loved it .But I can still remember that first trip .Probably because I got to look around as a passenger .

a reply to: SLAYER69

Mine was when I lived in Finland.

Took a 2 week holiday and drove from the south of Finland to North Cape in Norway with a detour through Sweden starting on the day of the midnight sun (longest daylight day of the year). Decided to stay away from main roads and motorways as much as possible. Got very scenic with waterfalls and wide open spaces.

All done with the then girlfriend in a 1989 2" red Ford Sierra covering almost 3000 miles. Had a few breakdowns in the middle of nowhere to fix too.

Then the drive back down on the east side of Finland we decided to venture into Russia and have a nosey about.

2 weeks just wasn't enough.

a reply to: SLAYER69

I love the Black Hills in SD along with the Bad Lands. Been there 2 times and am going again next year.

Last week I traveled out to Nevada and went to the Grand Canyon. Pretty awesome in my book. Took a ton of pictures. Most any vacation/road trip away from work is my favorite.

One of the few pleasures in life that I enjoy above all else. We do day trips quite often, just to explore new places we have not seen yet in our own province. I made it my mission to see Nova Scotia in it's entirety. I have been completely all around Cape Breton Island, including Meat Cove. Down the western side along the Bay of Fundy, and the eastern shore to Lunenburg. Next month we plan to finally see the south shore (including Shag Harbour) and my quest will be complete. This year so far, I also traveled to Moncton, NB for a music festival, and spent the day in Charlottetown PEI. My first time in both places. Charlottetown, I must say...took my breath away. Next week is the mother of all trips as my husband and I are headed back to Ontario to visit family. Very emotional for me... I have not seen my son or daughter for 5 years, and have never met two of my grandchildren. I'm packing lots of tissue....

I've done several raid trips.. They are my thing.
drove the whole coast of Australia and through the centre.. That was awesome.
Also across many countries in Europe and South East Asia.
My next goal is to drive across the USA..

a reply to: SLAYER69

I have been in that sub. The best was probably when I was too young to remember most of it. Traveled from Mi with my folks to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Mt. Rushmore... the corn palace, in NB I think.

One of the most memorable in recent days was my buddy and I travelling from MI to Vegas to work. Junky ass Saturn with no a/c of his.

2008 or 9. Now my dad works for FEMA. He was in Iowa because of flooding. We were in Iowa. My dad calls me and says the highway is flooded and closed. OK. We keep going, surely there will be signs. We come upon a state trooper blocking the road. Got to turn around. I say to him wouldnt a sign at the last exit be good? he says they are out of signs. I say you out of cardboard and spray paint??? Was like an hour drive back, and we knew the for hours before that the highway was closed.

Later that same day, its getting late and I'm going to drive. we switch and get going, find the exit onto the highway west we want and I take it. I say how far we go on this road and we look for my mapquest print out. like 700 miles. Great I don't have to worry about watching for signs... There may have been multiple exits on the "exit" we took, because several hours later the sign I saw was welcome to Missouri. Thats south lol.

Got our bearings, headed west, went through Saleen Utah I think. smallest town ever but with Ma's kitchen. been in nat'l Geographic. Good food. weird town. The kind where tumble weeds cross the street in front of you and the swingsets swing eerily, unoccupied.

Heres one we took from Portland Oregon to Vancouver Island in 08

My favorite road trip was in July 2008 and lasted 5 weeks. I left NJ and picked up 2 frinds in PA. We drove cross country and hit all the great stops : Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Mt. Zion, etc..it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life to be honest. We lived out of my Jeep Cherokee and we camped quite a bit. We hiked the days away. If you care see here is a slideshow of some amazing photos from the trip.
m.youtube.com...

Recently this past June me and two friends road tripped from NJ to Maine and had a blast! I fell in love with Maine! Here is a short slideshow of Maine (there are 2 other parts on my YouTube but I'm just posting the first one)
m.youtube.com...

And most recently this past August a friend and I road tripped to Smoky Mountains in Tennesee and North Carolina. We had a blast. Here is a short video of one my favorite hikes at Rainbow Falls Trail..ran into a bear too.

m.youtube.com...

Road trips are the best. GREAT THREAD!! Thanks for starting it!!


a reply to: SLAYER69

A year ago I drove from Kentucky to Portland, OR taking back roads the entire way. Took about 2 months taking my time, stopping wherever I felt like it. I've driven coast to coast twice a year for the last 6 years and this was my first time taking the northern route west and it was amazing.

One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen was coming into Oregon from Idaho, it's almost desert like and then all of a sudden it's just green fields and a big snowy mountain on your left. I remember thinking, "I could be happy here being a farmer." Lol.

a reply to: MrCrowley88



Nice, thanks for sharing

Great thread! Love seeing something besides...you know.

Last summer I took my 9 year old (at the time) son on a road trip. The rules were simple: no interstates, no hotels, no GPS, no video games. Our starting point was right here in Dayton, OH and our destination was my hometown of Douglas, Wy.

I wanted to show him what America used to be...the back roads, farm land, ma and pa restaurants and no crazy America. We headed up north towards Green Bay. Stopped off in Chicago to see Lake Michigan. He took an empty Gatorade bottle and filled it up with water from the lake for his memories.

Once in Green Bay, I was hoping to get a tour of lambeau field and pay homage to the mighty Green Bay Packers. But no luck, a Kenny chesney concert was taking place that day. From there, it was off to the farm lands my grandmother was raised on near Lodi, Wisconsin. This was my favorite part of the trip. I love my grandmother dearly and to get to see the exact same farm she was raised on was a wonderful memory. We stopped and talked with the locals hoping maybe, by some miracle, someone would remember her. But she's 92 and the last of her family, so there was nothing more for that.

We did stop by a very distant relatives house to say hi. I had never met them, and never even knew of them before hand. I thought it would be neat to just stop by and say hello. Beautiful property, but they were up north at their summer cottage. From there we found a campground in the middle of the state to set up camp. Bbq'd some burgers, and slept under the stars in a cool, but pleasant early Wisconsin summer night. We tried our hand at some fishing there, but nothing bit.

The next morning was Father's Day so I took my son and I out to a cute little restaurant near the Minnesota border for breakfast. Good ole fashioned home grown foods. Stuff like that puts a smile in my belly. We set course off through Minnesota and only counted about 100 or so lakes. Far less than the 10,000 promised. Some of the nastiest drivers I've ever encountered are in Minnesota.

We made sure to clip North Dakota before cutting west across South Dakota. Our plan was to find a campground in the center of the state. But as we traversed more and more we found ourselves jousting with a massive thunderstorm. Good thing we didn't stop, it caused some flooding at the campground we intended to stay at. So I decided to push through all the way to rapid city. If you're keeping track, that's a whole heck of a lot of driving. The amount of bugs on the windshields was just insane. I had to stop at every town I came across to clean my window it was so dirty in big juice.

We got to rapid city and settled into a hotel room on the Air Force base. Had to ditch the camping because of the weather. But the long drive hiding from the storms all day put a heavy weight on my shoulders that I welcomed the hotel.

We got up early to set out on what I knew was going to be an awesome day. Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, Crazyhorse, Deadwood, and Devils Tower. We stopped at the gas station on base to fill up. After I finished pumping I told my son to stay in the car, lock the doors, and crack the windows while I went inside to pay and get us drinks. While waiting in line, he popped up beside me. Said he was bored. I asked him where the keys were. He said in the Jeep. I immediately knew our doom. He inadvertently locked the keys in the Jeep. $80 and 2 hours later we were on the road.

If you've never driven through the black hills, do so on a warm, late spring day like we did. Absolutely gorgeous drive. We hit all the stops. My favorite being Devils tower. the drive in was picturesque!! Go, you won't be disappointed. We rolled into my dads house. Caught up with the family. Climbed a 12,000 foot mountain. Fished the streams and lakes of Wyoming. Went Prarie dog hunting. Blew up some dynamite, BBQ'd, laughed, and had the greatest of times.

Throughout it all we drove through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and back on to Ohio. I expected my son to have a major attitude without having access to video games, but he did really well. I took a picture of him at every state sign I could, had him follow the atlas to guide us where to go, and kept him involved as best as I could. The trip proved to be some of my absolute fondest of memories.

I love telling that story. Usually with more detail then here. I still randomly go through the photos and grin like a child on Christmas. I now try to avoid the interstate at all cost, learning that it may be the quickest route somewhere, but it's never the best route. I think the next trip will be to Yellowstone, only we'lol go south this time, maybe come back home from the north.

ETA, if I get time later, I'll come back on and share some pics of the trip.

Joe

a reply to: SLAYER69
My friends and I used to hang out with a band. We'd take trips up to Michigan to see them play at various shows. I don't remember much of what went on. Sobriety wasn't in my vocabulary in those days.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: SLAYER69
My friends and I used to hang out with a band. We'd take trips up to Michigan to see them play at various shows. I don't remember much of what went on. Sobriety wasn't in my vocabulary in those days.

Heh..



I've been on several road trips from L.A. down to Mexico, Tijuana to start and later, when I got into motocross, Baja California. I can honestly say on those trips 'Sobriety' wasn't in mine either.

My favorite road trip was an adventure I will never forget.

I strapped a sleeping bag and a pack to the back of my bike (motorcycle) and traveled to Southern Ontario for a wrestling match.
I slept at a motel the first night and finally made it the second day.
I got there and met all the boys for the first time and later that night I was in the ring with a real stiff guy...he basically beat the hell out of me but we got a standing ovation.

Walked outside after everything settled,saw I had a parking ticket.
The skies opened up on me and it rained buckets.
Saw a liquor store and grabbed a few beers and went to a park to either wait it out or sleep there if I had to. (too tired to bother trying to find a motel)

My bike died and I was stuck there for another day.
I ended up calling a friend to pick the bike up for me and hitched a ride home with him and the bike.

It was the best trip and the worst trip all at the same time and I will always treasure the hardships that taught me to think positively.
I left that city with a smile on my face.

Another one was at an army base but that one is against the t&c of the site so I will keep that one to myself.

Great Stories I thought some here would appreciate them.