Originally Posted By chickendumpling There are few things I love more than a good road trip. Loading up the car with everybody's favorite snacks and drinks and tunes and heading out at 0'Dark-Thirty and just hittin' that sweet stride on beautiful stretch of road. I've taken some great trips. Driven up the California coast taking Pacific Coast Highway the entire way, Oregon to Yosemite, and lots of road trips to Disneyland and other trips too. What about you? Where are some of the places you've road tripped to? Favorites? Why? What special "rituals" do you have in preparing/going on your road trips?
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy <There are few things I love more than a good road trip.> I heard those same words were recited by Trippy's wife at their wedding. <What special "rituals" do you have in preparing/going on your road trips?> And that one she only answers privately! ;-)
Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy But seriously folks...my first solo road trip was to Nashville in 2003. I was unemployed that summer and decided to go to Fan Fair in Nashville ("Country Music Woodstock"), and I went to Lorrie Morgan's private and public Fan Club parties and got to sing a parody of one of my songs. I was *so* glad I went. I've also been to Cincinnati a few times for the zoo, a haunted bar across the river here in Kentucky, and then my vacation this year I spent some of in Bardstown at that haunted tavern. Man, now you got me wantin' to get in the car 'n drive, lol.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling LOL @ post #2! I gotta admit you are pretty dang funny. Lorrie Morgan's *private* fan club party? Now I *know* there's a story I'd love to hear there! <<Man, now you got me wantin' to get in the car 'n drive, lol.>> Me too! LOL. I wonder if there's a way to do a *virtual* road trip. lol.
Originally Posted By bloona <<Driven up the California coast taking Pacific Coast Highway the entire way,>> I would love to do that. We stayed in Monterey and did the 17 mile drive, the coast around there is beautiful, infact I have a photograph we took there on my dining room wall! We drove from Monterey to Mammoth, through Yosemite, that was lovely too. Passing some teeny places on the way. Beautiful.Oh I want to go there now.When we had a week in Mammoth, we drove to San Francisco for 5 days. Wonderful holiday. 13 years ago now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Originally Posted By sarahwithbaloo Our latest road trip was a couple of weeks ago when we drove to DLP that went really well Mike got a kick out of driving the car onto a train the kids behaved all the way we got really lucky. We packed sandwiches and plenty of drinks and had our pack up in the car on the channel crossing while Mike pretended to Drive it was good fun.
Originally Posted By trailsend One of our favorite trips when my children were young, was in the fall, traveling through north Georgia on our way to Cherokee, North Carolina; spending time there then on to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The leaves are breathtaking through the mountains this time of year. Driving up the mountains then you come to a clearing on top of the mountain, pull the car over, get out and take the whole beautiful site in. It is spectacular! The air is cool, crisp and there are pumpkins and mums everywhere!
Originally Posted By SuzieQ I am blessed to live in an area of many great day-trip destinations. A couple of my favorites are Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Each are about 3 hours from me, in opposite directions. We'll be doing a major roadtrip this summer. 3 cars, 10 people (parents, my family, brother's family). The ultimate destinations will be Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We'll drive from Northern California, stopping in Elko, NV and Idaho Falls, ID on our way into the Parks. Coming back, our stops are in Salt Lake City and Reno. I'm really looking forward to it! Thankfully, I've got a bunch of new CDs from my friends that will help the miles fly by.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ Oh! Some of my favorite recent road trips have been the ones to DL with Lisann22, Wendebird, IceKnyght, et al. We get up at o'dark thirty and hit the road! Did you know when Icey forgets his ipod it's possible to belt out Aerosmith for 400 miles? Fun times!!
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS Being a single parent, my daughter and I take weekend roadtrips quite often. (Or at least we used to before gas got so darn expensive!) The best one was the summer of 2003 when I first bought my Jeep Liberty. We packed up a cooler and made reservations at a few motels / hotels, and pre-purchased various amusement park tickets. We live in So California, and drove the I-5 most of the way. We stopped at every amusement park from Los Angeles to Sacramento, and visited three horse racetracks along the way. We went to the California State Fair in Sacramento. Although I'm not quite a redneck - LOL, it's something that I've always wanted to do. I'm glad we did, too, because they had some melted / damaged girders on display from the World Trade Center disaster. It was humbling and sad, but helped my daughter and I truly understand the impact that this event had on all of our lives. We talked to the families of some of the victims and donated to the fireman's fund. We saw the aquarium in Monterrey, got to feed giraffes in Vallejo, saw the musical "Chicago" in San Francisco, and thought I was going to die on a coaster in Santa Clara. (I swear they put those rides together in that particular park with crazy glue. I was never so scared in my life!!) We shopped for Garlic in Gilroy, and also hit many outlet malls. We finished off our roadtrip by stopping at Six Flags Magic Mountain on our way home, which is only about an hour from our house. All in all, it was the best time we ever had. Road trips rock!!
Originally Posted By gaydsnywitch I have a couple that I remember. The first one was with two friends and we took the 5 to West Hollywood and spent a couple of nights. Then we went to Disneyland and spent 2 or 3 days there. Then it was back to West Hollywood for a night. Then up to San Francisco for another 2 or 3 nights. Then it was time to head home. The second one was down the Oregon Coast with a night spent in Brookings. We dipped ever so slightly into CA and then headed towards Grants Pass with a stop at the Oregon Caves. We passed through Grants Pass and spent the night in Medford before heading home.
Originally Posted By mickeymeg We drove down from Victoria BC to Disneyland for the 50th last summer. After passing through the Seattle/Portland mess of traffic we went over to the coast and traveled that route until San Fransisco. It was absolutly beautiful along the coast. Also, a topsy turvey road for a lot of the time, adding to the fun factor of course ! We camped along the way and on the way back we stuck to the I5 and only re routed once to vist the oregon caves. That was amazing too. We stayed overnight in the lovely little lodge. I think we may have to vacation again just in Oregon, I had no idea it was so pretty there. Definatly one of my favourite vacations ever =)
Originally Posted By Daannzzz I have two long road trips I have done with my father. in 2004 I drove form the SF bay area up to Portland to meet Dad at my sisters. From there we drove up ro Poulson Montana and to Glacier National Park, then accross Montana into North Dakota to see the rural (very rural) farm where Pop was born and lived until he was 8. Then we drove down to Mount Rushmore South Dakota and over to Devil's Tower Wyoming and then across Wyoing for a couple nights in The Grand Tetons and then back north to Yellowstone for 3 days and then over to Carters of the Moon in Idaho and then back to Portland and then I drove home. We put over 5000 miles on that rental car!!!! But I loved it all. You learn how diverse our country is and see so much it can hardly all be taken in.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost My biggest road trip was from Vermont to Key West and back. I had no reservations and nothing more then general notes about things I might like to see and places I might like to go. WDW was on the list, of course, but I also went to Savanna, Miami, Myrtle Beach and was heading towards the outer banks when I ran out of time. 5000 plus miles. It was my first solo trip after my divorce and I just guess that I wanted to see how it did without someone along side. Very well, thank you! There was an incredible sunset in Key West that would have been great to share with someone but it was still nice just for me.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 As a kid we road tripped all the time. First we had a ski boat so we went on many adventures finding new lakes. The most interesting road trip is when we got stuck on a two lane road with construction and my dad had to make a u-turn pulling the boat off the side of a mountain. Puke city baby! My dad was also into car racing so we took many adventures traveling to wonderful little towns for oval track racing. I think I majored in bugs over those years; summer heat, farmland and bugs. So exciting. I told this before in a tickle thread but my favorite road trips were the last minute ones. The 4 bridge nights when my parents would put us in the car and we'd head out late at night riding across 4 of the bridges in the Bay Area. Our trip would end around dawn at a favorite diner in town for breakfast. We'd jam the tunes and stop to sightsee. Very cool to be at the vista point in SF at like 3am. :> As a teen I did many road trips playing softball. My teammates and I would hit the road to various tournaments up and down the state of Cali. Wonderful exotic towns to play ball in like Colusa, Weed, Redding, Petaluma, Bakersfield, Merced, Pawndale, San Bernadino, Turlock, Stockton, etc. LOL! Some of my favorite road trips are similiar to SuzieQ - Yosemite, Tahoe, and Reno. Especially to go up to Yosemite for Bear Dance. There have been nights driving back to a hotel in Oakhurst or Mariposa at 4am that I can't remember driving. If you know those roads - Aye yi yi! Tahoe from North Shore to Emerald Bay and that one part of the road where there is nothing on either side of you. ;> The craziest drive I ever took was from Wendebird's town of Redding across 299 to Trinidad on the coast. A very high mountain two lane road with a bunch of twists and turns. Lots of interesting little towns to stop in and forest fires to delay your trip. ;> My favorite road trips are anytime I head down to Gilroy/Monterey/Carmel. I know that area inside and out from all my travels down there. Up to Klamath along the coast, so beautiful. My fondest memories are of our road trips to DL when I was a kid and we wouldn't go I5, we'd go down 101 stopping over night in Pismo Beach to eat at McKlintock's and play on the beach then on the way home stopping in San Luis Obispo and eating at the Apple Farm. Also gotta mention our infamous 25 hour tours we've been doing lately to DL - those have been so much fun, really good times. Yakking for 4.5 hours on the way down and singing on the way back. I love road trips!!
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Ohhhhhhhhh, how could I forget the trip to Phoenix, AZ when I was 11. We went down there for a famous sprint car race. My parents decided to make it a family trip. What I mostly remember is waking up at a rest stop and my box of Crayola's had melted into a huge glob of wax. I was very particular about my crayons being in the box in my little color coded way. (Big surprise to those that know me) So I started crying. My mom always the fast thinker whipped out a knife, cut off chunks and sold me on the idea of "rainbow" coloring. Witch!
Originally Posted By MomofPrincess I love road trips. When I graduated high school (1986), my friend & her parents took me on a road trip from Southern California, up through Oregon, Washington and into Vancouver, B.C., Canada. It was a 3-week trip and loads of fun. I took a road trip from California to (near) Springfield, Missouri - and back - with my ex-husband in 1992. Last Thanksgiving, we took a road trip from CA to Boise, Idaho. We really want to take a 3- or 4-week long trip across country and back, with our kids. There is so much to see that you can't get in an airplane.
Originally Posted By MomofPrincess ^ I guess I've been on more than that, but those are the ones that stick out most in my mind. Of course, any time we want to go to L.A., San Diego, camping, Vegas, etc., it's a 3- or 4-hr road trip. Wasn't sure if that "counted" or not, though! Since we're in the middle of nowhere, *everywhere* that isn't here is a road trip. LOL
Originally Posted By SuzieQ How could I forget the roadtrips of my teens!? When I lived in Southern California, we traveled to the Bay Area for an Explorer Scouts sailing competition (Ancient Mariner Regatta). Nothing like driving up I-5 with a big group of teenagers all driving with their head out the sunroof, LOL! We always came home down 101 and stopped at the Apple Farm for lunch. When I moved to Northern California my junior year of high school, I traveled all over with my crew team - back to Southern California a lot, lol. We used to do the 4-bridge tour that Lisann22 did as a date-night thing. Though I was home well before 3 am, LOL. And I love that section of Hwy 89 in Tahoe between South Shore and Emerald Bay! The cliffs literally drop straight off on either side of the 2 lane road. You feel like you are driving on top of the world. It's quite eerie at night. Especially if it's snowing!
Originally Posted By AZDLDad >>TDG-I went to Lorrie Morgan's private and public Fan Club parties and got to sing a parody of one of my songs.<< Lemmie guess the song was "Standing Tall"? Get any dirt on Troy Aikman and does she miss Keith Whitley like I do? My favorite roadtrip was back before internet and makin' rezzies. Hopped in the car and headed for a Memorial Day Weekend at the Busch in St Louis to take in some ballgames. We made it to the big Holidome near Six Flags and barely got in for the night. Then went into the city and secured a room at some place I could never find again. A mom-n-pop little old 200sq ft room kind of place near downtown and a Spaghetti Station restaurant. We downed multitudes of non-"Darkbeer" and had a ton of cups to prove it. Hmmm, don't recall how we made it home. But watching some baseball with a good friend can't be topped by much.
