Road Trip

I haven't done that exact trip, but I've done Chatty to Denver to Seattle. All I have to say is, be careful and be prepared for Denver to St. Louis (14 hours) to be some of the most boring driving ever. You'll go through Kansas, save the good conversation topics for Kansas.

Sara and I have done the ChattaDenver trip too many times and have tried alternate routes.

On your return trip, the Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chatt route is the safest and most time saving.

We did do the Denver, Wichita, Norman, Little Rock, Memphis, Huntsville, Chatt route to miss a nasty snow storm in Kansas - but the extra time might have been better spent in a snow drift (be glad you're doing this without three kids under 5).

Sara and her mom did a road trip out through the western states and I'll ask her where all they went - seemed to recall some good stories.

All in all, take care and enjoy the trip. We'll be traversing the same route in a few weeks.

What's with everybody knocking Kansas? Kansas is full of worthwhile attractions. Like the World's Largest Prairie Dog. Or the monument to dying military horses.

On second thought, books on tape are good.

After Arches: on your way up to Denver, instead of taking 70, try cutting though Southern Colorado to Buena Vista, south to Alamosa, then east again to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Southern Colorado. Then keep heading east to 25 and take it north to Colorado Springs, take highway 24 to Limon, and get on 70 there. It'll save you time to skip Denver. But take this route only after you've looked at the map and are mindful of the weather...winter in the Colorado mountains can be killer.

There are also plenty of beautiful places in the Colorado Rockies you can hit. After Arches, as an alternative, drive east on 70 through the Colorado Rockies and stop for a few hours in Vail, one of the first mountain ski resorts. It's pretty to walk around and see stuff. While driving east, take the Dillon/Silverthorne exit, cut east to Keystone and take Loveland Pass back to 70 instead of going through (boring) Eisenhower Tunnel.

You could cut south to Colorado Springs (woohoo) and see Focus on the Family, if for no other reason than to go down the 3-story slide they have as part of their kiddie exhibit (Whit's End). 3 story slide: yeah!

In Kansas, there's not much. But you could stop at Quinter and see where Ian grew up. (It would be worth mentioning to...someone, sometime, I'm sure.)

You could get a steak in Kansas City.

The Children's Science Center, Art Museum, and Zoo are free in St. Louis (check that claim out to be sure, though). Go up the Arch! For sure--day or night. I've done day, night, and sunset, and it surely is an American Experience.

Call me or email for more specific Colorado/Arches/Moab suggestion. Oh! One more thing...in addition to Arches, you should hit the Island In the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park (go to the Green River Overlook and hike the one mile or whatever to the end of the point. It's shocking, much more intimate and less tourist-ified then Grand Canyon), and Dead Horse Point State Park (Utah). They have amazing scenery too. There's Hoover Dam on the way to GC from LV (take the damn tour and take some damn pictures), and I'll tell you a cool secret about the Dam and spitting off it.

Good luck! Take lots of pictures. And call me.

Painted Desert and Petrified Forest have about the same yawn factor, to me. For more bang for your buck, check out Zion and/or Bryce Canyon in southwestern UT on your way from Vegas to Arches. You might even skip Grand Canyon to substitute Zion and Bryce.

I'll ditto the PD==PF statement (while emphasizing that "yawn factor" is not a strong enough measure), but no way you skip the GC... definitely something everyone should see at least once in their life!

If you're down at the GC, why go up to Denver? Kansas isn't nearly as boring as Nebraska, as I recall, but either is just *begging* to get caught in a winter storm. Of course, trip before last out west, I went "the southern route" and barely avoided one of New Mexico's oddest blizzards, while the northern routes were no problem. Still, the odds are that either KS or NE is a risk.

Bekah had a blowout in the middle of nowhere in NE three months ago driving a car out west for us... moral of that story: ALWAYS have an idea where you are... she couldn't get help even with a cellphone as we (her, me, highway patrol, roadside service) couldn't figure out where she was close enough for them to send a truck! Keep track in the boring stretchs of where you are, and make sure you keep your phone charged. It's really desolate out there!

Bottom line: Stay south, young lady! Just my suggestion.
--
RDS

kansas city is fantastic - surprisingly. the nelson atkins museum is a must - and a short side trip to Independance will put you in front of the mormon spire - where they have calculated, and recalculated (and rebuilt) the exact location of the retun of jesus.

Oh my gosh. These suggestions are all amazing. I am terrified this will be my once in a lifetime trip and am now desparate to fit in everthing that has been suggested! And still SO excited! LOL.

I agree about the skipping GC in lieu of Zion and Bryce, but GC is, like, an American Icon. That in itself might be tough to pass up.

While you're in southern Utah, visit a polygamist town. Or, not. (Read _Under the Banner of Heaven_ by Krakauer and get inspired to stay away from those kooks.)

And Randy made a good point...why go north at all? There's a lot of cool stuff south, too. (I just haven't seen it.)

Taos and Santa Fe are historic. You could go to the National Laboratory in Los Alamos (and if you go to Los Alamos, turn left (south) at the White Rock and go to the Scenic Overlook--it's astounding. You could to the Rio Grande Gorge just west of Taos.

The headwaters of the Rio Grande are right around Alamosa, the town I mentioned a few comments up...you could go to Alamosa and hop across the Rio Grande! Haha.

Cool Southern Stuff: Santa Fe Trail. Northern Texas. Arkansas, Mississippi, etc. I'm sure there's neat Civil War Stuff there.

...I'm not the person to ask about the Southern Route. I hope you have fun no matter where you go. And if this really is a Once in a Lifetime trip, take a few extra hours and swing north...or south! Houston, Galveston, the Gulf Coast...so many options!

I think the flatness of Kansas is awe inspiring enough to qualify as a national treasure worthy of "don't miss" status.

If you are driving through Kansas, I second Krista's motion to stop in Quinter. Since my grandparents live there, I got to spend an entire week in Quinter this summer - and it is quite an experience. It will give you a glimpse into a totally foreign world - small town life on the prairie (population 956 - yes, when you are that small, you don't round). Oh, and if you go this way, be sure to check out the area near Castle Rock. Regardless, if you drive through Kansas, note the grain elevators - every town has one and because of the flatness, you can catch a glimpse of neighboring towns from wherever you are. Such a strange place...

April, one thing to keep in mind about the trip is the tedium... plan to have some form(s) of diversion available (e.g., books on tape/CD). My first cross country trip, I distinctly recall a 2-3 hour part in New Mexico. Says I to Elaine, "Looks like a train up ahead." An hour later, Elaine says to me, "That sure is a long train." And hour after that, I comment to Elaine, "That sure was a long train!"

After your trip, you'll never respond the same whenever someone mentions how we're about to "fill up" the earth... You'll just think of the hours and hours with *no one* in sight!

Have fun, and drive safe.
--
RDS

I've done the coast to coast twice with my dog - I'd say head from Denver up to Wyoming then over through the Dakota territory. The Black Hills, the Badlands... very nice. And having done the 14 hours from St Louis to Denver before -- skip it! It was mile after mile of nothin. I'd say South Dakota, then down by Chicago, then over through Ohio is the way to go.

In the winter - you can get terribly screwed by the weather though. That should factor into it. Be careful if you go up north, you get stuck in the snow, you're doomed. DOOMED I TELLS YA!

D