2025 Road Trip Plans

[vdeane]

If I list my plans here, it'll jinx them.

Same.  I've taken to being very cagey around revealing my plans for non-roadmeet, non-family trips because every time I have, it's collapsed.

[JayhawkCO]

If I list my plans here, it'll jinx them.

Same.  I've taken to being very cagey around revealing my plans for non-roadmeet, non-family trips because every time I have, it's collapsed.

I look at it as manifesting, although my trip to Mozambique I had planned apparently set off the civil unrest.

[Hunty2022]

If I list my plans here, it'll jinx them.

every time I have, it's collapsed.

Same here. I've had the same trips fall through numerous times and just decided to cancel them all.

That's one big reason I haven't been anywhere since October, and have only been on 1 to-trip a month from June to October this year.

[Hunty2022]

So I have a New Year's day-trip truly planned to Gettysburg, PA and back via Hagerstown, MD to break my drought.
Also I'm sticking to my personal belief that the travel-related stuff on January 1 is a "preview" of how the rest of the year will play out. 2023 started with a road trip, that became my biggest travel year ever. 2024 started with a short mini-trip after a road trip was cancelled, that is looking like a short travel year with many cancellations. If I start 2025 in Pennsylvania then maybe I'll have lots of out-of-state trips next year.

[D-Dey65]

I mentioned this in the 2024 Road Trips thread;

I've got another Florida day trip plan, and it will involve Florida's Turnpike. One reason is that I want to increase the number of Wikimedia Commons images for the Canoe Creek Service Plaza:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Canoe_Creek_Service_Plaza
Not to mention start new Wikimedia Commons galleries for the remaining service plazas along the turnpike.

And if I get the chance, I'll do the remaining I-95 rest area images on the way back up. The only problem is, I don't know if I'm going to do it this year, or I'll have to save it for 2025.

But it looks like I'm going to have to save this for sometime in 2025, along with a few others going north.

[jlam]

I have a Pacific Coast Highway trip planned this coming spring, immediately after graduation. I will fly in to SNA, take the highway up the California coast, hopefully clinching CA 1. I'll see if I can find some cheap camping spots along the route, or just sleep in the car. Not dealing with coastal California hotels. Once CA 1 ends in Leggett, I'll take US 101 north, staying in Portland for a day or two. From there, I'll either fly from PDX directly to ANC drive up to SEA and fly in. This will be my first time in Alaska. I'll spend about five days in the state, visiting some national parks, before flying back to DEN.

This is a step down from what I had originally planned, which basically elimitanted the flight part of the trip. I would've driven down to Los Angeles, went north all the way to Anchorage, and driven back. That would've taken significantly longer though. I couldn't get that much time off, so the quicker version it is.

I previously had another trip planned, tripping to southern Georgia, but the people I would've met there are coming here, or rather Wyoming. I'll go up there some time this summer.

My other out-of-state trip for this year is dependent on whether Colorado State qualifies for a bowl game. That will be near the end of the year.

[NWI_Irish96]

Road trip to Atlanta next weekend.

GO IRISH!

[Hunty2022]

The Gettysburg-Hagerstown trip has unsurprisingly been delayed, but hopefully I'll do it on Tuesday. However, there is a slight chance I drop it back to the early spring just to see the area when it's green and I can spend more time at the stops as there's the later sunsets. (I like to race the sun)

[pderocco]

I have a Pacific Coast Highway trip planned this coming spring, immediately after graduation. I will fly in to SNA, take the highway up the California coast, hopefully clinching CA 1. I'll see if I can find some cheap camping spots along the route, or just sleep in the car. Not dealing with coastal California hotels. Once CA 1 ends in Leggett, I'll take US 101 north, staying in Portland for a day or two. From there, I'll either fly from PDX directly to ANC drive up to SEA and fly in. This will be my first time in Alaska. I'll spend about five days in the state, visiting some national parks, before flying back to DEN.

This is a step down from what I had originally planned, which basically elimitanted the flight part of the trip. I would've driven down to Los Angeles, went north all the way to Anchorage, and driven back. That would've taken significantly longer though. I couldn't get that much time off, so the quicker version it is.

I previously had another trip planned, tripping to southern Georgia, but the people I would've met there are coming here, or rather Wyoming. I'll go up there some time this summer.

My other out-of-state trip for this year is dependent on whether Colorado State qualifies for a bowl game. That will be near the end of the year.

This looks like a wonderful trip. One bit of information: CA-1 is only called PCH up to the Santa Barbara area, then becomes the Cabrillo Highway up to the Golden Gate, then the Shorline Highway to Leggett. Also, the Cabrillo highway has been closed in a couple of places for quite a while, so I hope they manage to finish up their work before your trip.

I've never been up to Alaska, but I think you're probably right to fly up there. I've looked at the trip through BC and YT on Google Earth and Street View, and it looks like is has many longueurs.

[Quillz]

I have a Pacific Coast Highway trip planned this coming spring, immediately after graduation. I will fly in to SNA, take the highway up the California coast, hopefully clinching CA 1. I'll see if I can find some cheap camping spots along the route, or just sleep in the car. Not dealing with coastal California hotels. Once CA 1 ends in Leggett, I'll take US 101 north, staying in Portland for a day or two. From there, I'll either fly from PDX directly to ANC drive up to SEA and fly in. This will be my first time in Alaska. I'll spend about five days in the state, visiting some national parks, before flying back to DEN.

This is a step down from what I had originally planned, which basically elimitanted the flight part of the trip. I would've driven down to Los Angeles, went north all the way to Anchorage, and driven back. That would've taken significantly longer though. I couldn't get that much time off, so the quicker version it is.

I previously had another trip planned, tripping to southern Georgia, but the people I would've met there are coming here, or rather Wyoming. I'll go up there some time this summer.

My other out-of-state trip for this year is dependent on whether Colorado State qualifies for a bowl game. That will be near the end of the year.

Just know that outside of Denali, the national parks in Alaska  are completely  undeveloped. You should have a plan about where you're going and what you're  doing. Because most parks don't even have trails. 

[oscar]

Just know that outside of Denali, the national parks in Alaska  are completely undeveloped. You should have a plan about where you're going and what you're doing. Because most parks don't even have trails.

Kenai Fjords (near Seward) has trails, and also can be seen from tour boats. Wrangell-St. Elias is decently developed in the Kennicott area, though the access highway is mostly unpaved and not rental-car friendly. Glacier Bay in SE Alaska has tour boats.

The bigger problem is jlam wants to spend only about five days in Alaska. The state is so huge that it's hard to get anywhere in so little time. Just Denali and Kenai Fjords would be pushing it. Maybe sub in Glacier Bay, flying back home via Juneau with a side trip to Gustavus where the tour boats are.

[jlam]

Just know that outside of Denali, the national parks in Alaska  are completely undeveloped. You should have a plan about where you're going and what you're doing. Because most parks don't even have trails.

Kenai Fjords (near Seward) has trails, and also can be seen from tour boats. Wrangell-St. Elias is decently developed in the Kennicott area, though the access highway is mostly unpaved and not rental-car friendly. Glacier Bay in SE Alaska has tour boats.

The bigger problem is jlam wants to spend only about five days in Alaska. The state is so huge that it's hard to get anywhere in so little time. Just Denali and Kenai Fjords would be pushing it. Maybe sub in Glacier Bay, flying back home via Juneau with a side trip to Gustavus where the tour boats are.

I get a bit more time on this trip after another plan cancelled since posting. Here's my planned itinerary as of this evening:

I will leave Flag Day, taking two days to drive down to Dana Point (taking my car so that I don't have to pay for a rental). I'll then have eight days to get up to Portland, not Seattle, to catch a flight to Anchorage. Should have plenty of time. Much of the route up the Pacific is still up in the air, since CA 1 probably won't entirely be open by then. I'll leave my car with friends in Portland before flying to Anchorage on the 24th.

I booked an AirBnB in Anchorage, where I will be staying for six days, not five as previously planned. I'll probably spend the first full day exploring Anchorage, winding down from the trip. On the 26th, I'll drive up to Denali (or McKinley, as it may be called by then), spending a day at the park. Alaska will get a lot of daylight at that time, so I'll have plenty of time to get back. Might want to find a place with blackout curtains. Not sure what I'll do on the 27th, but it'll probably be another Anchorage day, maybe checking out some whales. On the 28th, I'll drive down to Seward, spending a night there before getting on a boat and exploring Kenai Fjords. I'll fly back to Portland on the 30th.

From Portland, I'll pick my car up and drive back home along Interstates 84 and 80. I don't have anything planned yet for those few days. Overall, I would've spent a bit less than three weeks on the road/air/water. This would be my second-longest vacation ever, behind my month-long trip east back in 2020.

Do you think I would have time to do all that stuff in Alaska?

[oscar]

^ Kenai Fjords NP has a visitor center in the Exit Glacier area, in the only road-accessible part of the park. I suggest you review the park website, to make sure you allot enough time in the Seward area to hike whatever trails in the Exit Glacier area you want to do.

There is other stuff between Denali and Seward you might want to check out on your trip, such as viewing the tidal bores of Turnagain Arm and/or a side trip to Whittier. But I suggest deferring that for your next trip to Alaska. What you have on your list already seems manageable.

[Quillz]

For Alaska, I'd just spend your days in one area. A week in Anchorage, a week in Fairbanks, etc. It's too hard to do too much all at once. During the winter, I like Fairbanks because I can see the nothern lights, and there are some places in the area you can go hiking. During the summer, Anchorage is nice because you've got access to places like Far North Bicentennial Park, and the Chugach Mountains.

For driving, the Glenn Highway is nice. I do long driving trips between Anchorage and Valdez (both summer and winter), and the part where Mt. Drum comes into view near Glennallen is beautiful. Then on the way to Valdez, you can stop at the Worthington Glacier (summer only) and then down into the town itself, which has a few trails in the area.

Back in the late 90s, I visited Juneau and the other islands via cruise ship. In 2018, I visited the North Slope (Barrow, specifically, with a brief stop at Prudhoe Bay). So I'd pick an area of the state to focus on, and make separate vacations for other areas.

[kurumi]

Later in the year, 3 national parks (White Sands, Guadalupe, Carlsbad); Las Cruces NM, El Paso, Carlsbad NM. US 54, 62, 285 will be new sign photo pickups (with various state routes). Wondering what else might be of roadgeek interest in that area.