2019 Road Trip plans.

Started by ce929wax, November 13, 2018, 01:27:54 AM

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ce929wax

I was planning a trip to Texas, but some of my priorities in life have changed and I need to think smaller for right now.  I have two objectives for 2019, one is to get to Wrigley Field and the second is to clinch every county in the lower peninsula.

Going to Wrigley isn't a road trip per se, because I plan on taking Amtrak and using public transport in Chicago.  I have tried to get to Wrigley the last three summers, but things have not worked out (either emergencies or just poor planning on my part).  Hopefully this is the year it happens.

As for clinching every county in the lower peninsula, I already have 35 done, mostly in SW, SE, Mid-Michigan, and the thumb.  The only one I don't have in the thumb is Lapeer.  My first county I would grab would be Montcalm and then I would go east to Gratiot and go over and snag Lapeer before going on US 23.  I plan on going up and down each row of counties until I get to Manistee, as I already have Mason and Oceana.  I would end in Newaygo and then take 131 home.  I'm thinking about doing this the first weekend in October to make a fall color trip out of it.

I'm also hoping to make bigger plans in 2020, but these are my plans for 2019.


Max Rockatansky

Got something planned for Florida in January.  I'm looking at Idaho at some point mid-year and Arizona in October which will largely be road oriented. 

Rothman

Really hoping to make it to Alaska in 2019.
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MantyMadTown

I would really like to do my Great Lakes road trip I couldn't do this year.
Forget the I-41 haters

D-Dey65

You know I have my home in the New York Tri-State Area, but it's going to have to be before the end of May 2019, due to the expiration of my MetroCard.

Some subway clerk claimed my card was no good and switched it with a new one during my last trip.

I keep trying to use up all the money on those things, but they just won't let me.



1995hoo

We've talked about a four- or five-day trip to Toronto (I haven't been there since 1986) to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. Might also go to the Original Hockey Hall of Fame in Kingston on the same trip, which would allow me to knock off a big chunk of 401 I would probably otherwise never have reason to travel. Weather permitting we'd use US-219 between I-68 and Buffalo (or vice versa) in one direction so as to knock off most of that route and the new segment.

Otherwise the year is kind of up in the air due to various uncertainty as to some other issues.
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cjk374

We'll be making a trip to Folly Beach, SC in 2019. This time I want to avoid Atlanta via the Freeline Freeway. I just hope the missus doesn't mind.
Runnin' roads and polishin' rails.

Dougtone

I'd like to make a trip to New Brunswick (the province) in 2019. Otherwise, I haven't really sorted out what I plan to do for long trips in 2019. 2020 may be when I do a much longer trip (Alaska by boat, then drive from Vancouver to Winnipeg, then fly home).

cl94

My 2019 road trip plans are highly dependent on work. If I get sent overseas for some time (which is a possibility at this point), that will kill my chances at taking a long road trip.

As of now, the only significant trip I have planned is to/from the TRB Annual Meeting in January. Pretty direct drive down (with detours to see the new I-95 ramps and the US 301 tollway, and to clinch some roads on the Maryland Eastern Shore), but the return trip will involve a large amount of county clinching in north-central Virginia and a clinch of Skyline Drive (assuming weather cooperates) while I still have a National Parks pass. 3 pretty full days of driving with 4 days of a conference sandwiched in the middle. Worked well last year, but weather in January is always a crapshoot.

There will likely be a smaller trip to/from the Providence meet if my work schedule cooperates, but there probably won't be a ton of driving involved.

If I can take the time off, I'm considering a couple options for an August 2019 trip. One option (and currently the front-runner) is to fly out to Denver and take a loop through the plains and Mountain West, getting me to 48 states and allowing me to see more of the region. As to why I'd fly instead of driving out, it allows me to spend more time in new and interesting places, as I'd basically spend the first day of any long drive on roads I have previously driven. The other is a trip to the Upper Peninsula, possibly tied into the Pittsburgh meet. Both of these would be a week or longer.

If I can't take a big 2019 trip, I do plan to take a big 2020 trip, likely one of the above 2 options unless something else comes up.
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kphoger

Two trips on the back burner so far...

[1]  I haven't started planning our annual mission trip.  Our best friends, who are now living there full-time as missionaries, will be coming back to Wichita in December and not heading back down till March or April.  They'll be having their second baby at that time, so they want to be close to the midwife for those last couple of months.  When they're in town, we'll start planning next year's mission trip.  There is a good possibility that it will be another trek into the desert–three to four hours of rocky desert roads into a land of no running water, services, or cell phone reception.

[2]  I plan to start taking my older two sons on annual camping trips, probably starting in April or May of 2019.  At the top of my list of possible destinations is Caprock Canyons State Park, in the Texas panhandle.  It's not super far away, and the hikes appear to be easy to custom-fit to however fit for hiking we all are.
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Male pronouns, please.

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ce929wax

Quote from: kphoger on December 12, 2018, 05:06:34 PM[2]  I plan to start taking my older two sons on annual camping trips, probably starting in April or May of 2019.  At the top of my list of possible destinations is Caprock Canyons State Park, in the Texas panhandle.  It's not super far away, and the hikes appear to be easy to custom-fit to however fit for hiking we all are.

That sounds like a fun trip.  On my list of things to do is to get back to Texas.  I haven't been back since March 2009.


kphoger

Quote from: ce929wax on December 12, 2018, 10:37:01 PM

Quote from: kphoger on December 12, 2018, 05:06:34 PM[2]  I plan to start taking my older two sons on annual camping trips, probably starting in April or May of 2019.  At the top of my list of possible destinations is Caprock Canyons State Park, in the Texas panhandle.  It's not super far away, and the hikes appear to be easy to custom-fit to however fit for hiking we all are.

That sounds like a fun trip.  On my list of things to do is to get back to Texas.  I haven't been back since March 2009.

I grew up going camping with my dad in Colorado and the southwestern US.  I want by boys to have some of those same experiences.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

US71

Everything is in a state of flux at this time. I'll be in Louisiana for the Jefferson Highway gathering in April, but I doubt I'll make it to the RMCA meet in Hershey , though I'd love to re-explore the National Road. Everything else is contingent on time and money.
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TheHighwayMan3561

Key West in April with one of my close friends. We picked out a list of places, evaluated a number of criteria, and went with that option.

I've been keeping an eye on the two potential meets in eastern Canada being bandied about, which depending on when they are and ultimately which one I might choose to attend I would love to spend time in New England which I've been telling myself now for 11 years that I want to get back.
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paulthemapguy

Gonna visit my friend on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and clinch I-24, I-59, I-12, and I-55 in the process.  This will be in mid-late January.
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kinupanda

My 15-year college reunion coincides with Memorial Day weekend, so I'm planning on taking some extra time off both before and after and making the drive out there. I have a few places along the way that I want to hit, since I primarily enjoy visiting craft breweries/distilleries and relatively lesser-known historic sites, and will likely visit some friends/family. Outside of that... well, I've got a few months to figure it all out. This is a somewhat rough itinerary (clearly each leg does not correspond to a single day), so I'll likely post a separate thread about this closer to the date to solicit more precise advice/thoughts.

  • Leg 1: San Antonio, TX > Montgomery, AL > Columbia, SC > Raleigh, NC
  • Leg 2: Raleigh, NC > Virginia Beach, VA > Cape May, NJ > New Haven, CT
  • Leg 3: New Haven, CT > Downingtown, PA > Martinsville, VA
  • Leg 4: Martinsville, VA > Nashville, TN > Memphis, TN
  • Leg 5: Memphis, TN > ??? > San Antonio, TX
I did a Denver trip in March of this year and a Little Rock/Memphis/New Orleans trip this summer, but haven't done anything this ambitious since 2010. I'm always counting counties, so this will likely clinch DE and NJ for me also.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 18, 2018, 11:13:12 PM
Key West in April with one of my close friends. We picked out a list of places, evaluated a number of criteria, and went with that option.

I've been keeping an eye on the two potential meets in eastern Canada being bandied about, which depending on when they are and ultimately which one I might choose to attend I would love to spend time in New England which I've been telling myself now for 11 years that I want to get back.

I'm trying to convince my wife to head down there with next month when I'm in Florida for 11 days.  Really a Florida trip isn't complete without the Overseas Highway.  So far I've only convinced her to knock Everglades National Park off to-do list, what she doesn't know is that there is a pretty chance that will be on the Everglades Loop Road.

leroys73

Motorcycle trips:  Some short ones in Texas and Oklahoma but my first real road trip planned by motorcycle is to Key West in March after riding to Jacksonville for the annual Iron Butt "Party".  I already have reservations in Jacksonville.  I have tried to make it three different years but something always comes up.  In late July a ride to Prudhoe Bay with a dip in the Arctic Ocean.  This one I have been trying to do for at least 5 years.  I am sure there will be at least one more in the late fall. I will also try to squeeze in a couple of Iron Butt Association rides.  www.ironbutt.com 

Car trips:  Maybe one to Orlando in April, might go car or by motorcycle or fly, if I go at all.  I'm not sure it qualifies as a road trip but we will travel some by car and bus.  It is a D-day 75th anniversary tour starting in Paris and ending in Munich with us at the beaches on June 6.  We are arriving in Paris a few days early and leaving a few days after the tour ends in Munich so we can visit where I used to live and went to college.  So we will drive some. We, The Wife and I, have another road trip for a few days somewhere but we haven't decided where.  We have a free place to stay in San Antonio and Branson, MO so probably one of the two. 

Oh, a family reunion outside Cincinnati at the end of June I will probably attend, traveling by car or motorcycle.
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doorknob60

Our big trip this year is not entirely a road trip, but I'll get my fix of driving. It's in August. Flying from Boise to Boston, then renting a car and driving down to Washington, DC, taking Amtrak to Norfolk, VA (cheaper to drop off the car in DC than to keep it since were's spending a few days there), and flying back. Purpose is to visit some of my wife's friends in CT, and visit family in Hampton Roads area. Along the way, going to Six Flags in NJ and a few days in Washington, DC for general touristy things. Looking forward to driving a lot of the highways around the northeast, in particular the NJTP. Nothing like that out west. Whole trip is 11 days.

Other than that, we'll probably take 1 or 2 of our standard Seaside, OR trips to visit my family there, with the usual stops in Portland (Powell's Books, IKEA, etc.). Maybe make it to Seattle again too. I'd guess one in Spring, probably around April, and maybe one late in the year. These trips don't require a lot of planning or cost, pretty much just $~100 for gas. Hardest part is for my wife to get time off work.

ctkatz

my road trip is mainly about completing interstates and visiting states that I won't be able to normally. I'm planning on doing louisville, ky to los angeles and coming home via oregon and I 71.  maybe. I might find a way to knock west virginia off my list too.

and this is all going to be a solo trip during the middle of june.

kevinb1994

Quote from: ctkatz on January 31, 2019, 04:00:35 AM
my road trip is mainly about completing interstates and visiting states that I won't be able to normally. I'm planning on doing louisville, ky to los angeles and coming home via oregon and I 71.  maybe. I might find a way to knock west virginia off my list too.

and this is all going to be a solo trip during the middle of june.

Good luck and have fun!

texaskdog

Wife wants to drive to Maine.  The great part is I've been to 33 states and this would get me to 47 (all of NE, NY, NJ, Phi, WV, Va, DE, MD) leaving only Hawaii (her brother is getting married there in the next couple of years), Florida & SC (very doable in one trip as well).  My goal was by the time I hit 50 and while that won't happen I can do it by 51 or 52.

NWI_Irish96

#22
Not entirely by road, but we have a family vacation planned where we will fly to LAX, the drive a loop to Disneyland, San Diego, Tucson, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and then back to LAX for the flight home.
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formulanone

Kids want to go to DC this summer; I want to check out Cumberland Gap along the way up but not sure what to pick for an overnight on the way home.

Have a couple of short road trips in the near future, one to Hattiesburg and another in Clarksville. Work is always subject to change, of course.

hotdogPi

Quote from: formulanone on January 31, 2019, 09:27:01 AM
Kids want to go to DC this summer; I want to check out Cumberland Gap along the way up but not sure what to pick for an overnight on the way home.

Maybe the kids would be interested in the Great Smoky Mountains or some Civil War battle location. Or maybe extend the trip a day, doing some things in Atlanta. (I assume HSV in your profile is Huntsville, AL.)
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