Since nobody has started this thread yet, I thought I'd add one for generic 2022 road trips.
So, what is everybody's plans?
As expected, mine will be a standard NYC-Long Island Trip.
I'm finalizing some plans for Knott's Berry Farms New Years Day and Saguaro National Park in January. Michigan is on the board for summer and eastern Nevada. I'm not sure what the rest of the year will entail, Alaska might be part of it.
Headed to MA for Christmas.
Flying out to Utah and then driving back to Ohio to help my brother-in-law and sister-in-law move. Flying from OH back to NY -- mid-January.
Have a trip planned to IA and NE to see the sandhill crane migration at the end of March/April
Hopefully headed to London, UK and Paris, France at the end of the summer.
Have another couple of trips bouncing around in my head, including one to finish clinching counties in KY and another quick jaunt to MD to see some sights I've missed along the way.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 12, 2021, 03:45:22 PM
I'm not sure what the rest of the year will entail, Alaska might be part of it.
Alaska might be in my 2022 plans too, especially if the Northwest Territories reopens to non-resident tourist travel (currently mostly closed, for Covid reasons). Aside from southeastern Alaska in 2016 and 2017 (not due for a revisit), I haven't been to Alaska for almost a decade.
Otherwise, besides travel within the D.C. metro area, nothing for me until my usual February trip to Florida, and probably the Natchez MS meet in March. More trips are likely (as Rothman puts it, "bouncing around in my head"), but TBD.
My only solid plans at the moment are to attend the Natchez MS meet in March, and then the customary Thanksgiving trip to Kansas City. Other tentative plans include tagging along with a friend to one of her regular trips to Ulysses KS (she'd be there to see one of her friends, but I'd be there to clinch counties) and perhaps a business trip to one of the coasts to collect as much seaweed as possible (it makes excellent fertilizer).
I'm thinking of doing a cross-country drive in the early summer, starting from my corner and making my way over the East Coast via the Southwest, then looping back via the northern tier. I've done some long trips around the Northwest (but always within a day or two of home), so hopefully I'm prepared enough to try this.
So far, my draft route looks something like this: Seattle > Astoria > Crescent City > Sacramento > San Francisco > Sequoia NP > Los Angeles > San Diego > Las Vegas > Grand Canyon > Phoenix > Tucson > El Paso > Albuquerque > Denver > Cheyenne > Rapid City > Sioux Falls > Omaha > Lincoln > Kansas City > Oklahoma City > Dallas > Houston > New Orleans > Memphis > Nashville > Louisville > Cincinnati > Indianapolis > Chicago > Cleveland > Pittsburgh > Philadelphia > Atlantic City
Thinking about going up to Wisconsin to visit my brother in Madison in the summer - while I'm there, I plan on going to one of the waterparks at the Dells, as well as to Milwaukee for a Brewers game. This would be in late July, around my birthday.
Also that summer, I might visit some friends in Colorado.
Baton Rouge in February (if not sooner)
Ottawa, Ontario in May
Seattle/Portland in July (I'm not driving from C-bus to the Pacific Northwest [and back] however)
Helena/Clarksdale in October, or Oklahoma City if that roadmeet comes together then.
All assuming I don't change jobs in the next year.
No family trips planned yet for 2022. I have one 3-day clinching trip mapped out in Illinois to get the remainder of interstate mileage and visit the remaining counties that I'm missing. Don't have it specifically scheduled yet but hoping to get it in before the end of March.
My first child is being born on Thursday, so alas, no permanent plans can be made for a while. I'm guessing his first trip will probably be a simple one to Kansas City to visit his grandparents.
Quote from: jayhawkco on December 13, 2021, 08:32:25 AM
My first child is being born on Thursday, so alas, no permanent plans can be made for a while. I'm guessing his first trip will probably be a simple one to Kansas City to visit his grandparents.
Congrats, Jayhawkco.
Quote from: kevinb1994 on December 13, 2021, 09:30:34 AM
Quote from: jayhawkco on December 13, 2021, 08:32:25 AM
My first child is being born on Thursday, so alas, no permanent plans can be made for a while. I'm guessing his first trip will probably be a simple one to Kansas City to visit his grandparents.
Congrats, Jayhawkco.
Thanks!
Quote from: jayhawkco on December 13, 2021, 09:32:53 AM
Quote from: kevinb1994 on December 13, 2021, 09:30:34 AM
Quote from: jayhawkco on December 13, 2021, 08:32:25 AM
My first child is being born on Thursday, so alas, no permanent plans can be made for a while. I'm guessing his first trip will probably be a simple one to Kansas City to visit his grandparents.
Congrats, Jayhawkco.
Thanks!
No problem. I became an uncle recently so I'll see when I can see the new addition to the family.
It's likely I won't get to go check out the new US 35 in West Virginia until the page turns on the calendar.
Still up in the air about going with my brother to Arizona, and what to do during that time he'll be down in the Grand Canyon and I'll have a week to kill.
Other than that, my vehicle situation and finances preclude any county visiting or road clinching trips. And since I've pretty much retired from attending meets, won't be heading to any of those.
Quote from: Bruce on December 13, 2021, 01:17:00 AM
I'm thinking of doing a cross-country drive in the early summer, starting from my corner and making my way over the East Coast via the Southwest, then looping back via the northern tier. I've done some long trips around the Northwest (but always within a day or two of home), so hopefully I'm prepared enough to try this.
So far, my draft route looks something like this: Seattle > Astoria > Crescent City > Sacramento > San Francisco > Sequoia NP > Los Angeles > San Diego > Las Vegas > Grand Canyon > Phoenix > Tucson > El Paso > Albuquerque > Denver > Cheyenne > Rapid City > Sioux Falls > Omaha > Lincoln > Kansas City > Oklahoma City > Dallas > Houston > New Orleans > Memphis > Nashville > Louisville > Cincinnati > Indianapolis > Chicago > Cleveland > Pittsburgh > Philadelphia > Atlantic City
Glad I'm not the only one with some anxiety over the idea of a cross-country trip. I'd like to do one at some point (should the stars ever align for it... between work, family, and roadmeets, finding a large enough gap in my schedule that isn't in the middle of winter is hard), but the longest I've ever done was seven days (Florida and back) broken up by my cousin's wedding in the middle. Between driving that many days in a row, the mileage on the car, and chaining that many hotel stays, cross-country trips are certainly a class in and of themselves. Perhaps a specific thread on general tips for them could be useful.
Quote from: vdeane on December 13, 2021, 12:53:26 PM
Quote from: Bruce on December 13, 2021, 01:17:00 AM
I'm thinking of doing a cross-country drive in the early summer, starting from my corner and making my way over the East Coast via the Southwest, then looping back via the northern tier. I've done some long trips around the Northwest (but always within a day or two of home), so hopefully I'm prepared enough to try this.
So far, my draft route looks something like this: Seattle > Astoria > Crescent City > Sacramento > San Francisco > Sequoia NP > Los Angeles > San Diego > Las Vegas > Grand Canyon > Phoenix > Tucson > El Paso > Albuquerque > Denver > Cheyenne > Rapid City > Sioux Falls > Omaha > Lincoln > Kansas City > Oklahoma City > Dallas > Houston > New Orleans > Memphis > Nashville > Louisville > Cincinnati > Indianapolis > Chicago > Cleveland > Pittsburgh > Philadelphia > Atlantic City
Glad I'm not the only one with some anxiety over the idea of a cross-country trip. I'd like to do one at some point (should the stars ever align for it... between work, family, and roadmeets, finding a large enough gap in my schedule that isn't in the middle of winter is hard), but the longest I've ever done was seven days (Florida and back) broken up by my cousin's wedding in the middle. Between driving that many days in a row, the mileage on the car, and chaining that many hotel stays, cross-country trips are certainly a class in and of themselves. Perhaps a specific thread on general tips for them could be useful.
Having done all sorts of different kinds of road trips, I can't think of how cross-country trips are different than thinking about them as elongated multi-day trips (i.e., 3-day trips). Yes, they are different than daytrips, but I do the same preparations for longer multi-day trips than I do for shorter (e.g., keep the air compressor in the car, have AAA, reserve lodging, keep oil changes in mind, figure out laundry, etc.).
Yeah, you're right. Maybe a separate thread is necessary.
Yeah, my week-long trips around the Northwest taught me my limits in terms of daily driving and what I should/shouldn't prioritize. Also, definitely should bring along backup glasses!
Quote from: Bruce on December 13, 2021, 01:17:00 AM
I'm thinking of doing a cross-country drive in the early summer, starting from my corner and making my way over the East Coast via the Southwest, then looping back via the northern tier. I've done some long trips around the Northwest (but always within a day or two of home), so hopefully I'm prepared enough to try this.
So far, my draft route looks something like this: Seattle > Astoria > Crescent City > Sacramento > San Francisco > Sequoia NP > Los Angeles > San Diego > Las Vegas > Grand Canyon > Phoenix > Tucson > El Paso > Albuquerque > Denver > Cheyenne > Rapid City > Sioux Falls > Omaha > Lincoln > Kansas City > Oklahoma City > Dallas > Houston > New Orleans > Memphis > Nashville > Louisville > Cincinnati > Indianapolis > Chicago > Cleveland > Pittsburgh > Philadelphia > Atlantic City
I had to see this on a map because I'm pretty sure you're insane.
(https://i.imgur.com/IMhVMQJ.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/1TwhROK.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/7OPdXGd.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/R5zdZ71.png)
I've found that the best way to plan a roadgeek trip of any length is to try to build a loop, i.e. identify the destination furthest from home, and then try to draw two routes, one there and one back, both of which hit as many of your travel goals as possible while maintaining reasonably straight lines. If possible, I like to have the trip "there" be the more indirect and contain more points of interest, while the trip "back" is a reasonably straight shot. This is operating under the assumption that on the way back I will be less inclined to wander and looking forward to getting back home. (It also means that if something happens where I have to abort the trip midway, or something like a breakdown occurs and puts a damper on the mood for the rest of the trip, I am likely to have gotten more of my goals accomplished.)
Thus I would suggest, that instead of doing them all in this sine-wave order that you have now, you perhaps draw an east-west line and get all cities of interest south of that line on the way there and all north of them on the way back. As it is now, you're going to be spending more time going back and forth north-south than east-west, which I guess works if your life goals include clinching I-25 and US-73, but is probably not what you want to do for your first-ever trip of this length. (A good chunk of the experience of a trip like this for most people is seeing the gradual change in scenery from the familiar to not-so-familiar as you go from the West to the East and back, and that experience would be lost with a routing such as this.)
Again, this is a draft where I try to solve the traveling salesman problem. I'll probably split this up into better chunks as I get closer to seriously planning this.
I do want to hit up as much as I can, as I'm probably not going to have time to take a month or so off for travel for at least a few years (if not longer).
I've been considering a springtime trip to the Texas Hill Country and then up into New Mexico to chase away the winter blues.
14 years and counting I've said I'll go back to New England, so we'll see where time and money comes out.
Regionally, I should do more trips across the Dakotas, maybe into eastern Montana too.
Quote from: Bruce on December 14, 2021, 06:31:03 AM
Again, this is a draft where I try to solve the traveling salesman problem. I'll probably split this up into better chunks as I get closer to seriously planning this.
I do want to hit up as much as I can, as I'm probably not going to have time to take a month or so off for travel for at least a few years (if not longer).
If you're a computer guy, http://www.randalolson.com/2015/03/08/computing-the-optimal-road-trip-across-the-u-s/.
I'm going to southwestern Colorado in February. Sadly don't have the time to drive the whole way. Flying from O'Hare, so that will probably be my first look at the fully completed I-39/90 in southern WI. I always look forward to driving I-90 between South Beloit and Chicago. Once in Colorado, I'll drive the Million Dollar Highway for the first time.
I'll be bouncing around WI quite a bit, as usual.
Quote from: thspfc on December 14, 2021, 10:47:32 PM
I'm going to southwestern Colorado in February. Sadly don't have the time to drive the whole way. Flying from O'Hare, so that will probably be my first look at the fully completed I-39/90 in southern WI. I always look forward to driving I-90 between South Beloit and Chicago. Once in Colorado, I'll drive the Million Dollar Highway for the first time.
I'll be bouncing around WI quite a bit, as usual.
Where are you flying to?
The last week of February is when I'd be in the area if I do end up going with my brother to the Grand Canyon while he hikes it, but I don't know that I'd be up to drive US 550 in February. I can't imagine that road being fun to drive at all if it's snowing.
Not a road trip, but I'm flying to LAX in January, and spending a week in the area, mostly visiting theme parks. I doubt we'll venture outside of LA and Orange counties though. Maybe Riverside or San Bernardino but we don't have concrete plans there.
In July, I believe we'll be flying to Norfolk, VA, visiting family there, visiting the Virginia theme parks (BGW and KD), then driving up to Hershey, PA to see a show there and visit Hersheypark. After that, we may visit Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ, and possibly the American Dream mall. Haven't decided yet which airport we'll be flying back from, or which day. JFK has some direct flights to BOI, but depends on the day we want to leave. Otherwise Newark would probably be more convenient (just would not be a direct flight). Holding off on booking the flights for this trip because I believe they'll get cheaper in a couple months, they're a bit higher than normal right now. I'm tracking them on Google Flights.
Nothing else is fully planned yet, though we'll probably do a shorter trip sometime in spring (Mar-May). Visiting family in Oregon is always an option, as is a trip to Salt Lake City. Could pop down to NorCal too maybe (by car or plane).
There's a band my wife wants to see live, and their US tour is in early fall, so we'll probably try to hit them up in Denver (that would be a fun road trip, I've never been to CO before), Tacoma (closest to Boise), Oakland, Vegas, or LA. Tickets are all sold out lol so we'd need to get them second hand.
If Portland Retro Gaming Expo happens next year (cancelled the last 2 for Covid), I definitely want to attend again. That's usually in fall. We usually drive but one time we flew because we had just driven to Portland the weekend prior to the expo for a funeral, and didn't want to make that round trip 2 weeks in a row (that was a good call).
Belated congratulations, Jayhawk! :)
I don't have any children, but my younger brother has two sons, an 8 and a 5 year old. So I am a proud uncle. They are my mother's only grandchildren since my late sister didn't have any kids either.
I am trying to persuade my mother, my younger brother, his current wife (not my nephews' mother, that's his ex-wife), and my nephews to make a week long trip to Orlando all at my expense except for a timeshare week my mother has banked. My nephews have never been to Florida, and I would like for them to go to Walt Disney World, Islands of Adventure, and Sea World.
Quote from: Daniel Fiddler on December 31, 2021, 11:09:58 AM
Belated congratulations, Jayhawk! :)
I don't have any children, but my younger brother has two sons, an 8 and a 5 year old. So I am a proud uncle. They are my mother's only grandchildren since my late sister didn't have any kids either.
I am trying to persuade my mother, my younger brother, his current wife (not my nephews' mother, that's his ex-wife), and my nephews to make a week long trip to Orlando all at my expense except for a timeshare week my mother has banked. My nephews have never been to Florida, and I would like for them to go to Walt Disney World, Islands of Adventure, and Sea World.
Thanks for the congrats!
First road trip of the year loosely planned. I have a tradition to visit my buddy in Vegas for the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament. Flights on anything other than Frontier and Spirit are $350+ so I'm going to drive instead.
Heading out, I'll work on a "western clinch" of US6, taking I-70 to Utah, US6 up through Price (with a quick side trip on US191 to clinch Duchesne County, UT) and back down to Delta where I'll stop for the night. Then cross US6 all the way to Bishop, CA before heading back down to Vegas on US395 -> CA136 -> CA190 -> NV374 -> US95 -> NV160 -> I-15.
Going back home, I'll stick mostly to the quickest way with a quick side venture on local streets to clinch Lincoln County, NV near Mesquite (completely clinching Nevada counties) and continue to I-15 -> UT20 -> US89 -> UT62 -> UT24 -> UT72 -> I-70 to clinch Piute and Wayne Counties, finishing up Utah counties for me too.
I have some 2022 road trip plans!
All of them is for the summer.
I am gonna take a road trip all the way to Arizona, to see the Grand Canyon, and also a lot of places along the way.
I am also gonna take a road trip to Key Largo and Key West some time as well.
I might take a road trip to Memphis, TN.
There might be some more planned in the near future. :colorful:
Baltimore exurbs to Cleveland for a "Santa in August" event
I just took a road trip in my car to San Antonio, TX. On the way down from Indiana I only drove like 20-30 miles on interstate routes total.
From Terre Haute to Cairo, IL: IN 63, IN 154, IL 1, US 45, IL 146, IL 37, US 51
In Missouri: US 62 to Sikeston, MO 114 (Old 60), MO 25, US 62 into AR
Arkansas: US 62, US 49, AR 18 (Jonesboro), US 49, US 70, AR 302, US 79, short section of I-530, US 63 from Pine Bluff to Louisiana
LA/TX: LA 9, US 79, US 77, TX 21, I-35
On the way back I mostly took non-interstate routes again, but went a different way back. Missouri was the only state where I drove more interstate miles than non-interstate.
TX: US 281 to TX 148 to TX 79 into Okla.
OK: OK 79, US 81, US 277, I-44 through OKC, OK 66 to Tulsa, I-244 through Tulsa, OK 66 / US 60 from Tulsa to Missouri. (I paid $0 in tolls.)
MO: US 60 to Springfield then cut up to I-44 and drove that to IL.
IL/IN: I-70 to Exit 36 where I hopped on US 40 and drive that back to Terre Haute.
Great time. Saw the FCS national championship game in Frisco between Montana State and North Dakota State (friend drove me there from San Antonio). Also did the river walk and went on one of the boat tours.
In April / May I am driving to Cabo unless something unplanned happens. I was originally going to go this month or next, but I think April/May is a better time to go since winter will be over in the Midwest and New Mexico. I also have some family issues I need to take care of in the Spring, so that seems like a good time to take a hiatus from truck driving.
I find it interesting to see someone give US-277 top billing over US-62 on their concurrency (even ODOT occasionally forgets that it exists north of Ninnekah).
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 16, 2022, 05:04:08 PM
I find it interesting to see someone give US-277 top billing over US-62 on their concurrency (even ODOT occasionally forgets that it exists north of Ninnekah).
It's because I'm a shunpiker. I think of 277 as being the free route to Wichita Falls from OKC and 44 as the toll road. Although I've always taken US 81 and SR 79 to W.F. from Chickasha, before continuing on US 277 SW of W.F.
In the near future I hope to make a day trip to Folkston, Georgia, by way of places like Gainesville and Baldwin, Florida. I may go back the same way, or I could go back down US 17, and then drive across the Sunshine State, I don't know yet.
I'm planning a June trip down to San Antonio to see extended family. Likely going Home -> Denver -> Limon -> Amarillo -> Lubbock -> Sweetwater -> Junction -> San Antonio. In the works is a July trip to north North Dakota via the Badlands.
Tomorrow for me, will involve another northern Central Florida trip, around places like Ocala National Forest, DeLand, and Gainesville. With any luck, I'll clinch Marion and Lake County Roads 42, and get the images of FL 26A that I've been dying to capture.
Planning the annual summer trip from our home in Chicago to the family vacation home in Maine for early July. It's a trip I always get pretty excited about I think in part because there's a comforting familiarity to it (the portion from east of Cleveland even follows the main route my family drove to Maine from Indiana when I was a kid). The familiarity also means I largely know what to expect, though of course there are always questions about how far we want to push on day one for the sake of a shorter day two and the like.
The one annoying aspect of this year is that so many of the service areas on the New York Thruway are closed for reconstruction so we'll have to be more careful about planning our stops for that portion. A part of me also still wants to think of the current service areas as "new" because I can remember when they were brand new (and even have a few memories of stopping at the original buildings before they were replaced). I can do the math and realize the originals weren't that much older when they were replaced. Still, while the current buildings are showing their age in some ways, I generally like them and I'll be particularly sad to see Roy Rogers (which isn't anywhere around here) disappear as an option when the project is finished. Massachusetts, on the other hand, could replace their service plazas any day and I wouldn't mourn them at all.
As of this moment I have four trips planned for the last four months of 2022;
1)Another glass run to Polk County, because no other county near me separates glass for recycling.
2)Folkston, Georgia for another train watching excursion, and if I have time. I'll add Waycross (I need to expand commons galleries for US Business Routes 1 and 23).
3)The big one to the New York Tri-State Area, which if I'm lucky will include an Amtrak train from Penn Station to Poughkeepsie, some Metro-North trains on the way down, and another drive to Montauk Point.
4)Parrish, Florida for the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum.
Driving out to KC in about a month. I think I'm going to cut across southern Nebraska to get some more counties. Tentative routing is:
I-76
US34
NE4
US75
US73 (to get me my first 2-digit US Route clinch)
Planning to go to New Orleans in mid to late October.
I'm going to be taking a trip to Las Vegas at the end of October, leaving the day after the Oklahoma City meet. This will be different than the stereotypical gambling-booze-and-shows Vegas trip, though–we are considering moving there, so it's more of a fact-finding mission to basically take the city for a test drive.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on August 30, 2022, 02:15:14 PM
Driving out to KC in about a month. I think I'm going to cut across southern Nebraska to get some more counties. Tentative routing is:
I-76
US34
NE4
US75
US73 (to get me my first 2-digit US Route clinch)
I just did a good bit of US 34 across southern Nebraska to get some new counties. Not a whole lot of traffic in those parts, which is nice considering there are almost no passing lanes
I took my glass run to Polk County on September 12, and I started posting pics from that day in Wikimedia Commons. Folkston may be iffy at this point due to the nationwide railroad strike. So is one part of my itinerary for the NYC Area trip, but that's not necessarily cancelled.
I just bought a 2019 Subaru Outback and wanna use the most out of it. Before the year ends, I do intend on going up to Maine. Do you guys have any suggestions for things to do up there?
Quote from: MaddogMicharski on September 19, 2022, 04:22:33 PM
I just bought a 2019 Subaru Outback and wanna use the most out of it. Before the year ends, I do intend on going up to Maine. Do you guys have any suggestions for things to do up there?
Acadia NP is worth it if you've never been.
I would also highly recommend Schoodic Peninsula, the eastern portion of the park. It's about an hour away from the main part of the park by road, but more remote, less crowded, and equally scenic with good views of Cadillac Mountain from Schoodic Point (and really good blueberry soft serve at the end of the park loop road).
Quote from: MaddogMicharski on September 19, 2022, 04:22:33 PM
I just bought a 2019 Subaru Outback and wanna use the most out of it. Before the year ends, I do intend on going up to Maine. Do you guys have any suggestions for things to do up there?
Another good one, go to the Rangeley Lakes region if you can. There's some good camping spots up there. Also if you've never been, check out Portland. I personally loved my visit up to the city and want to go back soon. I'd highly recommend Portland Lobster Company for good seafood, and make sure to stop at the Holy Donut.
Bad news on the visit to my home state; The relatives I stay with when I'm up there have told me not to come to the city.
Apparently, crime has become so bad, that they don't even feel safe on their own street, and this in Bayside.
This sucks for me, because last month I mailed all my MetroCards up to the MTA to be merged, and I'm sure they'll expire sometime next year.