2025 Road Trip Plans

[Hunty2022]

I just started my newest trip of 2025, my second one leaving Virginia this year too.

I'm headed to Pittsburgh, PA tomorrow. Stopping in Somerset, PA for the night.
This will be my first time in Pennsylvania ever, my first time in Maryland since August 27, 2024, and my first time in West Virginia in about a decade.

[D-Dey65]

I'm afraid that I'm going to have to postpone many of the trips I mentioned in a previous post until 2026. I still want to make the St. Augustine via FL 19 trip though.

[D-Dey65]

Well, it looks like the St. Augustine trip is cancelled for 2025 too. I'll have to reschedule this for 2026.

[hbelkins]

Well, this year ended up being a bust for me trip-wise. I only made one out-of-state trip and very few in-state excursions.

[JayhawkCO]

Well, this year ended up being a bust for me trip-wise. I only made one out-of-state trip and very few in-state excursions.

I didn't leave Colorado by road. Thankfully had some good vacations/road trips in other states/countries despite that.

[jeffandnicole]

I had a skittish year driving - in late December 2024 I was hit by someone making an illegal left, then in October I had a deer run into me.  I made one road trip down to Florida that allowed me to complete a clinch of US 301 between DE and FL, but other than that it was an uneventful year for travel in general.

[gonealookin]

I didn't get more than about 500 miles from home this year in my own car.  Extreme points were:

North/Northeast:  Boise and Twin Falls
East:  Ogden and Salt Lake City
Southeast:  Lake Havasu City and Parker
South:  La Jolla
West:  Berkeley

That's 5 states I spent the night in (NV, ID, UT, AZ, CA) plus one more I only drove through (OR, on US 95 en route to Boise).

Fly and drive a rental car trips saw 8 states:  FL, TX, IL-IA, TN-AR-LA-MS.  Those last 4 states are ones I had never driven in or even entered, outside of changing planes in an airport.  PGA Tour tournaments were the main purpose of each of those trips.

One last state entered but with no driving (public transit or private shuttles only):  HI, for a total of 15 states visited in 2025.

[Max Rockatansky]

I think this was only the second time I've been in Mexico and Canada during the same year?  I didn't do a ton of out of state travel but I did knock off a bunch of haggard mountain roads from my wish list.  New Idria Road and Chowchilla Mountain Road were the coolest things I did during 2025.

[kphoger]

I didn't leave Colorado by road. Thankfully had some good vacations/road trips in other states/countries despite that.

I only technically left Kansas at all this year because we stayed on the Missouri side of the state line in KC.  On the other hand, that meant I drove across the state line several times this year...

[TheHighwayMan3561]

It's hard to believe my major trip for the year was 7 months ago already. I drove from MSP to San Diego via New Mexico, spent a couple days with a friend in Vegas, then back east to clinch I-8. I had a lot of amazing food in New Mexico, one of my favorite food states. I struggled with anxiety for a lot of the trip, but that ultimately nothing happened helped me largely let go of being searched by the police though I still think about that a couple times a week probably.

[JayhawkCO]

I didn't leave Colorado by road. Thankfully had some good vacations/road trips in other states/countries despite that.

I only technically left Kansas at all this year because we stayed on the Missouri side of the state line in KC.  On the other hand, that meant I drove across the state line several times this year...

I also drove across the KS/MO state line multiple times this year. I just flew to get there.

[formulanone]

For 2025, we went to Gulf Shores and Pensacola with family, and took two trips each to the Nashville and Birmingham areas for events as well; these are generally two-hour drives at most. Two more weekend getaways to Clarksville and Paris (Tennessee again) as well. With a daughter now in college, a lot of our other trips were in-state.

Work drives solo:
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Newnan, Georgia

Got a good bit of exploring on fly-and-drives as well.

[D-Dey65]

It seems like I did better than some of the people here, but not as good as I hoped.

My first big trip was in March. It was the Florida's Turnpike Service Area photography crusade.
My second trip was to Citrus County in April. Not good enough,
My third trip was the first SunRail trip via DeLand in May.
My fourth trip was Southwestern Levy County in June. Slightly further than Citrus County, but still not good enough.
My fifth trip was another SunRail trip via Poinciana, but before that I explored the freight railroads of eastern Hillsborough and western Polk County. That was in early August.
My sixth trip was in late August in eastern Hernando County and northern Pasco County. Not good enough.
My seventh trip was in November on the first day of the 2025 Dade City Bug Jam. It could've been good, but my camera was giving me too much trouble.

And there were so many others I wanted, but never got the chance to take. So, I'd say 2025 was less than I hoped for.

[pderocco]

I only did three significant trips in 2025, but I feel like they were pretty good. In May, I did a 4-day trip around AZ, clinching the remaining state highways. That included the Grand Canyon North Rim, which was worth the trip all by itself, and US-191 over the mountains. In July, I did a two week trip that clinched all of US-191 up to Canada, as well as US-491 (the rest of the old US-666), US-195, and US-189, plus a lot of roads in eastern UT and western CO. And in October, I took a two week trip to visit friends in MA, which included a six-day loop up to the north end of ME, clinching lots of local stuff including I-93, US-3, and many Connecticut River crossings.

Now I'm retired, so I expect to do a lot more this year. Other than a trip around CA, maybe checking out Lincoln Hwy and other historic stuff, I won't start in earnest until the late spring, when the mountains start to thaw and the days get long. I'll include another New England trip for sure, but most will be in the western 11 states and BC.

[Max Rockatansky]

I have a pretty lengthy list of California roads to see in early 2026.  That might sound small but I was still out east heading 3-4 hours in any direction might get me through a couple states.  A lot of the dirt stuff I want to do likely will be close to impassable for about a month or two. 

I'm working on getting a new drone working.  I intend to get it down the Hites Cove Stage Road (now OHV road) so I can launch it over the South Form Merced River to the Hites Cove town site. 

[pderocco]

I have a pretty lengthy list of California roads to see in early 2026.  That might sound small but I was still out east heading 3-4 hours in any direction might get me through a couple states.  A lot of the dirt stuff I want to do likely will be close to impassable for about a month or two. 

I'm working on getting a new drone working.  I intend to get it down the Hites Cove Stage Road (now OHV road) so I can launch it over the South Form Merced River to the Hites Cove town site. 

That sounds interesting. But will RC work over that high ridge? Or can your drone follow a planned route, and take pix at specified places?

[Max Rockatansky]

I have a pretty lengthy list of California roads to see in early 2026.  That might sound small but I was still out east heading 3-4 hours in any direction might get me through a couple states.  A lot of the dirt stuff I want to do likely will be close to impassable for about a month or two. 

I'm working on getting a new drone working.  I intend to get it down the Hites Cove Stage Road (now OHV road) so I can launch it over the South Form Merced River to the Hites Cove town site. 

That sounds interesting. But will RC work over that high ridge? Or can your drone follow a planned route, and take pix at specified places?

No idea, I was hoping it just worked.  Four miles uphill at the start of the OHV corridor has very pretty good reception (scouted it a couple months back).  My alternative idea is just ford the river on foot and pack a change of clothes.