My wife has a convention near St. Louis this October (the Hollywood Casino and Hotel in Maryland Heights, Missouri, to be precise). To my overall surprise, she is willing to drive out and back provided I agree to several other stops en route. Perhaps she realized since we drive to Florida all the time this wouldn't be so terribly different distance-wise, as the hotel is maybe 15 miles further from home than her sister's house.
I immediately noted the opportunities to (a) clinch I-64 since I haven't travelled any of it west of Clifton Forge but have gotten everything east of there and (b) knock two more states off my list of unvisited ones (Kentucky and Indiana). The I-64 bit would basically entail driving all of said route west of I-81, although I haven't decided whether it's to be the eastbound trip or the westbound trip via that route.
The trip in the other direction will be constrained by her desire to visit three friends she doesn't see often, one in St. Louis, one in Dayton, and one in Indianapolis. (The Indianapolis stop strikes me as an opportunity to go see the Speedway Museum.) She also wants to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, to which I agreed provided we also go to Canton to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I had tried to figure out an itinerary to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and clinch Route 401 in the process, but it's simply too far out of the way, and the latest reports of CBP hassling people about mobile phones at the border caused my wife to react quite negatively.
Assuming we visit all those stops westbound (using that direction solely for convenience simply because I find it easier to visualize it in my head going westbound), my thought is something like this:
(1) I-66 west to Front Royal, exit there to finish the last segment of VA-55 west to I-81 to connect to US-48 to Corridor H west to drive the newer portions that have opened since my last trip. Continue west on US-219. Undecided whether just to follow the future Corridor H route to I-79 near Weston or whether to cut northwest through Philippi with its covered bridge.
(2) Either way, then take Corridor D (US-50) west to I-77. I-77 north to Canton. Probably stop for the night around there. Next day, visit the football hall of fame, then on to Cleveland. Stop for the night and then visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Am I estimating too much time for these activities? I've been to Cleveland one time, flew up there on a day trip in May 1998 for a job interview, so I have no feel for that area whatsoever.)
(3) Then drive down I-71 to Columbus and west on I-70 to Dayton. Visit her friend there. I can't think of anything interesting to see or do in Dayton unless I just want to go out and clinch I-675 or something. I'm sure we will have to stop at the cemetery on Dixie Drive where my wife's parents are buried.
(4) Continue west on I-70 to Indianapolis. Visit her friend there and go tour the Speedway.
(5) Then continue west on I-70 to the convention site near St. Louis. While she's at the convention I plan to tour the main sights in the city, the usual touristy stuff. We'll visit her friends there at some point.
(6) The trip the other way would be a pretty simple route of I-64 the entire way to I-81, then whatever route home sounds good at the time. We'll probably stop in Louisville because she went there for the same convention a few years ago and liked the city and said I should visit various places, though I don't remember what she recommended.
Long way of leading up to my questions:
(a) Anyone have any thoughts on the east- versus westbound aspect? I suppose one thought I had is that the I-64 part might be better westbound because of my overall dislike of, and boredom with, I-81 in Virginia—if we use Corridor H coming eastbound, we avoid the negative experience of I-81 coming at the end of the drive.
(b) Anything of particular interest I ought to try to see along the way? I note from the map it wouldn't be terribly difficult to use US-60 and US-19 to see the New River Gorge bridge, but I also note that doing that would probably mean sacrificing the I-64 clinch and that might be one of those annoying things that nags at me (sort of like how I have a missing piece of I-70 in Wheeling). I see there's also that piece of the Coalfields Expressway near Beckley, but since it doesn't go anywhere I doubt I'd go out of the way. As I say, I have never been to Kentucky at all, so I really have no idea what might be of interest out there. Some of the oddities like Kentucky Bend are probably too far out of the way.
(c) Clinches of I-70 or I-77 or I-71 are not in the cards at this time, so road-related detours and the like are probably more palatable on the "Cleveland/Dayton/Indianapolis leg" than on the "I-64 leg" if there's anything anyone can suggest.
Thanks in advance.