What is a road trip you would love to take? – Bloganuary 2

Ooh, this is a good one! Buckle in, folks (pun definitely intended), here we go!

First of all, I LOVE road trips! The first road trip I remember is when my family did a round-trip adventure from Washington to Georgia and back, and from then I was hooked! I love getting to see so many things and places that I’ve only read about, makes everything seem more real. My brother and I were homeschooled, and therefore we were able to take our trip in September after everyone else was back in school!

Highlights of our first Georgia trip: seeing Mount Rushmore (smaller than I thought it would be); seeing antelope, prairie dogs, and wild horses; the Reptile Gardens in South Dakota; Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana; and weathering my first hurricane (Hurricane Ivan, Sept 2004). We were able to stop by so many cool places along the way, some of them planned and some of them spontaneous. Even though this trip was over 17 years ago our family still talks about it to this day!

I don’t think I have a specific road trip route in mind, I just want to explore all of the places I haven’t seen yet, which leaves me with quite a lot of opportunities! There are so many landmarks and destinations on my list, so I will need to make many, many road trips to see them all (oh darn!) Also, while solo trips can be fun, I really enjoy going on adventures with family and friends, so we’d need to all coordinate our schedules so we could go have some fun together!

Random road trips ideas / destinations I’d like to see:

• Ballast Key, FL – southern / southeastern tip of the contiguous US. I’ve been to Neah Bay, WA (northwestern tip), and now I’d like to visit the complete opposite. Maybe I’ll try to visit the other two corners, too!
• Route 66 – I’ve always wanted to road trip along Route 66 with Nathan (my twin). Just pick one end – either Chicago or LA – and drive along the route, exploring all the cool stuff along the way.
• All the US state capitols – I’ve been to a few already, but I think it would be really fun to get a pic on the steps of every state capitol building. Would definitely take a while to complete this challenge, but I’d still love to do it!
• Washington, DC – mainly, I’d like to visit all the Smithsonian Museums, but I’d also like to see all of the monuments and historical sites. I recently had a friend tell me that it’s better to stay just outside of DC and travel in to the city each day, and that you should plan to spend about a day in each of the museums. This wouldn’t be a quick trip, but it would be awesome!
• Atlantic Ocean – this isn’t a complicated one. I’ve never seen the Atlantic Ocean, and as a girl who loves the ocean, this is unacceptable! Once I find a good spot I’ll likely take many weekend trips to the ocean so I can relax in my happy place!
• Gulf Coast – again, haven’t seen it before, want to explore somewhere new. I hear that it’s quite nice, just have to go sometime that’s not hurricane season.
• Arizona – I’d like to see an entirely different landscape than what I’ve previously seen. I grew up with trees and mountains, and as childish as it sounds, I want to see desert and cacti!
• Family home towns – okay, this last one is a bit different; I want to see the places where my parents, grandparents, and other ancestors lived here in the US. This would incorporate multiple states and cities, but as a person who is really into genealogy, I think this would be a worthwhile trip. I can quite a few places nearby in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, so I’ll probably start there and expand my search as I am able.

I know that there are so many other places and destinations on my list, but these were the top ones that make to mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to plan my next adventure!