Family,  Travel

The Perfect American Road Trip Route

We have 3 more days to prepare for this epic family adventure!

Three years ago I found Randy Olson’s computed optimal road trip route to see the entire US for 2-3 months for the Discovery News. I shared this post with my husband without expecting anything. It was just a ‘hey look I think this is cool’ type of sharing. What was I thinking?! My husband loves to live on the edge, to go on adventures and to keep adding things to his bucket list.

He told me that he wanted to do a 2 month US road trip in 2016 but I told him that we couldn’t afford to take the summer off from work because we have to pay for our wedding. It was reasonable, so we went to a 3-week Asian trip during our vacation.

In 2017, I got pregnant and so I told him that we couldn’t afford not to work because we need to save for the baby. He agreed but we did a trial road trip. We drove to Vermont- Montreal, Canada- Quebec, Canada- Bar Harbor, Maine- New Hampshire- Connecticut and then back to New York.

We enjoyed the trip and agreed that 2018 will be the year that we’re going to check this off our bucket list.

Olson plotted his trip following 50 landmarks in America (scroll below to see the full list). We got inspired by this list and made our own route with the following information in mind:

  1. My husband is the only driver.
  2. We have a 7 month old baby who may get fussy from being strapped for a long time.
  3. We only have 2 months to do this trip.
  4. I really wanted to see the Banff National Park in Canada.

Ritchie made sure that each of our stop would only require 3-4 hours of driving.

Here’s the full list of our stops in order:

New York-Colorado (East to West Route)

  1. New York
  2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  3. Cleveland, Ohio
  4. Detroit, Michigan
  5. Fort Wayne, Indiana
  6. Indianapolis, Indiana
  7. Columbus, Ohio
  8. Cincinnati, Ohio
  9. Louisville, Kentucky
  10. Bowling Green, Kentucky
  11. Nashville, Tennessee
  12. West Baden Springs, Indiana
  13. Springfield, Illinois
  14. Louis, Missouri
  15. Kansas City, Missouri
  16. Leavenworth, Kansas
  17. Topeka, Kansas
  18. Omaha, Nebraska
  19. Des Moines, Iowa
  20. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  21. Spring Green, Wisconsin
  22. Madison Wisconsin
  23. Saint Paul, Minnesota
  24. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
  25. Royal, Nebraska
  26. Mitchell, South Dakota
  27. Keystone, South Dakota
  28. Dickinson, North Dakota
  29. Williston, North Dakota
  30. Billings, Montana
  31. Bozeman, Montana
  32. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
  33. Jackson, Wyoming
  34. Idaho Falls, Idaho
  35. Craters of the Moon National, Idaho
  36. Missoula, Montana
  37. West Glacier, Montana
  38. Calgary, Alberta, Canada
  39. Banff, Alberta, Canada
  40. Wapta Falls, British Columbia, Canada
  41. Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
  42. Spokane, Washington
  43. Leavenworth, Washington
  44. Snoqualmie, Washington
  45. Seattle, Washington
  46. Olympia, Washington
  47. Hood River, Oregon
  48. Portland, Oregon
  49. San Francisco, California
  50. Los Angeles, California
  51. San Diego, California
  52. Phoenix, Arizona
  53. Grand Canyon, Arizona
  54. Bryce Canyon, Utah
  55. Moab, Utah
  56. Denver, Colorado
  57. Colorado Springs, Colorado

New Mexico-New York (West to East Route)

  1. Santa Fe, New Mexico
  2. Carlsbad, New Mexico
  3. Marfa, Texas
  4. San Antonio, Texas
  5. Austin, Texas
  6. Sulphur, Oklahoma
  7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
  8. Scott, Arkansas
  9. Little Rock, Arkansas
  10. Vicksburg, Mississippi
  11. Jackson, Mississippi
  12. New Orleans, Lousiana
  13. Mobile, Alabama
  14. Pensacola, Florida
  15. Montgomery, Alabama
  16. Birmingham, Alabama
  17. Atlanta, Georgia
  18. Waycross, Georgia
  19. Jacksonville, Florida
  20. Savannah, Georgia
  21. Charleston, South Carolina
  22. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
  23. Raleigh, North Carolina
  24. Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
  25. Charleston, West Virginia
  26. Morgantown, West Virginia
  27. Mount Vernon, Virginia
  28. Annapolis, Maryland
  29. New Castle, Delaware
  30. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  31. New York, New York

We know that 2 months is not enough to explore and to really enjoy the entire United States of America which is why we are only going to focus on visiting the famous landmarks and national parks. Are we going to stay in one city for a whole day? for half a day? for 2 hours? Who knows… we are just going to wing it, do this trip and make memories as a family.

Is this really the perfect (US) American road trip route? Follow our journey by subscribing to our blog.

You can also follow our adventure through our facebook page, This Sunny Life and through our instagram account.

What’s your plan for this summer?

 

Here’s the full list of landmarks in order by Randy Olson:

  1. Grand Canyon, AZ
  2. Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
  3. Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID
  4. Yellowstone National Park, WY
  5. Pikes Peak, CO
  6. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
  7. The Alamo, TX
  8. The Platt Historic District, OK
  9. Toltec Mounds, AR
  10. Elvis Presley’s Graceland, TN
  11. Vicksburg National Military Park, MS
  12. French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
  13. USS Alabama, AL
  14. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL
  15. Okefenokee Swamp Park, GA
  16. Fort Sumter National Monument, SC
  17. Lost World Caverns, WV
  18. Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, NC
  19. Mount Vernon, VA
  20. White House, Washington, DC
  21. Colonial Annapolis Historic District, MD
  22. New Castle Historic District, Delaware
  23. Cape May Historic District, NJ
  24. Liberty Bell, PA
  25. Statue of Liberty, NY
  26. The Mark Twain House & Museum, CT
  27. The Breakers, RI
  28. USS Constitution, MA
  29. Acadia National Park, ME
  30. Mount Washington Hotel, NH
  31. Shelburne Farms, VT
  32. Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
  33. Spring Grove Cemetery, OH
  34. Mammoth Cave National Park, KY
  35. West Baden Springs Hotel, IN
  36. Abraham Lincoln’s Home, IL
  37. Gateway Arch, MO
  38. C. W. Parker Carousel Museum, KS
  39. Terrace Hill Governor’s Mansion, IA
  40. Taliesin, WI
  41. Fort Snelling, MN
  42. Ashfall Fossil Bed, NE
  43. Mount Rushmore, SD
  44. Fort Union Trading Post, ND
  45. Glacier National Park, MT
  46. Hanford Site, WA
  47. Columbia River Highway, OR
  48. San Francisco Cable Cars, CA
  49. San Andreas Fault, CA
  50. Hoover Dam, NV

8 Comments

  • Leigh

    Wow! You guys are going to see a lot! I spent 4 months on the road last year, and covered only 1/2 that (basically from Colorado West) I finally settled in Arizona at the end and I would recommend skipping Phoenix and going straight to the Grand Canyon, Page or Sedona instead. I know, I hate when people give me unsolicited advice, especially when a trip is already planned. There’s just so much to see in Northern Arizona. I’ve got a whole road trip itinerary for just the northern half of the state!

  • Christine

    Wow. This sounds like a great trip. I wish i had 2 months off work to do a road trip like this. I’m sure it’s going to be exciting, especially with a baby!

  • Paula

    This sounds like so much fun and adventure! Would love to do this too someday. Living on the road has been a blessing before and I can’t wait to do it again!

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