Thread: Our next jaunt accros the States.

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Since we've retired we've planned to do at least one overseas trip every year.
Last year we 'did' Scotland, and were planning to 'do' the Orkney Islands this year...there's an awful lot of history there, a lot of it from 2,500 years ago.

But a month or so ago when we started looking to organise it, found we'd left it too late!
The Orkneys are relatively small, and you can't just bowl up expecting to get a bed; all accommodation for the tourist season (August / December) has to be booked at least twelve months in advance.
Bugger!

Back to the drawing board.

So...it was mooted we do another USA trip, this time from Oklahoma, perhaps Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The last trip we did (Route 66,) around 60% of it was from ideas we'd gleaned from you guys on CHR; you fellas know your own country better than we do.

With that in mind; anybody got any bright ideas about 'must see' museums and points of interest along the way?

Thanks.

jb and She Who Must Be Obeyed.

If you're going to be in Indiana, I would urge you to make the U.S. Nationals event at Indianapolis.....
"Highlighting the schedule once again in 2015 will be the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the world’s most prestigious drag race, at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2-7."

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Have you bracketed the timing of the trip yet, and is there a particular focus for this trip? Are you wanting to see automobile & transportation related things, or US history since you're heading to PA/NY and the cradle of democracy?

The timing will be (approximately) 22nd August to 26th September.

We're interested in machinery of all shapes, sizes, and types; from the old single cylinder 'hit and miss' stationary motors through hot-rods to trucks and agricultural machinery of most types.

I've spent all my life driving (and owning,) trucks of all types, I've driven (and owned,) bulldozers, tractors, and drain-diggers too. (Tracked back-hoes I think you call them.)
Aviation and nautical are about the only fields of machinery we've not been involved with.

We also have an interest in history, from the stone age (hence the interest in the Orkneys,) through to the fifties and sixties.

So museums in general are high on our priority list, as well as car / machinery collections and events.

SWMBO enjoys department stores and fabric / clothes shops. (I sit in the car with a book.)

Scenery too comes into the equation...but not so much if I have to walk too far! I'm old and fat and lazy.

So our interests are pretty broad...

Originally Posted by rspears

heading to PA/NY and the cradle of democracy?

I take it you're being facetious?

Didn't the ancient Greeks and Romans have some input into democracy too?

And wasn't New Zealand the first country to introduce Universal Suffrage?

Here's one you can check out Steam-O-Rama | September 11th – 14th 2014
If you travel on I-70 through Illinois and Indiana be prepared for for road construction mainly in Illinois though I-70 through Indianapolis is a mess and after this harsh winter it wouldn't surprise me if there was major road work in that area.
When you go through Ohio I-70 passes through the northern part of Dayton and Dayton was once a leading manufacturing center, Delco-Moraine,NCR (National Cash Register), printing and tool and die. This will tell you more Home - Dayton History
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is also right off I-70 at Dayton and it has a large museum of vintage aircraft and it's my understanding that it contains artifacts from Roswell, N. M. though I doubt they are on public display. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base - Home
Most of The National Road (US 40) still exists through much of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and though not as famous as The Mother Road (Route 66) it is rather quaint and in much better condition than Route 66. National Road - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John if you can back it up a week til after Labor Day(last summer holiday and school start ) , you will miss a lot traffic on the roads and still have good weather plus won't be so hot as end of August--------
I had written out a pretty good scenero yesterday but couldn't get it posted before site crashed-------I'll try again later

Originally Posted by johnboy

I take it you're being facetious?

Didn't the ancient Greeks and Romans have some input into democracy too?

And wasn't New Zealand the first country to introduce Universal Suffrage?

Probably should have clarified it's the cradle of our democracy. Put into perspective, we only have about 250 years of history free of British rule, and only about 500 years from the first non-native Americans setting foot on the soil so we're the kids on the block....

Originally Posted by rspears

Probably should have clarified it's the cradle of our democracy. Put into perspective, we only have about 250 years of history free of British rule, and only about 500 years from the first non-native Americans setting foot on the soil so we're the kids on the block....

To use 34_40's term: 'I was poking the bear.'

Thanks for the headsup...all food for thought.

I would second the motion for the Air Museum at Wright - Patterson, been twice and I could go back for more!
And the National Road was great too. If you're not in a rush it was a lot of fun to stop and see "stuff" along the way.

JB.. I've noted you are very good at "poking the bear"! Good Job!

Start at Houston-Nasa
New Orleans
Mobile Al Battleship Alabama , submarine, CIA stealth plane(kinda like sr71)
Then North to Mongomery,Birmingham, Talladega(Nascar) Huntsville (space stuff) Nashville(Grand Ole Oprey) or
North from New Orleans up the Mississippi River to Mempis (Music-Blues Jazz) also Civil war battlefields then to Nashville
North to Bowling Green Corvette museum and factory ture on north Louisville and the n on to Indy for Indy 500 Museum then east toward Dayton Ohio for Wright Patterson Air Force Museum then north again toward Detroit for motor car stuff, east (maybe even thru Canada)toward Niagra Falls, further east toward Boston for all the early pilgrim stuff and the Paul Revere ride (visit cemetery) have some north atlantic lobster to compare with yours (could make the trip tax deductible??) then down to New York City for stuff there and on south Gettysburg battle field/cemetery, Philidelphia for Liberty Bell crack, side trip toAtlantic City(casinos/shows) then on to Washington DC, either by ferry boat or back tracking a little --------see the sites/museums/monuments----------then work your way down the east coast or go inland a little and do Applilation trail, blue ridge mountains, but work your way to the Kennedy Space center at Cape Canaveral, go inland towards Orlando for Disneyland and a little further to Ocala for Don Garlits Museum then soth on I 75 down the west side of florida to Naples and then east thru the Everglades over to Miami and maybe do some of the Keys but depart from Miami and on return toward home get stops in Rio , San Palo, Buenos Aires,Santiago,Chile and across lower Pacific homeward bound-----and leaving Miami, get a window seat so you can see Cuba-----I'm tired, must be jet lag

Originally Posted by 34_40

I would second the motion for the Air Museum at Wright - Patterson, been twice and I could go back for more!
And the National Road was great too. If you're not in a rush it was a lot of fun to stop and see "stuff" along the way.

JB.. I've noted you are very good at "poking the bear"! Good Job!

Thanks.
I think.

And thanks people for the information.
I can see I'm going to have to spend some time sitting with maps and coloured pencils.
And please keep your thoughts and ideas flowing...there's no such thing as too much information; and it is appreciated

Sorry John but the Santiago to Auckland flights don't start til December-maybe some other place

Originally Posted by johnboy

Thanks.
I think.

And thanks people for the information.
I can see I'm going to have to spend some time sitting with maps and coloured pencils.
And please keep your thoughts and ideas flowing...there's no such thing as too much information; and it is appreciated

Since you've already established that you plan to begin the "road trip" portion of your trip in Oklahoma heading towards the northeast you need to decide what regions of the widespread US you want to see. One could make the loop across Arkansas/Missouri, down through the central south of Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia, and on up; or one could head more northern towards the great lakes region, skirting Canada as you wander into the Boston/New Hampshire/Vermont area. For me, I wouldn't even think about flying out of New York, considering that you're on a road trip. Instead I would think about perhaps BWI, Philly, Boston Logan, or one of the other major hubs in that region. Just a thought, considering your love for huge metropolitan areas with skyscrapers....