Road Trip West to East!

[mousireid]

Hi all, we are a family of four (DH, DD 4yrs, DS 7yrs and me!) and we are driving across country from Ventura County to Melbourne, FL June 13 until ? I would like to know if there are any MUST SEES en route. It seems like a big question but planning this cross country trip is baffling. For example we would like to drive at least six hours a day BUT want to take a few hours to visit something every day that will hold interest for the kids and we will factor in meals/bathroom breaks/gas stops too.
The first day we would like to make it over the border of AZ BUT where to stay? Phoeniz area may be too ambitious? What do you think? has anyone else done a similar trip and have any tips? I am not familiar with the Southern Route at all I appreciate any and all comments and tips.
Thank you!

[mousireid]

Okay I pretty much mapped out our route and would really appreciate some help!
Oxnard to Kingman, AZ
to Moriarty, NM
to Wichita Falls, TX
to Clinton, MS
to Jacksonville
Can anyone help with any interesting aldnmarks/family orientated things to do along the way?
Cheers!

[ScooterL]

I did east to west some years ago, but we mostly were on I10 all the way so didn't stop in any of the places that you are planning. Interesting places we stopped were Painted Desert, Carlsbad Caverns (side trip), the Alamo in San Antonio, Johnson Space Center in Houston, French Quarter in New Orleans, and the airplane museum at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. We were kind of in a hurry, so we didn't stop very long at these places - 4 hours at the most, and most of them were 2 hours or less. We still managed to see a lot, though.

[scooby9932]

I, too, am in the process of planning a cross-country trip - from Louisiana to California & back. It's my daughter's 21st birthday present next year.

We'll be going a different route to California (north to Dallas & then picking up Old Rte 66 in OK & on to the Grand Canyon). On the way back, we will be following the I-10 (Southern) route. We're also driving the Coast Highway 1 while in California & spending a day at DL. Whew! It's quite a trip. Luckily, I love planning!

I have found two web sites that have really helped me in planning.

RandMcNally - you can sign in for free & use their trip planning tools. It's helped me find alternate routes/daily destinations along the way to accomodate the side trips I knew I wanted to make.

A great site listing fun stops along the way is:
Road Trip USA

I hope those help you. Happy planning!

[eduk8r26]

Hi, I'm in Ventura. I've driven west to east a few times. Kingman isn't very big, but you should find some decent motels there. There's an old-time ice cream place we stopped at, also Cracker Barrel--one of my favorite places to eat. Sounds like you're going on I-40. New Mexico is Indian country. I remember stopping off the freeway for Indian fry bread. They were just parked on the side of the road cooking it out of the back of a truck. But it was so good!! Oklahoma City had the Federal building memorial. Your kids are probably too young for it, but it was pretty impressive anyway. If you are dropping down to I-10, the only thing I remember was the Alamo in San Antonio and Riverwalk, and New Orleans. Other than that, driving across southern Texas was pretty boring.

[Silly Little Pixie]

We're doing a drive from California to Tennessee and back this summer. Driving straight through on the way out, stopping at various sites and staying at the Grand Canyon on the way back. With 2 kids and a Labrador! I second the roadtrip america site. I love this one too:


http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

Fun and funky stuff. Love the maps! We've never done a roadtrip of this length with the kids. I have fond memories though of a Ca-to-FL one I did at the same age as my kids, with my grandparents one summer. Have fun on your trip!!!