Who can help with a route across the US

[Jack P.]

Hi,

As some of you may know, I am embarking on a trip next summer to visit all 48 states and in the process, meet owners of corvettes for more than 30 years give or take a few years.

Here is the challenge. As I put more and more pins on my map with people and cars to see, I keep saying to members " I can do that " I will be there " well. How do it I do it?

Can some one out there who is good at logistics and planning, put a simple point to point route that will take me to every state, ( I don't need roads yet , just general lines ) that will efficiently get me from Maine , across the northern haft of country (mid west) , to the Northwest, then West Coast, South West- Southern haft of country (mid south) South, South East, Mid- Atlantic and back to New England. This route would allow me to make all the side trips to make stops. I plan to use blue highways more then interstates if possible. 2 to 3 months depending on number of visits and time spent. Me , car, tent, laptop, golf clubs, cushion for my rear end.

I would really appreciate the help.

Jack

[Terry D.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

Jack
Any AAA could do that for you.
Terry

[Terry D.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

Jack
Google 49 states in 9 days, it's about a guy who drove thru 49 states in 9 days to raise money, maybe you could duplicate his route.
Terry

[Paul J.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

Jack:

There are obviously a lot of ways to approach this. From the logistics standpoint, I would look at the pins in my map and draw the lines to them. I would then alter those lines to include the sightseeing attractions on the trip. I don't think that you can avoid some zig-zagging.

I would then expand on Terry's suggestion and go to the internet and look at trips across the USA, as well as the Harley Davidson Road Atlas. There is a lot of help with Route 66, which I think you wanted to try to include some of that route. There is a lot on the internet, but I would also talk to Mike Andresen (who toured Route 66 with his son), our Dutch friends (Rob Musquetier?) who just traveled that route with side trips this summer, and Stewy Allison who is planning a cross country trip next year.

Then it's just a matter of trying to smooth all of this into the most direct route possible, then working out the travel times, motels, etc. It's quite a task and you might want to look at breaking the trip into sections like western and north central US one year, south central US and the east coast the next, or something like that. This would make the zig-zagging more managable.

Quite a planning assignment.

Paul

[Michael J.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

I think if you want an interesting trip and not just punching your card you need to look at what parts of each state you travel through. In some states it is fine to nip a corner (I won't name them of course), not much to see anyway, but others have distinctly beautiful parts you would want to drive through. For instance in my state, New Mexico, US 64 is the premier road through, the best scenery by far. The Porsche Club of America named it one of the top 5 roads in America to travel, and not just in a Porsche!

[Alan S.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

Hi Jack,
I think it would be interesting to hear some suggestions from folks about adding especially interesting segents to the route you might follow.
For example there's a historic, LARGE, car ferry, the Badger, that crosses Lake Michigan from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowac, Wisconsin. It's probably about 50 miles and would get you to both states for a good reason even if there are no candidates for your research there.
Regards,
Alan

[David H.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

In 1998, Iron Butt (motorcycle) rider Ron Ayres rode to 48 states in 6 days, 0 hours and 5 minutes (record). Ron continued the ride adding going on to Hyder, Alaska to establish a new 49 state record of 7 days, 0 hours and 20 minutes.

http://www.ironbutt.com/ridecerts/getdocument.cfm?DocID=14

Me, I would take a little time to stop and smell the roses!

[Jack P.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

Jack:

There are obviously a lot of ways to approach this. From the logistics standpoint, I would look at the pins in my map and draw the lines to them. I would then alter those lines to include the sightseeing attractions on the trip. I don't think that you can avoid some zig-zagging.

I would then expand on Terry's suggestion and go to the internet and look at trips across the USA, as well as the Harley Davidson Road Atlas. There is a lot of help with Route 66, which I think you wanted to try to include some of that route. There is a lot on the internet, but I would also talk to Mike Andresen (who toured Route 66 with his son), our Dutch friends (Rob Musquetier?) who just traveled that route with side trips this summer, and Stewy Allison who is planning a cross country trip next year.

Then it's just a matter of trying to smooth all of this into the most direct route possible, then working out the travel times, motels, etc. It's quite a task and you might want to look at breaking the trip into sections like western and north central US one year, south central US and the east coast the next, or something like that. This would make the zig-zagging more managable.

Quite a planning assignment.

Paul

You sound like a man with a plan. My plan has to make do with three months. I have looked up the other trips and they have been helpful. I think the most fun is having members contact me and I keep saying I will be there and after saying to myself, "how am I going to do that " . I just love the challenge. And, I hope to meet many others, who's love for their car has lasted all these years, through think and thin.

Quite a love story.

Jack

[Jack P.]

Re: Who can help with a route across the US

I use a program called Microsoft Streets and Maps. I won it at one of my early NCRS Regionals in 2006. (Vancouver, WA). I use it to plan every trip. I drive to every NCRS event that I attend, and that's most of the Regionals each year. I've logged over 125K miles since I began this gig.

I highly recommend this program for planning this trip. It will perform your task perfectly. It will figure out the route, you can specify to use secondary roads, etc. It's easy to add and delete stops. You can probably find it online for dirt-cheap, as it's been out awhile.

I tried to upload a screen shot of what it can do, but the files are too big for this board. If you're interested, PM me your e-mail, and I'll send you some examples.

Sounds like a fun trip. Planning, and then flexibility while actually underway, are important aspects to a successful (fun) experience.

Dave

He Dave, Thanks for offer. PM with details and your location for my trip.

See map. Yes the logistics of the trip are becoming a challenge. I will still have fun and meet a heck of a lot on nice people.

Jack

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110318877041699050244.00047a67806bb1482cf37&ll=39.774769,-95.888672&spn=30.465405,86.044922&z=4