Doing some driving this summer and need suggestions.

[katiedobe]

Hey folks, Jacqui and I are driving the camper all over the USA this summer. Would love some suggestions of what not to miss in these areas.
Here is the rudimentery trip, picture a map of the usa in your head.
Leaving Portland OR we will drive to Bozeman, then down to yellowstone, then across the northern route through the badlands to Wisconsin, then down to Little Rock via Memphis, then to Baton Rouge, then across the southern US to Gainsville. We will visit a friend of mine who is involved in a budding woodenboat building program associated with the St Augustine Lighthouse. In early Sept we will leave from Florida and FLY north to Boston then Train to Rockport Mass, from Rockport one of our friends we are meeting in Rockport will drive us up to their home in Portland, Maine. After a week or two there back to Florida, then across to Baton Rouge (to pick up the dropped off utility trailer) then Through Texas and back to Mexico.

So suggestions of what I MUST see is solicited. I don't mind driving side roads and am really looking for highway suggestions that take me to these places that keep me off the interstate. We are traveling in my Ford pickup with a camper hauling a 25 foot utility trailer. Inside the trailer will be lots of things for our Mexico home but also the 18' Chrysler Buccaneer sailboat that can be pulled out and launched at any body of water that would be good for sailing along the way.

Any suggestions will be kindly appreciated.
Thanks

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

sounds like a heck of a trip, enjoy!

Going to Bozeman, you're probably going to take I90, so, you'd be pretty well North of Macall Lake in Idaho, but, it is a really pretty place and great fishing. I think I90 goes through Cour de Lane, and there are lakes there too, might be worth a stop.

Yellowstone, of course, but afterwards, you might want to spend a night in Jackson Hole and visit the "Million Dollar Bar", which has silver dollars embedded in the bar (doubt there are actually a million of them). Jackson's a great place.

Madison Wisconsin is a great place, big college town, with water nearby.

Stop anywhere along the Mississippi River to get some good river catfish for lunch. Memphis is fun, particularly around Beal St.

I stayed at a great campground near Little Rock, maybe Pinnacle Mountain State Park?

A mile or two South of Rockport Ma is Cape Anne near Glouchester, one of the nicest beaches in the North East. There is a fairly inexpensive motor inne right on the beach there.

Enjoy the micro-breweries in Portland. Since you'll be in Maine for some time, try to take a day to go north a couple of hours to Port Clyde, then take the ferry over to Monhegan Island for the afternoon.

Or, go a little further north to Camden. Picture postcard Maine town.

On the way back down from Maine, if you drive through MA again, take 495 and then get off on highway 2 and drive West to Concord MA. Cute town, lots of history, but be sure to stop out at Walden Pond.

Of course, a stop in Mystic CT and/or Newport RI and/or Bristol RI (for the Herreschoff museum which I haven't been to yet, but I'm sure to love).

Have fun!

[Thorne]

Well, if you've never see Glacier Park in MT, that is well worth the drive. Don't know about towing a trailer over the Going To The Sun Road...might be worth dropping it off outside the park and looping back for it.

If you really like backroads travel, head up the west side of Glacier through Polebridge -- which consists of a restaurant/saloon (recommended) and a gas-station/postoffice -- and hit one of the lakes. This is serious Grizzly country, hard-sided camping only in most places.

Flathead Lake is on the way from I90 to Glacier, reported to provide nice sailing. There is a Catholic church/mission at the south end of the lake, I think Poulson, with some lovely Italian painting on the walls.

[Bruce Hooke]

It might help to say a bit about the kinds of things you like to see and do. We know you like boats, but beyond that do you like modern art or old bars, bright lights and city life or remote wilderness areas (not that any of these needs to be exclusive)?

That said, you will not be far from the Buffalo River in Northern Arkansas, which is a wonderful canoing river, but may be a bit low by the time you get there -- talk to the local outfitters and ask about how to avoid the crowds that can apparently descend on this area on a nice summer weekend. I've only gone there in spring when I had great water levels and saw only 1 or 2 people every couple of days.

While you are in the Portland, OR area it would seem well worth while to get the last 75 miles or so to the Pacific coast. The nearest I've been to that area is a bit further north on the coast of Washington, near La Push, but I'm sure there are some beautiful areas down on the Oregon coast.

On a totally different tack, if you like art you should pay a visit to the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in the Twin Cities.

[The Bigfella]

The Smithsonian museums in Washington are a MUST SEE. I've only "done" the natural history and aviation buildings - but they alone were worth the trip.

[ahp]

We were members for many years of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club, in Rockport. It is a great yacht club, but Rockport itself is sort of a cutsie tourist trap. You can always look at the famous lobster shack, which has been on many calanders, but it is not original. A Noreaster to end all Noreaster took out the original about 1975.

[dmg]

I don't know when you will be in Wis., but a little farther East, the first Sat. in Aug. is the "Boats on The Boardwalk show in Traverse City, Mi., The following Sat. is the wooden boat show at Hessel, Mi., one of the largest in the midwest.

Added plus is all the things to see in the U.P.

Dave

[katiedobe]

Great Suggestions. I have already driven the "going to the sun" road. It was amazing. Got to stop and watch mountain goats play on the hillside.

I love Art and local history, Jacqui is not only a Naturopathic Physician but as a B.A. in anthropology so history of people and where and how they lived is important to her.

Beautiful scenery roads are what I am looking for. I am not going to do I-90 into to Missoula. We are going to go up from LaGrande, OR on a NE track and hook into Hwy 12 and go through Lolo Pass and down into Lolo Montana. Couple of good hotsprings there.

I was born and raised in Portland OR so I am definitely going down to the coast to go crabbing. I love to crab from a sailboat. Gives me something to do while the crab pots are filling up. And turns heads too.

The Smithsthonian is a trip in the future, not this time. We may be able to swing that boat show in MI though.

What else to do in or near Portland Maine?

[JTA]

...what not to miss in these areas...

...Little Rock via Memphis...
...18' Chrysler Buccaneer sailboat...

Try Pickwick Lake, very pretty. In the corner of TN, MS, and AL.
Pickwick (http://www.tva.gov/sites/pickwick.htm)


...then across the southern US to Gainsville... ..MUST see..

Me, my wife and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Drop me a note when you get this way and I will give you a tour.

Jack

[Bruce Hooke]

Just a bit up the road from Portland, Maine is the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, which is an excellent museum.

If you have time while you are in the Boston area there many great art and history museums scattered about the greater Boston metro area. Some of my favorites are:

The Museum of Fine Art, Boston
The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Fuller Craft Museum
The Peabody-Essex Museum

If you haven't been to Boston before it is also worth just walking the historic "trails" in downtown Boston that take you to various landmarks that played an important role in the founding of this nation.

If you want to check out the contemporary art scene you can also take a stroll down Newbury St. and check out what's in the galleries.

It looks like there are some good exhibits up at the Portland Museum of Art now too...

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

Portland Maine has a pretty good waterfront area, so, nice restaurants and shops.

You might be able to hook up with one of the Maine Windjammers:

http://sailmainecoast.com/

Take a few days and crew on one of them while cruising around a great sailing area.

If you travel North, you can visit Blue Hill Maine, another picture postcard town... I think Paul Stucky, of Peter, Paul and Mary came from there. Further on is Arcadia National Park, and you can rent kayaks, paddle out and camp on certain islands.

If you drive to Conway New Hampshire, you can rent canoes on the Sacco river, and spend a couple of days paddling 20 miles across the boarder into Maine.

Depending on the time of year that you're there, there is a road-trip that loops from Upper Vermont into New Hampshire and possibly Maine that is pretty famous for the fall foliage views. Still a very scenic route no matter the time of year.

[River Sailor]

If you have the time on the tail end of the trip keep going through Texas to New Mexico and check out the Pueblo cultures of the Native Americans. There are about 12 Pueblos IIRC and any of them would be great. Taos and Acoma come to mind.

Jacqui will be delighted. But even more, you HAVE to go to Chaco Canyon. As an anthropologist, Chaco will be worth the entire trip. Seeing the native culture as it existed from 800 to 1200, the structures they built and their relationship to their natural surroundings — especially to the night sky and solstice and equinox markers on the sandstone canyons as well as all the rock art, well, it just doesn't get much better. You can camp there, too.

One of my favorite places on the entire planet!

Shoot me an email, Jimmy, my best friend is a Park Service interpreter there and I can set you up.

Also, in Camden Maine, take the drive up the mountain behind town and spend some time gazing out at the scores of exquisite islands scattered throughout Penobscot Bay.

John

[katiedobe]

Thanks, those ideas sound great and I will be contacting people who invited me to.
Keep the ideas coming, this is a once in a lifetime expedition for me and I want to see the off the beaten path things. The "real USA". (that is a joke about the people who want to come to Mexico and see the "real" Mexico).

[Spokaloo]

Okay, a little deviation:

From Pendleton, OR, go north to Walla Walla, where the Columbia river watershed has become world renown for its wines. Many vineyards to see and sample.

Continue due east on hwy 12 from Wallyworld to Dayton, Wa (hometown to half of my family), beautiful area through rolling farmland. From there stay on hwy 12 all the way into Lewiston/Clarkston. Skip the LaGrande leg, your just adding mileage in the desert. Lewiston is obviously the Lolo Pass jumpoff point.

Take some photos too! Im from Salem, lived in Dayton, Bozeman, Hood River, and now Spokane.

Your also more than welcome to come up to our place just north of Spokane and put your boat out on the dock for a night on Long Lake.

E

[katiedobe]

Thanks Spookaloo. We just might visit you. I will PM you if I do plan to make it through there.

[J P]

Idaho does have some wonderful hot springs. Have you driven highway 12 before?

http://www.idahohotsprings.com/destinations/stanley/index.htm

http://www.idahohotsprings.com/destinations/weir_creek/index.htm

http://www.idahohotsprings.com/destinations/jerry_johnson/index.htm


Bit of a coyote trail through SW Montana … but, if you wanted to stay off I-90:

You could head south on Hwy. 93 out of Lolo. Town of Hamilton is about 30 miles. Good food there at the Spice of Life restaurant, good beer at the Bitterroot Brewery. Another 12 miles south from Hamilton, and a couple miles west off 93, is pretty little Lake Como. It’s sailable now but the water level is dropping fast. It’s been a hot, dry, and now smoky, summer.

Keep going south on 93 to the Idaho border and head east on 43 to the Big Hole valley. Point of interest there might be the Big Hole National Battlefield.
http://www.nps.gov/biho/ (http://www.nps.gov/biho/)
It might be fun to be reading “Tough Trip through Paradise, 1878-1879” by Andrew Garcia. He traveled the area and married (?) a Nez Perce gal who survived the massacre at the Big Hole.

At the little town of Wisdom you could go either north on 43 or south on 278 to get around the Pioneer Mountains. Either way is scenic. South takes you through Jackson, MT where there is a ‘developed’ hot spring. There’s a pool, bar, funky guest cabins, and the restaurant used to have pretty good food. It’s been a while since I’ve been there. Further on is the ghost town of Bannack and then the town of Dillon. From there you could wander east, maybe up Hwy 41 to Hwy 287 into Ennis, then head south through the Madison valley on 287 to Hebgen lake. Maybe go for a sail. Then to West Yellowstone and into the park and Yellowstone Lake. From there maybe on to Bighorn Lake?

Have a great trip!

[Concordia...41]

:cool: When I clicked on your post, I was hoping your trip would bring you this way.

That's a heck of a trip, but in addition to the lighthouse, our fort is not to be missed either.

Let me know when you'll be in this area. I love to show off our town and as Hugh, Frank, and some others can attest, I give a tour far superior to the standard trolley ride. :D

If I have a boat available and you have time, a harbor tour can be arranged. :)

Seriously, some folks like the history, some folks like the water/boats, some folks want to shop. It matters not to me. I'm happy to meet a fellow Forumite and my tour can cater to your schedule, likes & dislikes.

Feel free to e-mail or PM me any time.

- Margo

[katiedobe]

Thanks I do plan to go to St Augustine. A friend of mine works at the lighthouse in some capacity that has to do with woodenboats. He told me he is not a member of this forum, but I think we can change that. So I will PM you when I know dates.

I may not be leaving as soon as we thought. Mom went back into the hospital last friday, second time in 10 days. Kidneys and heart. I don't know if she is going to be able to continue to live at home. It may be the end is coming for her. Anyway I am staying here until we know more.

I look forward to meeting all of you that I can on this trip.

[Jim Budde]

Across the top of the map, think about Little Big Horn, Carzy Horse and Mt Rushmore monuments ... all three quite interesting if you appreciate history and tenacity ... Little Big Horn being the history part, the other two tenacity that exceeds even wooden boat builders determination .. Crazy Horse still a work in progress

[DGentry]

Mmmm, road trips!
A couple of interesting places in southern Idaho - City of Rocks State Park, and the Craters of the Moon Nat Monument

Already mentioned was Jackson Hole, but be sure to see the Grand Tetons while there. You could sail . . . .

Absolutely not to be missed would be the Bear Tooth highway, just east of Yellowstone. http://a1608.g.akamai.net/7/1608/1365/bc10e786d38074/away.com/gifs/states/mt/bearsth.jpg.


Then there's Tensleep Canyon, WY, on the way further east.

Then Devil's Tower - also quite cool, and near to Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, et al.
All good climbing areas, btw.

Then a looong drive through the prairie and then the flatlands - get ready for the humidity, too!

Madison, WI, also previously mentioned, has a nice boating culture and fun sailing. Check out Devil's Lake, too, though give the rock climbing there a miss.
Arkansas: Check out Hot Springs (and read some about its wild history!), and there's plenty of sailing on the clear lake waters around there.

If I remember, Mobile, AL, has a big old battleship, etc, to tour. And some sailing could be had, too, on the bay.

In Florida, the redneck riviera of Panama City is alleviated by St. Andrews state park. Nice camping, and boating. You also might try getting down to Key West and toasting the sunset. Other than that, many of the state parks there are truly hidden gems, and will give you a totally different vision of the state. Beautiful and wild, for the most part.

DO visit Washington DC, while you are nearby, and see as many of the museums as you can, and, of course, the Lincoln Memorial.
Gettysburg, PA, also a cultural must.

In Maine, of course, you'll want to see Acadia Nat Park. Mt. Katahdin is A-OK, too, and the end of the road for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers.

I've done this road trip several times, though usually in stages...have fun!

Hope your Mom is OK.
Dave

[StevenBauer]

What else to do in or near Portland Maine?

I'll take you for a sail in Talisman. :)

There are a couple of Alden Schooners that take 2 hour sails in Casco Bay. When will you be in Portland?

Steven

[katiedobe]

Thanks for all the great tips. Mom is out of the hospital but I am not ready to depart yet. She may still take a turn for the worse.

Steven we will be in Portland Sept 10th or so to the 14th or so.
I would love to go for a sail on Talisman.
I will PM you when I get closer to an exact time and date.

[Krahling]

In Maine, with respect to art:

The Portland Museum of Art is excellent.
http://www.portlandmuseum.org/

Also worth seeing is the Farnsworth in Rockland, ME - particularly you enjoy the Wyeth family.
http://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/

Rich

[J P]

Lots of wildfire in Idaho and western Montana right now. I'm not sure when you're traveling, but if you haven't already been through, you might want to stay informed about the conditions ahead on your intended route. The east entrance to Yellowstone Park is currently closed. The smoke is at "unhealthy" levels in many areas and visiblity is not conducive to sight seeing. (Visibility is about a mile out of my window right now. Reminds me of the 2000 fire season.) You might want to just blast through on I-90. Or, come back later in the year.

Bring rain.

[katiedobe]

I want to thank everyone who offered to meet me and show me around their part of the USA. I also want to thank all those that gave me good suggestions as to driving roads.
I plan to resume this trip in the future. As of now I have to pause in Denver and fly home to help out my community.
See my latest post in Hurricane Dean thread for a first hand account of the coastline.

Thanks for everything and I will let you folks know more about what happens down in Bacalar, Mexico.

For photos go to www.bacalarmosaico.com

[TimH]

wow. who would have thought that grass roofs are stronger than concrete.

[katiedobe]

The grass roofs allow the wind to blow through. The concrete tries to resist.

[StevenBauer]

Sorry for your troubles, Jimmy. Let us know how things are going for you. See you when you resume your trip.

Steven

[katiedobe]

Thanks Steven, but in comparison to my friends and neighborks here in Bacalar I have no troubles at all. As I sit here in my house in less than one week after a force five hurricane came through town I have electricity, all roads in town are cleared of downed trees, the stores are open, and I am using the high speed internet from my house (land line DSL). Pretty amazing what Mexico can do when they put their mind to it.

We will be resuming our trip up north to the Boston and Portland, ME areas. We are going to fly directly from Cancun to Boston ($98 per person one way prior to taxes) and then after about 10 days up there
(the 7th to the 17th) we will fly directly to Denver and resume our driving trip. I will still be driving all the way to Florida (Jacqui's mom) and then back to Mexico.

So if you invited me to visit expect some PM's this week.

Peace and love,

[katiedobe]

Wow it is sure pretty up here in New England! Lots of wonderful boats to gaze longingly at.

So I would love to meet anyone from the forum up here that lives between Rockport, MA and up near Portland, ME. We will be leaving Rockport on Monday and driving north to our friend's house in Portland.

I am planning on visiting Bath for the museum but I am open to other suggestions. We will be leaving the Portland, ME area on Thursday. :( I wish we had planned to stay for two weeks up in this area. Next time I definitely will.

Also if anyone wants to take me out sailing I would certainly be willing to buy some refreshements as a sign of my gratitude.

As I don't have very good internet connection while driving please feel free to call me on my cell phones,
503-481-6179 or 503-544-3596

Thanks.
Jimmy