Road Trip Series

Hey Guys. So my new roommates/best friends have decided to start planning a massive summer road trip. Not for this summer though, the current plan has it for the summer between graduation and graduate school. But this trip is planned to be really big that it's going to take a lot of planning and a lot more saving for the trip. So for the next few weeks I am going to give you guys a look into how we planned our ultimate summer road trip, where we are going, and all the tips we have been giving to help us along the way. So without further adieu, here is Part 1 of my road trip series:

Here are some details:

1. We plan to hit all 48 continuous states

2. It is a 3 month time span from a week after graduation to a couple weeks before school starts in the fall

3. We have a 100 different attractions on our bracket.

4. 25 major cities. 

5. 19,278 miles round trip

Here is our Map

Part 1: Planning

When we started planning out trip we use the Ultimate Summer Road Trip created by a Michigan State University student using a mathematical algorithm (http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/map-points-the-way-for-the-ultimate-us-road-trip) then we started adding in cities and landmarks that we wanted to see. Then we sent out a request to family members that travel a lot asking what little treasures they had found in their travels. Then we went at it. We added the new points to the map and started connecting them. After we had the route all mapped out, came the hard part. On paper we went through a mock trip, calculating how long we were driving, where we were sleeping, and how long we wanted to stay at each attraction. And of course we put in lots of wiggle room for traffic and un planned stops. 

Part 2: The Trip

So here is what the first 2 weeks:

Week 1:

1. Mount Vernon: Mount Vernon,Virginia

2. Lost World Caverns: Lewisburg, West Virginia

3. Spring Grove Cemetery: Cincinnati, Ohio

4. West Baden Springs Hotel: West Baden Spring, Indiana

5. Mammoth Cave National Park: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

6. Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Gatlinburg, Tennessee

7. Fort Sumter National Monument: Charleston, North Carolina

8. Savannah, Georgia

9. Cape Canaveral Space Center: Cape Canaveral, Florida

10. South Beach: Miami, Florida

Week 2: 

11. Everglades National Park: Naples Florida

12. USS Alabama: Mobile, Alabama

13. French Quarter: New Orleans, Louisiana

14. Vicksburg National Military Park: Vicksburg, Mississippi

15. Graceland: Memphis, Tennessee

16. Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park: Scott, Arkansas

17. Padre Island, Texas

What do you guys think? Anything we should add?

XOXO