Flamesplash's Journal: Help Plan My Trip: Atlanta - Seattle

So I've decided to dive to Seattle from Atlanta, cause I haven't done it and I have some time and they kick me out of the dorms the day after my last exam like the bastards housing offices usually are. I'll probably take the Mapquest route which puts it at 40 hours, 2700 miles. MS will reimburse hotel ( $70/day ) and food ( $30/day ), and given the 40 hours I'm guessing they'll say it should take me 5 days so $350 lodging, $150 food, which I can extend into how ever many days I really use.

So here's the thing, I don't just want to drive. I have a nice digi cam, tripod and I like to take pictures of the outdoors. So, since I know nothing of the land between here and there, as dictated by the mapquest route, why don't you nice ppl help me out with what I should stop and see. I tend to prefer outdoor things like scenic overlooks, neat graveyards, unusual oddities along the side of the road, etc... While I'll probably take the interstate most of the way I'll probably find a couple nice scenic byways that parallel the interstate and have neat stuff on them.

Soooo if you have any suggestions of neat things to see along the way or pretty roads that won't divert me too much I'd greatly appreciate the suggestions.

Thanks!

Plans
Yellowstone: HW 14 & 287 in Wyoming, from I-90 x13 WY to I-90 x205 MO ( cody WY, West YellowStone MO )

sorry

[Abm0raz]

Only land I really know is central and western PA, northern Ohion, and central Michigan (lower Penninsula). I've only been west of the Mississippi River twice: once when I was 2 and again when I was 18. Both times I flew and I don't remember much of either trip.

-Ab

I've not done that trip...

[KshGoddess]

I have driven (and been driven) cross-country three times. 2x on 40, once on 10. The first time was my move from SC to CA, the 2nd/3rd times were a trip that we took to visit family for thanksgiving.

After our exploration of the Western States, I must say that I'm glad we're settled for a while. Driving is nice, especially when the scenery's beautiful, but deiving through AK and/or TX sucks ass. What's the planned route?

Yellowstone

[bellus quies]

you absolutly must stop there, also there is a place in Idaho called Craters of the moon, where you can spelunk and walk around caves.

Re:Yellowstone

[Flamesplash]

Ah nice. Using AAA interactive TripTik applet I see that there is a nice scenic road ( HW 14 & 287 in Wyoming ) off of I-90, that goes right through there and hooks back up to I-90.

My question is how much time is involved with actually getting something out of yellowstone? I don't know what the setup is, if you just drive through it, or if there are lots of scenic overlooks that you can pull over at or if there are trails you can hike along.

thanks for the suggestion, I'll check out where Craters of

Re:Yellowstone

[bellus quies]

You can drive through it. But I would suggest taking the time and stopping a couple of places, there are some boardwalks through some of the water areas that are relativly short so you can walk right next to bubbling mud pits and rest on a bench or two while observing some smaller gysers. And often traffic is stopped by people getting out of their cars to take pictures of moose or other large mammals crossing the roads.

If you plan to go through St. Louis...

[bMuZal]

I suggest that you stop by the Arch [stlouisarch.com]. If I remember correctly, it is not too hard to get to from the interstate.

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bmuzal (aka: Ben)