
If you’re of a certain age you may remember the classic commercial, “See the USA in Your Chevrolet.” You can’t read the words without singing the melody, right?
A Pink Elephant
For me, traveling the USA on a road trip offers up the absolute feeling of freedom. Freedom to roll where the road takes us, freedom to stop at a roadside diner to order french fries and pie just because you can. It means freedom to stop and read those historical road markers that we all come across. You know the ones that mark some point in history – in 1865 the Pony Express stopped here – or the freedom to just stop driving for the day because you want to.
Or, maybe, you stop and fill the gas tank even if it isn’t empty because you want to see a pink elephant wearing glasses that just happens to live at the station. Airliners may be necessary to cross oceans or get you someplace relatively quickly, but there is nothing like a road trip to see the finer things in life.

How often do you see a life size pink elephant wearing glasses?
Route 66: Chicago to CA
We’ve taken two major road trips across the U.S.A. #1 we drove Route 66 from Chicago to CA and #2 we drove from Oregon to Washington, D.C. via the northern route. Both trips were amazing but on each trip we were limited by time constraints working against us. We could have spent a month following Route 66 in order to see everything, but instead we made the most of our nine days on the route. Our trip across country via the northern route was a bit rushed as well, but oh the sites we saw along the way. I could tell you stories, hmm… maybe I will.

Everyone should visit Mt. Rushmore at least once
Hazel the Honda Hybrid
We’ve always talked about how fun it would be to just pack the car with the minimal essentials and hit the open road. No plans, no reservations, no commitments, just see where we roll. That’s exactly what we’re gearing up to do in just about three weeks from now. We don’t own a Chevrolet, but we’ve got something even better. Hazel, the Honda Hybrid.
A White Christmas
I will admit we do have one planned destination though, and that’s Washington DC. We will roll into DC just before the holidays and happily spend two weeks sharing holiday love and cheer with our son and his fiance. If we’re lucky maybe we’ll have a white Christmas, wouldn’t that be something?
Two Months on the Road
Other than that we’re wide open and we’ve got two full months to see where the road takes us. I guess technically one could say two months is in fact another time constraint, but hey, in comparison to having only nine days, it sounds pretty great to me!

Have you been to Wall Drug in South Dakota? It’s like no other place
Here’s your chance to take a moment to tell us about your favorite road trip. How many miles did you drive, where did you go, what did you see and do? And, don’t forget to come along for the adventure as we hit the open road and travel the U.S.A. – One Road at a Time…
Dinah Shore! We love road-trips. It’s such a great way to see the place you are and stop when you want to to enjoy a the view, an attraction or whatever. Flying over just doesn’t do it.
santafetraveler recently posted…Croatian Christmas Magic : Advent in Zagreb
Dinah Shore – flashback, right? Couldn’t agree more. Flying will get you to where you want to go – but a road trip let’s you experience the travel.
Love road trips too!

Not long been back from a trip from Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia to the Top End of the Northern Territory via Kakadu National Park –
Can’t beat just hitting the road 🙂
Linda ~ Journey Jottings recently posted…Kayaking the Katherine River
Agreed! You just never know what you’re going to find on the open road! Thanks so much for stopping by, greatly appreciated.
Ahhh, love road trips, so I read this with a fair amount of glee. Just love the serendipity of being out there and not knowing what to expect next. I write a lot about Western Australia on my other blog ZigaZag because we get out and about exploring quite a lot now we’re empty nesters, and WA is a huge and diverse place to explore.

Johanna recently posted…November Giveaways
Thanks for reading, Johanna. I too love a good road trip and I’ve always longed for an extended trip as we always seem to be bound by time constraints. I am really looking forward to seeing what we discover on this upcoming trip. I hope you’ll follow along!
You’ve shown that the best part of a road trip is the unusual and unexpected sights. Love your article.

Neva Fels recently posted…A Jurassic Playground of Goblins
Thanks Neva, I absolutely love road trips because you just never know what you’re going to find!
Love those animal statues!!! I agree, road trips afford so many unique and quirky experiences that other forms of transport simply do not offer. While the hours on the road can be difficult sometimes (especially for us here in Mexico!), I do love it and am already itching for the next adventure after just completing a 2,500 mile round trip!

Sarah Somewhere recently posted…Finding home in Oaxaca City
Thank you Sarah – we had so much fun on that trip and saw so many great things, such as pink elephants! I absolutely love road trips, there is so much to see and do. I’m especially looking forward to our upcoming trip and to having more time on the road than ever before so we don’t have to endure marathon days of driving. We haven’t taken a road trip in another country, that would be exciting, but challenging if we didn’t know the language.
Have a great time Patti and Abi!! You will have fun bei
ng so foot loose and fancy free. 🙂
Thank you Julie!! I hope you’ll follow along!
My dad and I took road trips constantly as a kid all over the western U.S. Then I did so when I moved on my own at 18. My fiance and another girl, my wife (ex now), were also big fans. But, we haven’t been on any recently well except to Tahoe, Truckee and Lake Davis. Loved the post as always! 🙂

Mike recently posted…$200 Giveaway Contest!
Truckee and Tahoe are equally beautiful – too bad the water is so damn cold! Does Phoenix like it? Thanks so much for reading, Mike, always appreciated!
Patti, I’ve driven from California up to Vancouver, BC, about a kajillion times since I was a kid. It’s beautiful but I’m ready for a new US road-trip route. What I’d love to do one day is to drive from Florida along the Eastern seaboard and up through the Maritimes.
I’m looking forward to your photos of DC. I’ve never been but always wanted to go! 🙂

Renee – RambleCrunch recently posted…Day of the Dead in Morélia—Visiting cemeteries in Cucuchucho and Lake Pátzcuaro
I hear ya – we’ve driven the length of CA more times than I care to remember and if we never drove it again I’d be more than happy! I too would love to drive the eastern seaboard, in the fall to see the color. D.C. is one of our favorite cities, we’ve been many times but we always seem to see something new.
love the elephant!

Hogga recently posted…Seeing Montreal with Le St. Martin
What’s not to love, right?!
Patti, I love the photos and can’t wait to see more of your adventures on this road trip. Our favorite road trip was when we drove from Portland, to Crater Lake, down to Northern California and back up the Oregon Coast. We took 2 weeks and just camped and stayed without a preplanned destination. We found some lovely camping spots along the way. Our favorite was on the beach in California!

Kerri recently posted…Top Three Mediterranean Holiday Destinations
Thanks Kerri! That pink elephant lives in Wisconsin of all places! It was so random we just had to stop. Crater Lake is stunning and we encourage our guests to take a day trip to see the lake when they visit Ashland. Happy Anniversary to you and Jason!
During my early 20s I did travel the USA in my Chevrolet. From Chicago to LA, north to WA and back living in my Vega for two months. Best roadtrip ever, and I haven’t stopped since. Hope you stop wherever you deem worthy along the journey.

Gaelyn recently posted…West Coast Fossil Park tells a story
Gaelyn ~ When I was in high school (way back in the day) I had a Vega too! It was mustard yellow, 4-speed. I absolutely loved it! And I love road trips, so glad to hear about yours. Did you follow Route 66 from Chicago to L.A.?
I have driven across the country from CA to PA, and back, twice. Both times, unfortunately, I was running under a fairly tight schedule and didn’t get to make side trips or linger. It was still a lovely drive through our majestic country.
By the way… I am right off of I-70 in Missouri…if you happen to dip this direction I would LOVE to see you! I even have a guest room with a king size bed. 🙂
Ah Neva, thank you! Actually, I have located you on the map and it is duly noted. Should we find ourselves in Missouri we would love to stop by for a HUGE hug!
Wow, that will be fantastic Patti. In my opinion, the very best thing in life is simply hitting the road with no plans or time constraints. You’ll have a wonderful time and you never know where you’ll end up until you get there!

I’ve driven around Australia alone in my little camper. I didn’t set out intentionally to drive straight around, but got side-tracked and worked here and there and then thought, well if I keep going south and then east, I can complete the round trip. I shipped my motorbike to New Zealand and rode around both north and south islands with no plans apart from start and finish points. And I’ve also driven across the USA with an American friend in 3 days – that was a blur and not highly recommended!
I’ll be looking forward to hearing about your wanderings with interest.
Have fun and stay safe, Jane.
Jane St Catherine recently posted…Photographing faces around the world
Wow! Jane, what an adventure to drive around Australia and then over to New Zealand, you must have amazing memories! But, 3 days to drive across the U.S. – yikes! That must have been non-stop driving. Thanks for reading!