Time for my annual plea for suggestions on what route to take...

[GH85Carrera]

Once again I am looking for help from the brain trust. We will be taking another long road trip. Last year we were within a few miles of the furthest east one can drive in the USA. I have been to San Diego close to the Mexico border.

This year it is Spokane, WA. Last year we drove just over 5,500 miles round trip to Jay Peak, Vermont with a week of sightseeing before Parade. I expect this to be another 5,500 mile trip.

So to the point of this post:



Part of my goal is to hit all the lower 48 states.

I really want to hit Nebraska, South Dakota, and all the states west of there this year. ND is just too far out of the way for this year. What interesting places are there to see on the trip. Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore and Glacier National Park are a must see and they are on the list.

What other sights are a must see? I need the brain trust to guide my Google searches on what to see.

All suggestions are welcome.

[motion]

Very impressive!

Add Devil's Tower to the list, and a stop by Motion's place in Red Lodge

[Jim Richards]

^^^great suggestions, motion. Also picnic along the shore of Lake McDonald on the west end of Glacier National Park (which you should drive through taking the Going-to-the-Sun Road) in NW Montana. Visit Badlands National Park in western South Dakota.

[Aragorn]

If you go towards Mt. Rushmore on I-90, you will see a lot of signs for Wall Drugstore. I didn't stop there though. Mitchell SD has the Corn Palace. Didn't stop there either. Did stop at the gas station that has "Dances with Wolves" memorabilia though but didn't pay the money to go inside. Crazy Horse monument costs around $10 see and it still isn't finished yet. It was kind of neat to stop at a rest area in SD and pee in a Teepee. Would like to see Deadwood if I go back that way in the near future.

Oh, and Iowa has the largest rocking chair. And a ****load of corn.

[Jim Richards]

Oh yeah, all corn, all the time...

[flipper35]

If you are driving from Wind Cave National Park to Mt. Rushmore you can see Crazy horse from the road. Not much to see yet.



We stopped at Corn Palace. Not much there either really. Devil's Tower was cool to see and the cuts in it are much larger than I thought.

Badlands and the old ICBM silo was interesting. Didn't get invited to Motion's house so cant comment on that.

[Seahawk]

Hard to go wrong where you are headed.

Route 2 through Glacier is great depending on traffic and time of year.

Whitefish is a cute tourist town...I have stayed at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake a few times - it is worth a night.

I have driven Route 2 from Whitefish to Spokane and parts of it are great. You could also take 93 north to 37 then to 2. Either way you get to see some great country.

I also drove from Crow Agency to Red Lodge through St Xavier and Pryor, MT. I enjoy getting off the interstate. I took 78 out of Red Lodge. I swear I saw Motion past me going south on a motorcycle. It was a blur.

We were imaging large coal mines with UAS so we spent some time in Decker, MT. Take 338 north of Sheridan to 314. Once you get past the Tongue River Reservoir 314 is a really pretty road. Take 314 to 212 to Crow Agency. Again, gets you off the interstate without too much of a time penalty.

Enjoy!

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by NotaBRG

Oklahoma to Spokane? Take I35 north to Duluth MN. A quick detour in to Wisconsin. Then US 2 to Spokane. You can get the missing states on your way home.

It is not just the states and getting there and back, it is the sights to stop and see. We usually spend a week getting there, and haul butt home asap.

[LakeCleElum]

Hit the rest area near Alliance, NE:

[pete3799]

If you end up at the junction of I25 and I90 in WY. take Rt16 west over powder river pass through Ten Sleep and into Worland and then up to Greybull.
Rt14 west from there will take you into Yellowstone.
I've done the Powder River Pass route From Greybull To I90 in my 18 wheeler. My palms got a little sweaty in places but it would be fun in a Porsche.
Never been into Yellowstone though.

[rusnak]

I would love to see parts of the Lewis and Clark trail, like the Mandan Village if there is anything left. Or the place where Custer met his doom. Or Deadwood, where Wild Bill was killed. That kind of thing intriges me. Other than that, stuff like the world's larges ball of string or eating chicken in a place shaped like a giant chicken are more my speed.

[LakeCleElum]

Sadly, no longer in business in Shell, WY when I stopped by in March:

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Hit the rest area near Alliance, NE:

I stopped at a rest stop in California not much better. Just two port-a-potties that had not been cleaned in weeks on a dirt lot. California also had the fanciest upscale rest stop but that is a different story.

[rusnak]

That does not sound right. Probably a couple of hicks in the sticks trying to rope tourists off the freeway to sell to the slave trade in China. The ones I see are massive and have permanent plumbing, food, drinks, and displays for tourists to stop and read.

[LWJ]

Jellystone is killer. Might bring a fly rod.

[LakeCleElum]

Based on 50 years and 700,000 miles of finding great motorcycle roads, I would respectfully suggest you get to Chalis, Idaho. I would then come into Spokane via this route:

http://mapq.st/2r9wFIn

If you want to avoid a few miles of dirt forest service road between Oxbow and Enterprise, go: Oxbow, Halfway, Medical Springs, Union (Hwy 203) and into Enterprise. North out of Clarkston, be sure to take the "Spiral Hwy" up the hill. Hwy 27 thru the Palouse is better than Rte 66. Old Wheat towns still living in the 1950's.

[pwd72s]

While in Spokane

The Black Diamond | Pool Hall

[Seahawk]

Winner!

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Based on 50 years and 700,000 miles of finding great motorcycle roads, I would respectfully suggest you get to Chalis, Idaho. I would then come into Spokane via this route:

http://mapq.st/2r9wFIn

Edit: I might head farther west out of Lewiston to Pomeroy then north. Dayton is also a really neat town.

Also, the Holiday Inn Express in Lewiston is actually excellent with great views.

[GH85Carrera]

I am loving all the suggestions. Keep em coming.

We sit down in front of the computer and set up destinations on Google Earth and then set them up in the GPS. Last year we hit a lot of places the locals there had heard of but had never spent the time to go see. I always like to find the great roads but stopping some place like the Gillette Castle or Kent Falls State Park, Fort Knox Historic Site to Acadia National Park and a lot more.

And my "rule" to say I have really been to a state is I have to have at least one meal, and use the bathroom in that state. To get Rhode Island last year we drove over for a meal from Seekonk and the way to see Plymouth Rock the next day.

[madmmac]

Beartooth Highway/Pass. A must in your Porsche. Beartooth Highway

Book a room in the Davenport in Spokane if you can get one. Spokane Hotel | The Historic Davenport, Autograph Collection