Seeing America via I-40

[britrock88]

Tomorrow night, I get to start a 5500-mile adventure. I'll spend my fall break flying to the Bay Area and moving my girlfriend back to NC. We'll have 6+ days to drive it, and I've decided that the I-40 route is the way to go (after taking CA-1 down the coast, of course). That in mind, what attractions are there on the way? I know some of the obvious ones, and have done a little rooting around myself, but I still don't know much of anything between Amarillo and Memphis, for instance.

[cartman]

Around Amarillo, there is the Cadillac Stonehenge, and the Big Texan Steak Ranch, famous for the free 72 oz. steak dinner if eaten in one hour. It looks like a big tourist trap, but the steaks are pretty damn good.

I've driven I-40 from Barstow to Amarillo four times, and to be honest, I don't remember much at all, except that the cops in Arizona are hard asses when it comes to speeding. Back in '97 I almost got hauled to jail for going 10 over the speed limit between Kingman and Flagstaff. That being said, I was under a time constraint, and really wasn't looking for places to stop along the way.

[Buccaneer]

If you want to see things along the way, do not take the interstate (depending how much time you have).

[tarcone]

South of Amarillo is the Palo Duro Canyon. Called the Grand Canyon of Texas. My wife and I stopped there some years back. Its a neat place to visit.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

[RPI-Fan]

Oklahoma City memorial is nice (and very easy to access from I-40. Could also make lunch, etc. recommendations for OKC.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by tarcone

South of Amarillo is the Palo Duro Canyon. Called the Grand Canyon of Texas. My wife and I stopped there some years back. Its a neat place to visit.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

I remember going when I was younger and thinking it was really neat

SI

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

If you want to see things along the way, do not take the interstate (depending how much time you have).

I know this axiom, and I hate that we only have 6 days to do it -- California-1 is a concession to that; we'll be able to look out over the California coast while trying not to fall off a cliff.

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Oklahoma City memorial is nice (and very easy to access from I-40. Could also make lunch, etc. recommendations for OKC.

I think we'll be on course for dinner in OKC on Friday, so I'm all ears.

[Wolfpack]

Came to a rather odd realization in reading this thread. I've ridden or driven I-40's entire 420-mile length in North Carolina (it and US 70 are roads I practically grew up on) but other than pretty much from the state line to Knoxville in Tennessee and a blip of a stretch at Flagstaff, I've never seen any other part of it. By contrast, I've pretty much seen all of I-95 from roughly Bangor to Miami (north of Philadelphia and the gap in New Jersey excepted, of course). Seems to indicate my parents' preferences for where to go on vacation, I guess. We did go to the mountains a lot, but we also went to Florida and Washington, DC a lot, and had one long road trip through the northeast beyond DC when I was 15. Guess there wasn't much beyond the mountains that we were interested in (granted, once you get west of Knoxville, then you're talking a couple of days of driving and there isn't much in the way of a "destination" waiting at the end of the second day, unlike, say, New York City or Disney World when heading either way on I-95).

[GoldenEagle]

You will come within a quarter of a mile from my house.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Tomorrow night, I get to start a 5500-mile adventure. I'll spend my fall break flying to the Bay Area and moving my girlfriend back to NC. We'll have 6+ days to drive it, and I've decided that the I-40 route is the way to go (after taking CA-1 down the coast, of course). That in mind, what attractions are there on the way? I know some of the obvious ones, and have done a little rooting around myself, but I still don't know much of anything between Amarillo and Memphis, for instance.

Good luck on the 1, especially if you have a trailer... Fun Fun... not.

[digamma]

When we did this, we started a little north in Charlottesville, VA.

Day 1 we drove to Nashville.
Day 2 to Oklahoma City.
Day 3 we took a little detour and drove to Santa Fe. Much better town than Albuquerque.
Day 4 to Flagstaff.
Day 5 another detour to Las Vegas.
Day 6 to Los Angeles.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Good luck on the 1, especially if you have a trailer... Fun Fun... not.

Thankfully, she can fit all her stuff into her Honda Civic. I've heard horror stories of cars with two wheels over the edge on similar roads in Switzerland or Central America... I've also made the Muir Woods drive when I visited over the summer. The girlfriend does not seem to like roads that feel like roller coasters, so I'll drive gently.

Originally Posted by digamma

When we did this, we started a little north in Charlottesville, VA.

Day 1 we drove to Nashville.
Day 2 to Oklahoma City.
Day 3 we took a little detour and drove to Santa Fe. Much better town than Albuquerque.
Day 4 to Flagstaff.
Day 5 another detour to Las Vegas.
Day 6 to Los Angeles.

Sounds a lot like the skeleton I have planned (in reverse). I was thinking Albuquerque initially, but curious to know which of ABQ/Santa Fe was more interesting, so I appreciate the tip.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Thankfully, she can fit all her stuff into her Honda Civic. I've heard horror stories of cars with two wheels over the edge on similar roads in Switzerland or Central America... I've also made the Muir Woods drive when I visited over the summer. The girlfriend does not seem to like roads that feel like roller coasters, so I'll drive gently.



Sounds a lot like the skeleton I have planned (in reverse). I was thinking Albuquerque initially, but curious to know which of ABQ/Santa Fe was more interesting, so I appreciate the tip.

Curious, on the 1 stretch, at what point will you leave to get to the 40? The 40 starts in Barstow, IIRC, which is in the middle of the high desert (Mojave) while the 1 is coastal. Will you detour around Santa Barbara and take it straight across? Or will you take the 1 down into the LA area, so you can say you have LA on your trip, too? If you go the second, I would take the 1 down to Santa Monica, and check out the pier. Then go 10 E, which goes right by downtown LA, and the 15 N to the 40. A long detour, but you catch a lot of LA with that drive.

[Chief Rum]

Oh, BTW, I suggest that completely in the vein of "being somewhere". Depending on when you go, outside of the pier, it probably won't be a fun drive, especially if you're passing through the area during rush hour (around 2-5 local time, particularly 3-5). If it's a weekend day or earlier, though, I say go for it.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Sounds a lot like the skeleton I have planned (in reverse). I was thinking Albuquerque initially, but curious to know which of ABQ/Santa Fe was more interesting, so I appreciate the tip.

Just more charming. ABQ could be like any city, from what I recall. Santa Fe is smaller with a cool town square, areas to walk around, etc.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Curious, on the 1 stretch, at what point will you leave to get to the 40? The 40 starts in Barstow, IIRC, which is in the middle of the high desert (Mojave) while the 1 is coastal. Will you detour around Santa Barbara and take it straight across? Or will you take the 1 down into the LA area, so you can say you have LA on your trip, too? If you go the second, I would take the 1 down to Santa Monica, and check out the pier. Then go 10 E, which goes right by downtown LA, and the 15 N to the 40. A long detour, but you catch a lot of LA with that drive.

I'll have to take a look at our timing and see if we can pull that off. By default, I think we were going to catch the 58 near SLO to make our way east to Barstow through Bakersfield.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by britrock88

I'll have to take a look at our timing and see if we can pull that off. By default, I think we were going to catch the 58 near SLO to make our way east to Barstow through Bakersfield.

Probably your best bet, because driving through LA will add 3 hours to your trip, IMO.

[sooner333]

What kind of food are you looking for in OKC? Hole in the wall, very nice with a local flavor, BBQ?

[cartman]

Yeah, you'd probably want to cut over to 58 at SLO, since at that point Highway 1 moves more inland until you get down to Santa Barbara. By that point you'll probably have had your fill of looking at the ocean anyway.

I'll echo digamma's points as well. ABQ is just another big city. Sandia Peak is interesting, but there is a lot more to do and see in Santa Fe.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by sooner333

What kind of food are you looking for in OKC? Hole in the wall, very nice with a local flavor, BBQ?

Local would be cool. I enjoy a unique experience. Outstanding food is always a plus. I think we'll be around for dinner and/or breakfast.

[EagleFan]

Shame you don't have about 2 weeks to do that trip. That would probably give you some really good time for seeing the country.

Still, sounds like a potentially fun trip.

[sooner333]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Local would be cool. I enjoy a unique experience. Outstanding food is always a plus. I think we'll be around for dinner and/or breakfast.

If you're willing to go a bit out of the way, you could get some fried chicken at Eischen's in Okarche, Oklahoma. They literally only have fried chicken, fried okra, and nachos. No plates, no silverware, just wax paper and food.

I like Cheever's on 23rd in Oklahoma. They call it contemporary comfort food. They have a mean chicken fried steak.

For steaks, Cattlemen's is supposedly pretty good...I've never been, but my dad has raved about it and usually his menality is he can cook it at home better than at the restaurant.

For BBQ, I like Iron Starr in town, but for more casual, Leo's is pretty solid.

Not too sure about good breakfast places, so I'm of less help there.

[tarcone]

I love Sante Fe. When my family goes to Colorado, we take I-44 to I-40 and cut up to Sante Fe. Just to stop in Sante Fe. Great town.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Probably your best bet, because driving through LA will add 3 hours to your trip, IMO.

Yup. I only suggest it in the vein of seeing the pier and Malibu and downtown LA. If that doesn't do it for ya, no way in hell do I recommend that route.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by tarcone

South of Amarillo is the Palo Duro Canyon. Called the Grand Canyon of Texas. My wife and I stopped there some years back. Its a neat place to visit.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Palo Duro is f'ing awesome, it's absolutely beautiful...

[cartman]

To me, the coolest thing about Palo Duro is the drive up. You are driving across what appears to be simply miles and miles of high desert plains, then BAM, all of a sudden this huge canyon appears out of nowhere. It is a very cool place to visit. Can't believe I left it off of the initial list of sights in and around Amarillo.

[sooner333]

How'd the trip go?

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by sooner333

How'd the trip go?

It was a fun one. Two weeks back at school, and it seems like it was paradise.

First day, we met a hometown friend who now lives in the Bay for breakfast, then took off toward the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped at the mission in Carmel, which has some neat exhibits about the old families and the history of the mission. Then we sightsaw on the highway all day, grabbed dinner in SLO, and made our way to Barstow. Had a funny moment where we were nearly out of gas... in the midst of the oil fields in eastern CA. If only I knew who to purify oil myself...

We woke up in Barstow, drove too long to get to the Grand Canyon (I misjudged and only gave us about 1 1/2 hours of sunlight there), but on the bright side, sunset at the Canyon is now the most beautiful thing I've seen in nature. Saw a boss of an elk driving toward Flagstaff, where we walked around the downtown a touch and grabbed a nice dinner before quitting for the night.

From Flagstaff, we stopped in Winslow for lunch. It's a quaint little place, with memories of Route 66; we "stood on the corner" and then found the Hotel Posada, which has all kinds of nice things to do for a spell, and ate at the Turquoise Room (a good find). We tried to find some ghost towns I had heard about (good luck; they've all disappeared), then took the Petrified Forest long-cut. That was an excellent choice. Going south-to-north through the park, we started by walking the petrified wood trails and seeing some of the neat natural formations. By sunset, we were once again taking in beautiful views of the landscape, and we could even see the mountains near Flagstaff in the distance. Then we booked it to Albuquerque through the night and crashed.

We decided that the fourth day would be the boss of a driving day, so we grabbed breakfast in ABQ, then booked it to Amarillo, where we caught the Cadillac Ranch (very cool) and lunch. Our next stop was in Shawnee, OK, for dinner, and we made it all the way to Fort Smith, AR by the end of the day.

Waking up in Arkansas (boy, was that continental breakfast rowdy), we made it to Memphis in time for a late lunch at an awesome hole in the wall, Frank's Deli and Market. There was a riverwalk arts festival going on, which was cool, and we loafed on the banks of the Mississippi for a little while, too. Also saw the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. Then we made way to Nashville just in time for Saturday night. I was wiped by that point, but we still walked Broadway (a sight to behold) and grabbed a nice dinner and brew before crashing at a nice hotel.

On Sunday, I drove like a man possessed (great time of year to "see the colors" in the mountains) to Asheville, which has the most active Sunday afternoon downtown that I know. We did some window shopping there, gawked at a couple street acts, and went to Tupelo Honey Cafe for an awesome dinner (well, I had breakfast for dinner, because they're awesome for that -- sweat potato pancakes with their tupelo honey and a side of goat cheese grits). From there, it was just a couple more hours until home.

In all, 6 days, ~53 hours of driving (by my 9/7/8/13/8/8 estimation), and 3100 miles. But it was a fun time... doing it as a couple helped that, I'm sure. So she's back home and working already, and I'm just thankful she packed light so that we didn't have to deal with a trailer on the Pacific Coast Highway or on that treacherous stretch of I-40 in the Appalachians.

[Buccaneer]

That sounds like an awesome road trip.

[britrock88]

It was great, and we could have done even more (like Palo Duro Canyon, which I was gung-ho about until the g/f decided she was "tired of rocks" after the Petrified Forest) with more time. Stuff we bypassed that wasn't too far out of the way--

McWay Falls in Big Sur, on CA-1
the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, AZ
Joshua Tree National Park
El Malpais National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument
Santa Fe
The Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM
Palo Duro Canyon State Park
Oklahoma City and lots of Rte 66-related stuff in OK
Ozarks/Ouachita National Forest
a scenic route on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC

So there's certainly no shortage of things to do.