Our grand plan: the ultimate American Road Trip

We have a dream, a travelling dream at that, to take the time when the boys are small and go on a tour of America.  But not a weeks holiday tour.  No.  That would be too tame for my husband.  More along the lines of a career break, 6 months to a year on the road, homeschooling kind of tour.  Not only that but we also have a plan.  A rather grand and ambitious plan but a plan all the same.  One that we are frantically saving for right now.

Our plan is America.

map of america with america flag

Quite literally.  Our grand plan is to take the boys on a road trip to end all road trips and see the vastness that is America.  To hop from state to state.  To do the cliched and to explore the unknown.  To go where we’ve never been before and learn all about it.  To do the ultimate American road trip.

“To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Historic Route 66

No cliched American road trip would be complete without driving along the iconic, historic, Route 66.  Driving along the vastness of the highway that once was, surrounded by desert (as if we haven’t had enough of that already)

Driving the long and winding road, Thelma and Louise style, in an open top car.  Explaining what we can see around us, showing the relevance in their previous lives, using the likes of Disney to explain.  And by Disney, I mean Cars and Lightning McQueen.  Visiting the real equivalent of Radiator Springs.

Route 66
Route 66

Pulling in along the way to stop in cheap motels.  Living the American dream.

Mount Rushmore

This one is for me, ever since I saw the fake Mount Rushmore on Richie Rich “Mount Richmore” I’ve always been intrigued by the real thing.  I’d love to go and feast my eyes upon the presidents of years gone by.  Perfectly chiselled upon the rock face in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  The faces of those who created history; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.  Names that trip of the tongue yet I know little about.

A way to bring history alive to the little men in my life.

Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

A shrine to democracy.

History brought alive in stone.

Zion National Park

America is famous for their National Parks, from Yosemite to Yellowstone, Acadia to Denali, Olympic to Saguaro, Arches to Glacier.  The one that has caught our attention is the first National Park of Utah: Zion.

Zion National Park
Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah

The orange red rock, peaks and canyons, hanging valleys and the centrepiece of Zion Canyon.  A truly breathtaking wonder to take in when you see photos, to view with your eyes would be nothing less than incredible.

Pictured is the Angels Landing trail, a way of hiking through the park together to soak up the natural beauty surrounding you.

The Grand Canyon

Keeping on the National Park theme, you can’t go on a road trip across America and not head to the Grand Canyon.  While I want to do a helicopter tour over the top, the husband has already declared this to be way out of our budget.  I’m still hopeful.

The grand canyon
The Grand Canyon

Having the boys with us means that Vegas is a little out of limits in the sense of The Hangover, but there is so much more to Nevada than gambling, bright lights, drink and wonderful shows.  A true scene of awe-inspiring beauty.  Orange-red rock faces.  Gaping canyons.

And that helicopter ride.

Rodeo in Texas

Since being in Doha we’ve made some wonderful friends, some who have been expats before.  Maybe it’s an expat pull that once you expat you always expat.  One such couple before moving to Doha lived in Houston, Texas.  The stories they tell, the pictures they paint, they come to life.  They ignite a fire that makes us want to go to Texas.

I think horses are majestic and beautiful creatures and I’d love to see a real life Texan cowboy pull on those cowboy boots, tip his cowboy hat and rodeo.

Pacific Route 1

Less iconic than Route 66, but no less beautiful.  Replacing desert scenes for ocean spray.  Where we’d be able to visit San Fransisco, heading to Alcatraz.  And also allowing for us to re-visit scenes of my husbands youth at the Golden Gate Bridge.  Where he cycled over and the chain fell off so he walked the bike back before realising he could have called for help…

pacific highway 1
Pacific Highway

Motels, Hotels, Camper Vans and Tents

Now it wouldn’t be an all American road trip without not knowing where you’re going to rest your head.  From camper van to tent, motel to hotel.  The beauty of this trip is that we wake up in the morning and decide where to go that day.

Having a loose plan to follow, but not set in stone, losing the rigidity of a holiday.  Flexible planning, if you love somewhere stay an extra few days, if it’s not what you expected leaving earlier.

Exploring, drinking it in, seeing, doing, touching.  All of your senses exhilarated.

Seeing it through the boys eyes.

Watching as they learn on the road.

Our ultimate American Road Trip plan

Like all good plans, it will take time to come off.  We need to save enough to live for a year, to travel, to explore.  We need to plan a home school schedule for my eldest.  We need to pour over the books, current favourite is Road Trip USA (who says I don’t buy good Christmas presents), sketch out what is possible, which dreams will come true.

We need to set aside money each month in our America fund, as well as our living fund, our holiday fund, our emergency fund, the boys fund.  And we’re doing it, not fast, but we are doing it.  It’s just going to take time, a lot of time, to save the amount we need.  In the meantime I’m off to try the Irish Lottery, I’ve heard the Irish are a lucky lot….

And if I win?  Well then, this blog will be being brought to you from the U S of A.

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3 Comments

  1. March 10, 2017 / 2:30 pm

    Oh wow, what an amazing trip you’ve got planned. We’re going to do the same thing when our girls are older but we’re doing Europe rather than America.
    Nat.x

  2. March 17, 2017 / 4:19 pm

    The ultimate road trip indeed! The boys will love it. We did a short road trip from San Fran, through to LA and down the Grand Canyon. Driving around is so easy in the States and fun too. The Grand Canyon was my favourite and the kids will love it, there are so many walking paths and viewpoints to get exceptional views of the Canyon, so even if you didnt do the helicopter ride you will no doubt get the best views.

  3. April 19, 2017 / 6:48 am

    That would be so much fun!! America has some great places to see! I highly recommend booking things through the use of a Cashback website if you need to use sites that involve online purchases! This way you can at least get a little back in your pocket! 🙂 Good luck!!

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