We’ve had lots of questions about where we’re headed on this 15-week trip, so I thought I’d take this blog post to cover the broad strokes of our route.
We have taken several long trips over the past few years, two months to Florida and back, two months to Minnesota and back, one month to Yellowstone and back, one month to New Mexico and back, one month to Washington and back. But this is by far our longest trip since we got our RV in 2015. It might be the only time we get back to New England and the Maritime Provinces in the motorhome, so we thought we’d better pack a lot in.
We currently have a friend doing a solo bike ride across Australia, taking more than 6 months for his adventure, so we recognize that our way is definitely the easy way. Nevertheless, it does include challenges: keeping two cats happy in a small space, fixing mechanical problems along the way, trying to avoid tornadoes and survive road construction, and seeing everyone and everything we would like (not possible, of course).
So, here are the phases of our trip (not many pictures because we haven’t gotten through most of this yet):
Phase I — Los Angeles to New York City (3,054 miles in about 3 weeks)
• This phase is primarily about getting across the country quickly, but we do have some important stops planned along the way.
• Albuquerque, NM – visiting family and exploring a few places we didn’t catch last year
• Mansfield, MO – where Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband lived most of their married life, and where she wrote the Little House books
• Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky (after this trip, we will have seen all the national parks in the lower 48, except 2)
• Eastern Shore of Maryland/DC area – visiting family and friends
• New York City — well, the RV will be parked in Jersey City, but we’ll take in NYC sights for a few days and hopefully survive driving out of the city to head to New England
Phase II – New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada (2430 miles in 5 1/2 weeks)
This phase is really the heart of the trip, as we love to get out into nature, especially mountains and coastal areas.
• Cape Cod area, including a quick trip to Boston for a Red Sox game at Fenway Park
• Northern Vermont and New Hampshire – visiting friends and exploring the White Mountains
• Acadia National Park, Maine
• Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada (extreme tides, here we come!)
• National Parks in Nova Scotia—Kejimkujik and Cape Breton Highlands National Parks—canoeing, hiking, scenic drives
• Prince Edward Island—the land of Anne of Green Gables and home to another Canadian national park
• Kouchibouguac National Park (koo-she-boo-gwack—I had to practice a lot) in New Brunswick
Phase III – Quebec and Ontario (1486 miles in 3 weeks)
This phase is a mix of coastal and mountain scenery plus great Canadian cities.
• Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec (Rocher Perce and Forillon National Park)
• Quebec City
• La Mauricie National Park (in the Laurentian mountains, Quebec)
• Montreal, for the Montreal Jazz Festival and touring the city’s sights
• Ottawa (Canada’s capital)
• Thousand Islands National Park in Ontario
• Toronto
• Niagara Falls
Phase IV – Upper Midwest and back to L.A. (2921 miles in just over 3 weeks)
This phase is mostly about heading home, with some important stops along the way.
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park (near Cleveland, OH), plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Visiting friends in Indiana and the Chicago area, plus our newest national park, Indiana Dunes National Park. We will also go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field!
• Springfield/New Salem – Land of Lincoln
• Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis
• Denver/Boulder area, visiting family and friends
• Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction
• Home
If you’ve made it to the bottom of this post before we finish the trip, we welcome your suggestions about what to see and do along our route. Thanks for coming on this adventure with us!