Route 66: Here we come!

Posted on 11:00 AM by

Next week, my two kids, husband, and I are piling into the car and embarking on a great American road trip. We're driving Route 66, from Santa Monica to Chicago, passing through eight states, covering over 2,400 miles.

We'll drive through baking hot desert, climb majestic mountains, and make stops in a litany of fabled towns: San Bernardino, Flagstaff, Gallup, Albuquerque, Tucumcari, Amarillo, and Joplin. We'll see the Grand Canyon, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Meramec Caverns. We'll be following in the footsteps of dreamers, ramblers, drifters, and writers: John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie, and Jack Kerouac. And we'll be making family memories along the way.

Sound wonderful? Well, there's a catch. We're on a budget of $250 a day. This might sound like a lot to those who traveled around Europe on five dollars a day, but keep in mind that our daily allotment must cover four people. It includes lodging, gas, rental car, attractions, food, and the American Girl doll that my daughter hopes to buy in Chicago.

How will we do it? Over the next three weeks, I'll be telling you exactly how in this blog. I promise to share with you the good, the bad, and the ugly, and offer up practical tips on how you can travel on a budget. And I hope that you'll provide me with some guidance along the way. Know of a great place for cheap food in Albuquerque? Got a favorite roadside attraction in Texas? I'd love to hear about it.

Photo credit: © Soleilc | Dreamstime.com

2 comments:

Gunnar and Sherry said...

Sounds like a great trip. I'm in the throes of planning a driving trip from Rhode Island to California from mid-Sept. to mid-Oct. We don't have kids, so its not as challenging as your trips, but still takes some endurance. My wife and I really go for all the wacky stuff. I have a blog about our travcels if you care to check it out: http://www.eccentricroadside.blogspot.com/
Happy trails!
Gunnar Johnson

Anonymous said...

Hope to see plenty of pictures along the way!
Feliz Viaje!
Eden