Tom J wrote:

I doubt that I would have any problem with seeing unfamiliar sights on
any trip. I have found that the older I get the shorter my memory is. Of
course this is something that I have always heard about. There are
advantages to it in things like film libraries. I have nearly 400 movies
in my DVD/VHS library, the older I got naturally the more movies that
would accumulate. Then I found that I had enough that I could watch one
and have hardly no recollection of seeing it in the past. But where
there are good points always comes the bad ones as well. Try going in to
WalMart or K-Mart and buy a movie that you do not already have,
impossible unless you have a list of those you do have. Now if any one
in WalMart or K-Mart sees an old geezer with a long list of movies that
he keeps looking at, that might be me.

Ok. When you get to Oklahoma City, take time for the Will Rogers museum.
Nashville is also full of stuff to see and do, depending on your tastes;
same with Memphis. If you are picking up I 40 near Ashville, then consider a
2 hour trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway to the top of Mt Mitchell, it one of
the prettiest stretches of the BRP.

That's a REALLY short time for a "cross-country" trip. It seems to me that
most of your time will be spent on the highway.

19 days less whatever time you're spending with your uncle is not a
lot of time.   based on 19-days you're not gonna have a lot of time to
go too far off of that route.  figure you've got a good 5-6 day drive
each way.  that leaves you with 7-10 days with your uncle, more or
less depending on your tolerence for your uncle ;o).  doesn't leave a
lot of time for sightseeing unless you can stay close to the route.
less time with uncle joe means more time sightseeing.  how much do you
REALLY want to see uncle joe?  ;o)

i-40 will take you thru nashville, memphis, little rock, ok city,
amarillo, albuquerque and, flagstaff.  

if you like country music you should stop in nashville and see the
country music hall of fame and museum.  allow a minimum of 3-4 hours
for that.  you can do it faster but you'll miss a lot of the flavor.
if you haven't see the grand ole opry you should do that also.  they
have 2 shows on saturdays, 1 on friday and usually one show during the
week, tuesdays i think, during the summer.  www.opry.com will have the
schedule.

i'd also make time to see the murrah federal building memorial in
oklahoma city and the museum next door.  the memorial is very moving
and something everyone should see and experience so we do not forget
what happened.  allow about an hour for the memorial and 3-4 hours for
the museum.  in one part of the museum you'll be taken into a meeting
room where a tape recording of an oklahoma water commission meeting
will be played.  the commission was meeting in a nearby building when
the bomb went off.  you'll hear the explosion and experience what it
was like to be an ear witness to the event.  

flagstaff is just south of the grand canyon and would not be too far
of a detour for you.  you'll also pass right by the painted desert and
petrified forest np off of 1-40.  i believe the pfnp is at exit 311
and i think there is a loop road thru the park.  it took us 8 hours to
go thru the park but then we tend to crawl thru those places.  you
should be able to see the park in 1-2 hours easily.

at exit 233 on i-40 is the meteor crater  http://www.meteorcrater.com.
i think its privately owned but it is a fun stop.  i'd allow about 1-2
hours.  there is an rv park nearby.

you should do all of the touristy things while in socal.  a trip down
to san diego, see a couple of tv shows being filmed although many may
be on hiatus in june.  when we were there many moons ago we had no
toruble scoring free tickets to all sorts of shows being taped but
getting tix to the good stuff like leno or wheel of fortune can be
difficult.  you should write or call ahead now for those tix.  don't
miss the farmer's market, la brea tar pits, the hollywood walk of fame
(watch out for the hookers ;o)), etc.  

the hearst castle (http://www.hearstcastle.com/) is about 5 hours
north of la at san simeon.  you wanna see opulence...see hearst
castle.

try to see a dodger game at dodge stadium.  their home dates in june
are 1-7, 20-25.  a bad day at any baseball park is better then any
other day.  ;o)

your trip home via 1-15 and i-70 will take you thru las vegas, denver,
topeka, kc, st. louis, indianapolis, dayton and harrisburg, pa.
personally, i'd go farther north on i-15 to i-90 and come back home
that way.  it'd take you farther north than you probably want but
you'd be going home thru some might pretty country and be able to see
little bighorn battlefield, devils tower, the black hills, mount
rushmore, spearfish canyon, wall drug, badlands np, the strategic air
command museum outside of rapid city and more.  but time is precious.

along i-15/i-70 i'd take a run thru rocky mountain np.  if you've
never been you should do this.  be sure to ask if a 34' MH might be a
stretch on some of the park roads as its been a lonnnng time since we
drive thru the park.  if you have a toad it will be a piece of cake.
estes park is a tourist trap as are most towns situated outside
national parks (keystone, gatlinburg, etc). but once in the park the
pain that is estes park will become worthwhile.  your kids will love
estes park.  if you traverse the park from west to east you won't
double back on yourself.  

buffalo bill's gravesite is located near golden, co
(http://www.buffalobill.org/), about 30 miles or so west of denver off
i-70.  

there is a wonderful hot springs at glenwood springs, co
(http://www.hotspringspool.com/), about 70 miles west of denver off
i-70.  doc holliday is also buried in glenwood springs.  he died there
in his sleep from TB (http://www.fpcc.net/~sgrimm/doc_holliday.htm).
the hot springs and pool is a great way to relax and de-stress.  

i'd also make a stop in st. jo, missouri to see the pony express
musemn.  its not too far off of i-70.  allow about an hour.  

the st. louis zoo is world renowned as is the muny opera
(http://www.muny.org/).  don't think of this as just opera.  they do
all sorts of musicals.  its an outdoor theatre in beautiful forest
park and there's nothing like spending a night there under the stars.

in dayton a must see if the us air force museum at wright-pat air
force base (http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/).  there are hundreds of
aircraft from all eras in several buidlings.  they also have an imax
theatre that is a must see.  there are additional aircraft in an annex
which is accessible only by shuttle bus.  the bus is free, as i
recall, but since 9/11 each passenger over 18 needs a photo id.  you
can do this museum in 4 hours but it always takes us longer.  the koa
outside of dayton (actually in brookville) is pricey but quiet and
clean.  

top off the trip with a visit to chocolate town in hershey, pa
(http://www.hersheypa.com/).  its not too far off of i-70 just a bit
east of harrisburg.  i'd allow 1-2 hours.  there is a nearby rv park.

good luck and have a great time.

73,
rich, n9dko

How do you come up with that many miles?  I put it in to Rand too and if i
go I-40 all the way and then come back through Denver and St Louis it only
comes out at about 4800 from Hickory , NC.

I am leaning toward not doing the RV trip as suggested.  We live 45 minutes
from the Blue Ridge Parkway so I have done that too many times.  Thanks for
all the input.

You forgot the pedophilia....

<canoli@sbcglobal.net> wrote  "\

Wrong - It's in that little Mexican Border Town.

--
wingnut