Week 1: Utah to the Great Lakes
We left at 3pm on a Thursday and drove until we hit Rawlins, Wyoming, and slept in the van. That's how we start every big trip. Get out of the house, get a few hours behind you, deal with the rest tomorrow. (More on how we get up and go here: bellebucket.com/the-oneal-mobile.)
Then Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, and Badlands National Park in South Dakota. If you've never been, the Badlands at golden hour will make you pull over and cry a little.
From there it was a long day to Winter Quarters in Nebraska, where we spent the day at the temple. Then Wisconsin, which I'd never thought much about, and it turns out Mukwonago has a bakery called The Elegant Farmer that sells apple pie baked IN A PAPER BAG. We showered at Lake Geneva. Van life with kids is glamorous.
Chicago was one afternoon and that was the plan. The Bean, Giordano's deep dish (call ahead, you guys, the wait is real), Garrett's popcorn, drive along the lake. Then we crossed into Michigan and slept at Warren Dunes State Park so we could hike the dunes in the morning.
Week 2: Ohio, Niagara Falls, and upstate New York
Kirtland, Ohio was a church history morning for us, then we pushed up to Niagara Falls and crossed into Canada for the night. We stayed at the Wyndham Grand Fallsview on points and did the boat ride the next morning. Do the Canadian side. I will not be taking questions.
Palmyra, New York was the Sacred Grove and the temple, and then we drove to Albany to pick up my friend Emily at the airport because she was joining us for NYC. First though, Saratoga Springs. An apple orchard, cider donuts, sandwiches at Putnam Market, and we thrifted outfits for the city because I wanted the kids to feel cute in New York.
Week 3: New York City with kids, and a rest day
My number one tip for taking kids to New York City on a road trip: don't drive the van in. We parked in Poughkeepsie and took the Metro North train into Grand Central. The kids thought the train was the best part of the whole trip and it cost almost nothing.
We did Times Square, John's pizza, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, bagels, Magnolia Bakery, the temple, the big toy store and the big candy store. One night at the Marriott Marquis (points again) and back on the train the next day.
Then we dropped Emily at the airport at 5:30am and took a full rest day in Albany. Laundry, cleaning out the van, returning things, thrifting. Build these in. You NEED them. A rest day every week or so is the only reason we made it seven weeks without anybody losing it, and by anybody I mean me.
Week 3, part two: New England in October
This was the part of the trip I'd been dreaming about for years. If you only do one piece of this itinerary, do this piece, in October, and thank me later.
Stowe, Vermont was Smugglers' Notch, a corn maze at Percy Farm, Burtt's apple orchard, the apple cider donuts at Cold Hollow (the best ones we had the entire trip, and we had a lot), Ben and Jerry's, and a maple syrup tour in the woods.
North Conway, New Hampshire was the Conway Scenic Railroad. Then Maine, where we got up in the dark for sunrise in York, walked the Marginal Way cliff path in Ogunquit, ate lobster in Perkins Cove and got clam chowder to go.
Salem, Massachusetts the week before Halloween is exactly as fun as you'd think. We wore costumes. We found the Hocus Pocus house on Essex Street and did the witch museum and the old burying point cemetery and a ghost tour. Book the Salem Witch Museum tickets the night before at 10pm when they release them. I learned this the hard way. (We listened to the witch trials story on the drive in and it made the whole town come alive for the kids, I wrote about that here: bellebucket.com/roadschooling.)
Boston was the Freedom Trail, Mike's Pastry, and the Tea Party museum, then Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. Newport, Rhode Island was church, breakfast at Belle's Cafe (I mean, obviously), the Cliff Walk, touring The Breakers, and the Ocean Drive with soft serve. Mystic, Connecticut was a slow afternoon with a cider mill and painting pumpkins. And then New Milford, Connecticut, which is the closest you'll get to walking around Stars Hollow. We got hot cocoa and I made the kids film reels with me and they were mostly good sports about it.
Week 4: Philly to Washington D.C.
Philadelphia in one day: the Rocky steps at the art museum, the Liberty Bell, cheesesteaks. We slept in Newark, Delaware and took the next day easy.
Then D.C., where Chris flew in to meet us, because a man who works for a living can't do seven weeks in a van with us and I have made my peace with that. We trick or treated in the suburbs on Halloween, then spent three days doing the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the museum of American history, the Holocaust museum, the Bible museum, a Capitol tour, and a day trip to Gettysburg. We stayed at the Residence Inn downtown on points and it had a kitchen, which with six kids is everything.
We finished the week at Great Wolf Lodge in Maryland because after four weeks the kids had earned a water park and so had I.
Week 5: down the East Coast
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia for a morning, Richmond, Virginia for a slow day, and then two nights in Wilmington, North Carolina. If you know, you know. We found the boardwalk and filmed a lot of very silly beach videos.
Chris flew back in to Greenville, South Carolina and we drove straight up to Asheville for Biltmore at Christmastime. They decorate that house early and it's worth planning your whole trip around.
Week 6: the Smoky Mountains and home to Georgia
Three nights in a cabin in Pigeon Forge with a hot tub, Dollywood, and the cinnamon bread. I wrote a whole post about Dolly and what she taught my kids (read it here), so go read that one. This is also where we got attacked by a bear. I'm not kidding. There's a post coming.
Then Franklin, Tennessee for a night, Huntsville, Alabama for lunch and Goo Goo Clusters, and four days in Loganville, Georgia with Chris's family for an early Thanksgiving and, praise the Lord, a washing machine.
Week 7: the Gulf Coast and the long drive home
Two beach days on the Gulf in Florida. Then a sprint through the cutest towns you've never heard of: Fairhope, Alabama (CUTEST TOWN, I wrote it in the spreadsheet in caps), Pass Christian, Mississippi, a Buc-ee's stop, and one morning in New Orleans for beignets at Cafe du Monde and a walk through the French Quarter before the crowds.
Then Texas. Waco for Magnolia and banana pudding, Dallas for the night, up through Oklahoma City, Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and Noel, Missouri, and then one ten hour push to Colorado Springs, where we lived when Chris was in the Army. We drove past our old house and went to church at our old ward. Grand Junction the next night, and home to Eagle Mountain on the 26th.
What I'd tell you before you plan yours
Book the temples and the tickets before you leave. Every NEED TO BOOK!!! in my spreadsheet turned into a scramble on the road.
Sleep in the van as much as you can and spend the points on the nights that matter (Niagara, NYC, D.C.). We paid $0 for every hotel on this trip that I cared about, and I'll show you exactly how at bellebucket.com/points.
Put a rest day in every week. Laundry, thrifting, nothing planned.
Bring a real power station so nobody's fighting over a phone charger for seven weeks. Ours is here: bellebucket.com/jackery-review.
And let the kids pick one thing per state. That's why Chicago got popcorn and Mystic got pumpkin painting.
Everything we packed for this trip is in the van list (bellebucket.com/road-trip-essentials), and the fall bucket lists we checked off along the way are at bellebucket.com/fall. Tell me where you'd go. I'm already planning the next one.
xo, Amy
