How can we describe the excitement two weeks before we start the biggest road trip of our lives? It’s paralyzing as we deal with sleepless nights and days that seem to drag on and on.
It’s a terrible thing to wish away the days, just to realise how fast they’re really disappearing. But seriously, I hate waiting and the anticipation of this trip is making the wait almost as unbearable as the wait for my wedding day and the birth of our children.
We have a budget and a few possible routes planned out, but I have a feeling that this trip is going to be full of curve balls.
Before we get down to the road trip bucket list, let’s give you the details of our trip.
We fly return with Virgin from Dublin via London direct to San Francisco from 19 September to 18 December. We booked a 25ft Class C motorhome with El Monte RV to pick up in San Francisco and must return it there 6 weeks later. Nothing else is booked or confirmed after that. We only have hotels booked for our arrival and departure nights in San Francisco.
This is our soon to be tickable bucket list. A wish list of things we hope to do on our USA road trip. They are realistic. Finally do-able. Almost no longer only a dream.
Bucket List – Road Trip USA
- RV across America.
- Watch an American Football game somewhere. Anywhere. Or a Cubs baseball game in Chicago.
- Linedance in a real country & western cowboy bar (maybe The Cowboys Dance Hall in San Antonio?). Update: Went to Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth, a family-friendly honky tonk, but couldn’t stay and dance with kids in tow. Babysitter dilemma.
- See a Rodeo and watch a real cowboy riding a bull. Update: Went to a Wild West Cowboy show and watched professional Bull riding at Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth.
- Take a selfie on Route 66.
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Eat a Texan steak in Texas in a Texan steakhouse.The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo. - Visit a working ranch.
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Say “Houston, we have lift-off” in Houston at the space station.Went to Houston Space Center in Texas. -
Swim in a Great Lake.Too cold to swim, but we were there at Lake Michigan with the Chicago skyline in the background. - S
ee Old Faithful in action at Yellowstone.Yha! Done that. -
Cruise down the Mississipi river.On my birthday on the award-winning Creole Queen in New Orleans. - Sing “Country Roads, Take Me Home” while road tripping through West Virginia.
- Find out what they are and try; corndogs, clam chowder, sloppy joes, key lime pie, cobb salad,
salt water taffy. Update: Love salt water taffy. First try in Savannah, GA. Have real S’mores around a campfire.- See the Fall Colors as we travel across the north.
- Feel the mist of Niagara Falls on our cheeks.
- Drive Big Sur along Highway 1 on the Californian coast from San Simeon to Monterey.
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See the fall bird migration. Some of it. Not quite what we expected. - Get freaked out at Alcatraz.
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Visit as many national parks as possible! At least the big ones: Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Everglades, Smokies.Done - Help the kids get as many junior ranger badges as we can get.
- Visit a plantation in the deep South.
Drive Florida’s scenic coastal Highway 1 to Key West.- Learn to surf in Hawaii / LA or Miami
Hug a giant sequoia tree.- Visit Winter and her daughter in Clearwater, Florida. Watch the movie ‘A Dolphin’s Tale’ if you don’t know who Winter is. Update: We skipped this to go find Manatees in Crystal River.
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High five Yogi and Boo-Boo in any Jellystone park.At North Texas Jellystone Park near Fort Worth. A family selfie with Micky at Disney World.- Listen to live country music in Nashville.
- Walk in the ancient ruins of the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. Update: The cliff dwelling tours were closed for the season, but B and I will be back to do this properly one summer in our bright future.
We’ll keep a daily diary so make sure you follow us here and on social media to keep up.
