The 10 “MUST DO” Stops on the Trip
Here are the 10 Places On The Trip That Are “Musts” And Why
1. Kansas City, KS
Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives along with No Reservations were some of John’s favorite shows. Of course…. they were about good food! We planned to take trips to eat at some of the places featured on the shows. 
One of those places is Joe’s BBQ in Kansas City. Because I will need to make overnight stops on my way to the first major destination – Taylorsville, CA, Kansas City was an obvious choice. I’m looking forward to some of their famous burnt ends (but they may not have any on the day I’m there). I’m also looking forward to meeting up with a new friend while I’m there!
2. Taylorsville, CA
This destination is what sparked the whole idea of this trip for me. When John was in the hospital last summer, he wanted to pack up CeeCee the minute our school year ended and head out to the town in California where our daughter moved to. We hadn’t been there to see it yet, making it the perfect getaway. When I decided to still take the trip, I thought about how I would already be out west and how I could then also go to some other “Must See” places John and I had planned to go to and this 83 Day Trip Around North America was born!
3.Seattle, WA
The littles have gone to a one week summer camp for the past two years. 
Last year, we planned to drop them off at camp, hop onto an Amtrak train and spend the next six days watching the world calmly go by. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our plans because John was in the hospital over the days that we had purchased our tickets. I’ll go there for both of us and visit the Pike Place Market, just like all good tourists do!
4. Zion National Park This was not originally a top ten destination, in fact I had no plans to go to this park until my oldest daughter mentioned it to me. 
When I started looking at the park and what it had to offer, I quickly fell in love with the Narrows hike and decided that it was a “must do!”
5. Grand Canyon National Park John and I had planned to visit the Grand Canyon a few years ago, but had to cancel our plans because of my mother’s deteriorating 
health. We had been really excited about the trip, had begun packing and preparing when at the last moment our plans were forced to change. I’m going there to “get that trip back.”
6. Albuquerque, NM John was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2008. Just before this diagnosis, he went to Albuquerque for a conference. 
He loved it there and for years he spoke about how he wanted to take me there to sample the food and see the green and red chilis. I’m finally able to get there now.
7. Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, NM When I was very young, my father was a boy scout leader. A very dedicated, serious one from what I have learned. He died when I was seven years old, 
but a few years before that he took the whole family to the Philmont Scout Ranch so that he could participate in different trainings. According to the stories I was told, I was about three years old at the time and I got lost in the bathroom so many times that the almost everyone in camp knew who I belonged to. I’m looking forward to stopping there to see this place as an adult as I have no memories of being there.
8. Galveston, TX When our spring break trip to the Grand Canyon was cancelled, we decided that the next opportunity we had for a spring break trip, 
we would go to Galveston. We wanted to go to the ocean and had already seen much of the Altantic Coast, so the Gulf was calling our names (as was the shrimp we knew we would get to eat). We planned to go in Spring 2017, but John’s leg was already hurting so much that he didn’t think he could travel for such a distance. I’ll be getting that destination back for us as well.
9. Exeter, NH The last two destinations were planned as one trip, also that never happened. I learned that some of my ancestors came to this country as early as the 1630s, and were actively involved in the government of Exeter and the state of New Hampshire, as well as signed the constitution. I had always been told that there was a big family connection in the East, but when I found out about all of this, I wanted to stop at the town and see what was all there, historically speaking. This trip was supposed to happen in the summer of 2017, but John was in the hospital and couldn’t travel.
10. Acadia National Park And… the destination that is forcing me to drive from one coast to the other is this national park. I had convinced John that he wanted to go here for a trip. He wasn’t enthused because we had already driven to Vermont and he had no desire to make the trip again, 
even if it ended up in such a beautiful destination as Acadia. I bribed him by saying we could stop so that he could spend more time at the Baseball Hall of Fame – HA! I know his achilles heel! Acadia is the final MUST on this trip.
I have a bunch of other locations that I plan to visit, but let’s be honest. With 10,000 miles to drive in 83 days, I will only be spending 2 or 3 days in a location before I will have to move on. If, we decide that we REALLY like it at any specific place, I want the flexibility to give us more time. On the opposite end, if we arrive somewhere and find out that it isn’t what we wanted or expected, I want the freedom to move on to another destination.
So, while the map shows 24 locations
(there is no number 1 as everyone keeps reminding me. Number 1 is “home” and is located underneath number 24 on the map), I may not get to them all. But I WILL get to all 10 on this list! I hope!
If you are interested in learning more about RVing, here’s Everything You Need to Know!
