Proposed trip to the USA

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Blue:               Proposed itinerary

Our itinerary allows us to make changes within the general route to incorporate other points of interest or of significance that will be suggested or obvious as we proceed.  We will no doubt heed the advice of locals and others better informed than ourselves so that we visit and experience as much of the scenery and culture as time permits.

We have allowed ten weeks to complete the journey from Westminster to Los Angeles, estimating that our route will cover approximately 5,000 miles.  This will mean that an average of 500 miles per week needs to be covered which relates to a leisurely daily average of 72 miles (116 klms).

Our accommodation will be catered for with Travel Trailers (Caravans) which will be purchased from a local source in the USA.  Manufacturers or Dealers are invited to submit a proposal should they have suitable units available in June 2009.  Overnight stopovers will be mainly RV Parks or other similar recognized facilities.

Weeks 1 and 2

The trip will start from the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster on Saturday 27th June, 2009.

A stopover at West Friendship, then west through Frederick, Hancock, Cumberland and Glansville – and into West Virginia from Oakland.  A short trip across West Virginia to the Ohio River and then Northwards into the Amish community areas around Wooster.

Further north to the Perrysburg area, then across to Archbold before heading towards Indiana near Fort Wayne.  A south-west direction across Indiana from Fort Wayne to Illinois where we will attend the I & I Farm Days event at Penfield over the period 9th to 13th July 2009.

Weeks 3 and 4

After Penfield we return to Indiana and travel towards Louisville, taking in the various attractions on the way.  A short journey south through Kentucky and its well known equine establishments will lead us down to the musical centre at Nashville, Tennessee.

Our journey then heads northwards across to Cape Girardeau, Perryville and Chester where we will meet up with several local groups.  Still travelling north and on the east side of St Louis we will turn West to the Mississippi River around Carlinville.  A route along the Mississippi River will take us to Moline and the John Deere establishment.

Weeks 5 and 6

Our northward journey continues to Dubuque and from there a quick visit to the air show at Oshkosh in Wisconsin.  From Dubuque it’s then a westerly direction across Iowa, through Waterloo and to the Clarion area.  Due south to Des Moines then across to Omaha before heading south again towards Kansas City.  The Smoky Hill Wagon Trail then becomes our route and we will follow it where possible from Bonner Springs through to the Colorado border.

Weeks 7 and 8

From the Colorado border we travel through Cheyenne Wells, Limon and Castle Rock.  Our route from Castle Rock to Loveland will necessitate a detour around Denver to avoid the highway system.  At Loveland we will visit the Oregon-California Trails Association Convention being held on 18th August.

To Cheyenne, Casper and across to the South Pass before heading southwards towards Salt Lake City.  Further south with the National Parks on our schedule and finally into Kanab and then the Grand Canyon.

Weeks 9 and 10

Following the Grand Canyon experience our travels then turn west to take in the sights and attractions of Las Vegas before leaving for our final destination of Los Angeles.