Road trip Portland to Florida May-June

Been planning the ultimate road trip for years and finally booked our flights last week. Starting 14th May in Portland Or and ending in Ft Laurderdale Fl on 4th June. Hoping to pick up a %26#39;drive-away%26#39; but looking for really cheap car hire as a back up. The aim is to see as much of real America as we can on the smallest budget. Happy to pick up cheap hotel/B%26amp;B vouchers etc on the way and even sleep in the car (occasionally).

We will pick up any extra clothes etc. from thrift stores and make the most of %26#39;eat all you want%26#39; diners.

Can anyone help us with the first leg...heading across Oregon Friday-Saturday so looking for flea markets or events where we can mingle and look for bargains. Loved the posts about the Oregon trail. Oh and if anyone has a vehicle they want driving somewhere south west...

Robin

Road trip Portland to Florida May-June

I can only say .... We did this when we moved to Oregon from Florida. We have a large dog and did not want to fly him , so we drove our car across the United States, Pup riding in the back..

We took only 5 days because we wanted to Get to Portland, and 5 days was enough for the dog. But we still got to see a large part of the country and although I was born and lived in the United States, it was fantastic to see it that way. I recommend it for everyone, visitors and citizens alike.

We stayed in La Quinta hotels because they allow dogs. They also are very well priced. Not knowing your budget, it might not be the right price but you can look .

There are diners and fast food places and interesting little cafes in every town across America, you can eat well and cheaply.

To tell the truth, most American restaurants and diners, put waay too much food on the plate so I don%26#39;t know if you will even be able to do an All You Can Eat place justice :)

We took Interstate Hwy #80 and #84.. we went through Utah, Montana, Wyoming, ( you will see cattle and antelope and horses and cowboys) and Nebraska where I saw more fields of grain than I thought possible, and Missouri and Tennessee and Georgia and other states that I can%26#39;t remember right this minute.

Without fail, everyone we met and talked to was friendly, curious about the dog and why we were driving and very nice.

The car thing sounds like it will be the most difficult.. no idea s on that.

Wishing you Great Good Luck on this adventure.. it will be something to remember all your lives :)

Road trip Portland to Florida May-June

Thanks Scarlett. I drove across the southern states a few years ago and, like you, found American hospitality (and friendly curiosity) outstanding. Best bits were finding a local car show and a farmers market, the Robins USAF Base in Georgia then %26#39;tubing%26#39; (drifing) down the Ichetuckney River. We will go there again this time but would like to visit as many States (and listen to local radio stations) as we can along the way.

Well, I have to look at my list but we went north from Florida to Tennessee then west to Missouri then north west .. it was August so we didn%26#39;t want to take the Southern route.. even so, it was boiling hot at some places when we stopped.

You want to be sure your car is up to a long drive and not going to have tire or other difficulties.. there are stretches on those highways where you don%26#39;t see homes or stores or gas stations.

Best of luck ... I hope you post about it here , with photos :)

That is a good time of year for this trip. We have moved cross country several times, taking different routes each time. Do you have a specific route in mind yet? We did the southern route once in October. That didn%26#39;t do much for me though. We did the northern route in June another year and we really loved that. Especially from about the Great Lakes westward. Stopping at the Salem Sue Cow in North Dakota was one of those different stops, lol, but with fun memories:) Or the huge basket shapped office building in Dresden, Ohio, lol! I love how there are so many odd places like these around and it is great to see what all is out there.

Sounds like fun!!!

The fastest way to get thru Oregon east bound is I-84. This will be a nice drive, you will get to go through the COlumbia River Gorge and then on through the Blue Mountains in NE Oregon and beyond to Idaho.

If you want to see real %26#39;Americana%26#39; you can see it on the interstate.l Depending on how adventourous you are and you have a dependable car, you may want to try going South of Portland on I-5 to Hwy 20 and on to Bend. Then you can choose to go keep going on Hwy 20-this area is extremely remote-dry and sagebrushy, but beautiful in its own way. Or from Bend you could take hwy 26 and go into the mountains and the John Day Valley-you could visit the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, which are kind of interesting. You will definetly see cowboys out there and may get stuck in a cattle drive :)

Where are you going after Oregon? If you go through Texas, you may want to stop in Amarillo to the Big Texan Restaurant. That places is about as Americana as you can get. Also might want to check out the Cadallac Ranch.

Maybe you%26#39;ve already seen this website if you want extreme amaricana

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and helpful ideas, I think we are going across Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming,Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and then depending on time will work our way south to Florida. I see some places I have heard of (Boulder/Denver, St Louis, Nashville etc.) but looking to collect an album full of memories, a scenic view, a town street some local people from each state...and a bunch of experiences to remember. Cowboys and deserted highways, riverbanks and town squares, native Americans and rednecks too.

I guess the interstates 84/80 to cover the miles, with excursions is the way to go, I%26#39;m a professional driver these days so its a bit of a ';bus-man%26#39;s holiday'; ( I don%26#39;t know if that saying works in the USA).

We were driving along the highway one day when huge truck after huge truck past us with cattle in them.. big modern trucks but with the sides open , you could see all the cattle.

On the side of the truck cab it said Cattle Drive. lol... times certainly did change !

We saw cattle grazing with little antelope right by their sides, in Oklahoma we saw that every house had a horse, no matter how tiny the home, there was a tiny barn, corral and horse.. and it seemed like every man in every town wore a cowboy hat.

We did see a small (real) cattle drive, right along the side of the highway, men on horses, waving their hats and hurrying along a small herd of cattle, kicking up lots of dust.. my camera was exhausted by the time that trip was over !

Look for the miles of Wind Turbines (I think in Utah)...

shoestring--That is the route, although opposite direction, that we took when we moved from Florida to Idaho. The one thing that we still joke about from that trip was the rest stops in Kentucky. We referred to them as phantom rest stops because they did not have any restrooms/facilities at all. Just a place to pull over and park and rest, lol! I was pregnant and so this was important to me. After a few tries, we figured out that we needed to stop at a restaurant or gas station to find any facilities.

Thanks...that could be a priceless tip...may be someone should alert the State of Kentucky of the potential danger posed by motorists with explosively full bladders...kind of distracts ones attention.

Hi shoestring, hah! get the screen name, LOL.

What a fun journey you%26#39;ve got in mind :-)

Lodging ideas . . . have you checked into hostels? Look at Hostelling International (USA). If you don%26#39;t mind dorm-style they are super-cheap ($15 pppn) and they include Continental breakfast. They also have private rooms, those are more $ of course, but still cheap. B%26amp;B%26#39;s here are *not* cheap - they tend to be more on the lines of deluxe romantic places.

Motel 6 motels are very basic but pretty dependable and range from about $40 to $60 for two people. www.motel6.com

Sleep in the car? Hmmmm, well, it%26#39;s okay in highway rest stops in most states. Perfectly safe in most areas, just use caution! Some truck stops will allow it and they also have hot showers and inexpensive food, often buffets. You%26#39;ll see a real slice of ';Americana'; at truck stops!

Also keep in mind campgrounds - there are a variety of them: National, State, county, private. Some don%26#39;t allow sleeping in a car, but they nearly all have hot showers (for a small fee, have quarters with you) and will be quiet and fairly cheap. In smaller towns, check into county fairgrounds, some allow camping.

All you can eat food? Okay, look at this website, click on a state (don%26#39;t worry about a town) and print off the results for the states you%26#39;ll be in!

http://www.goldencorral.com/locator/

These are *outstanding* buffets located in many states, and offer really good food: many types of main courses, soups, veggies, salads, breads, desserts - just a HUGE selection of everything. Cost is about $10 per person, plus your drink.

Also many Indian casinos offer buffets. Additionally, the chain burger places, you know McD%26#39;s, Burger King, Wendy%26#39;s, and so on seem to all have their ';dollar menus';, where you can get burgers or other items for only $1 each.

Goodwill is the biggest and nicest of the ';thift shops';, there are others as well. I%26#39;d suggest you look in any WalMart as well for very inexpensive clothing, sundries and other stuff. You might also want to buy (at WalMart) a small ice chest to carry sandwich supplies you can purchase at grocery stores or at a ';Super'; WalMart.

As far as a car, you%26#39;ll probably be stuck with a rental. See if you can find anything that will work with this firm:

http://www.rentawreck.com/