How long is a leg? A week? A month? The top half of the country? Some percentage of the whole trip? Having never traveled for an entire year, we really have no idea how to divide up and plan this trip into manageable chunks. We don’t want to overplan (we are free! we can go anywhere!) but we also don’t want to get stuck with no place to park the Woodebago (we are exhausted! it’s raining! we might strangle the kids!).
So we are planning legs as we go, organized only by our rough sketch on our U.S. map and some long-standing reservations we have at a few of the big national parks (we need, for example, to get to Yellowstone by the end of August, and then to Glacier by Labor Day).
Our first leg looks like this:
July 26 and 27th: Pittsburgh! We have reservations at a local campground and plan to set up the Woodebago, unhook the toad (who really needs a name) and explore Pittsburgh. Topping the list are the Carnegie Museums and the very first Carnegie Library. Any great eats in Pittsburgh?
We leave Pittsburgh and head through Erie, which has gained fame among crossword puzzle enthusiasts (4 letter Pennsylvania port-city) but otherwise seems to be just a nice small city on Lake Erie. We may stay here, or may keep going to our next destination…
Buffalo is the hometown of a few close friends, so we have to at least stop by and cover a few bases. We’re told to go to Ted’s for hotdogs, or to stop at “Charlie the Butcher” by the airport for Beef on Weck sandwiches, and to also stroll the mansions and maybe check out the canalside.
Then we are on to Niagara, where we’ll be staying for a couple of days at a state park on the Niagara river. The kids are crazy for the barrel-over-the-falls stories so no doubt there will be some silly related picture forthcoming. Otherwise, it’s Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds and maybe the aquarium.
Crossing into Ontario, we will be driving along the Georgian Bay to Parry Sound, with plans to go paddling, visit the Bobby Orr museum, and listen to whatever’s happening at the festival of the sound.
From Parry, we head via Sudbury or Spragge (still don’t know which…) to Sault Ste Marie. We had considered continuing west and heading down Wisconsin but a dear friend and her Michigan-based family convinced us to go the Michigan route. So we will cross back over at SSM, visiting the Soo Locks one day and Mackinac Island the next.
We will head down along Lake Michigan to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for a few days, and then via Grand Rapids towards Chicago.
That seems like a long enough first leg…
BigTrip 
https://www.primantibros.com/
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/travel/what-to-do-in-36-hours-in-pittsburgh.html?&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0
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Could you tell Elian that in minecraft pe I got full diamond armor with a diamond sword and diamond blocks.
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Enjoy your trip in three day
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You got it Omar!
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Elian says: Ahhhhhh!!!!!! Tell me how!!!! Cheat codes, gorge, mine?
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Departing day Enjoy again
Omar
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A abandoned mine😁😁😁🙌😆
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The pictures messed up =-(
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Yay for Buffalo!! Love me some Sahlen’s at Teds and def for beef on weck! Extra horseradish. Yum. Canalside is supposed to be really great this year. If you can do a Drive In! We’re lucky to have three (!) in the WNY area. Drive safe!
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Also, skip the aquarium in niagara – not all that great (at least that’s what I remember) Instead hit up old fort niagara, artpark, or on the Canadian side, the butterfly conservatory. And if the kids are itching for rides, Fantasy Island on Grand Island is a nice park for their age… They have a water park too.
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I am so happy for you both. This will be a wonderful trip. America is beautiful from sea to shining sea. We did a 6 week drive cross country and we will never forget it. We went across on route 70 through Denver and down into Las Vegas, Utah, and San Diego, spent a week in Monterey and back to San Diego through the Big Sur. Took the southern route back through Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and up. Highlights were Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, all of California, Sedona, Grand canyon, the drive from Denver to Las Vegas, and the farmlands of Kansas. Make sure you take your children to both San Diego Zoos. They are awesome. Have a wonderful time. Hope to see you sometime in a year or two to hear all about it.
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Thanks for the ideas and well-wishes. We are really looking forward to the trip!
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So many great places in Pittsburgh!!! Here are a few more:
Carnegie Science Center: http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/
Point State Park (esp. if the fountain is on!): http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/point/
Ride the incline!: http://www.stationsquare.com/info/inclines
While you’re at the top of the incline, check out the views from Mt. Washington: http://www.visitpittsburgh.com/about-pittsburgh/neighborhoods/mt-washington/
PNC Park is THE best ballpark (despite the unfortunate name): http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/pit/ballpark/
The Warhol Museum: http://www.warhol.org/
Heinz History Center: http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/
National Aviary (also right next to the Children’s Museum): https://www.aviary.org/
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens: https://phipps.conservatory.org/
Outside the city is Fallingwater: http://www.fallingwater.org/
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And antoinettes in Buffalo for famous buffalo “sponge candy” and ice cream! http://antoinettesbuffalo.com. Try light and dark Choco. You won’t be disAppointed to have it to snack on during next leg of the trip!
Another White family favorite is John & Mary’s Subs: http://johnandmarys.com
And Ted’s. Always Ted’s whenever we go back there (dad is from Cheektowaga!).
Have fun!
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