It's that time of year again, time to get really serious about planning my cross-country road trip with my family.
I'm going NY > CA, I plan to take a more southern route this time. I have a whole big chunk of the south-central part of the country that I haven't really been to yet (Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas & New Mexico,) I plan to remedy that somewhat over the course of this trip.
I don't really have very much of a plan yet.
I'm thinking to go NY > Great Smokey Mountains National Park > Nashville, TN and head west from there.
On the western end, I'm kinda leaning toward hitting up the four corners monument > Grand Canyon north rim > maybe a quick stop in Zion NP > LAX
My questions are:
1. Is there anything in MS, AR, MO, KS, OK or northern TX worth seeing/doing? (I'm considering possibly Crater of Diamonds State Park and/or Hot Springs National Park in AR)
2. What are the must-sees in New Mexico?
3. Other than the Grand Canyon and Sedona, what are the best sights/activities in AZ?
(for 2 & 3 I'm looking for things for which I won't need to pay a fortune to some Indian tribe...)