The Best of List

While traveling across the US, we came across some really fantastic views, adventures, people, bargains, etc. I thought I would share some of the "Best of..." on the blog.

Best Investments for Travelers
Join AAA!!! We saved a lot of money on hotels (20% on most Best Westerns and 10% on other rooms) and attractions. In addition, the travel books were very good and free. We also got maps of all the states we traveled through which was a good thing since we didn't travel a lot of highways so we didn't hit that many welcome centers.

(runner-up) Buy a National Park Pass!!! The pass cost $80 but allows you to get into all parks for free. It also offers discounts at some parks, like taking the elevator up in the Gateway Arch.

Best Travel Book for the US
"Eyewitness Travel Guide USA" is the book I found most useful to select things to do in each state. I purchased 4 US travel/roadtrip books a few years ago to start my wishlists for this trip. After looking through them all in detail, I picked two to take on the trip. I used this book even more than the AAA books. The great thing about this book is it is organized by region and has the best things to do in each state, each major city, each major park area (national and state), and scenic routes. The book also includes pictures. If you are traveling across the US, I would highly recommend this book. We found places that were amazing based on this book that we would have never gone to based on AAA or any other travel book I have.

Best electronic device
Kevin's Sony Ericsson W760i with unlimited data. Although we only made one or two phone calls each week, we used this phone a lot. We used it to check our home email a couple of times a day. I used it frequently to find hotels on hotels.com while Kevin was driving to our new destination. We used it as a modem when the hotel had poor wi-fi or wanted to charge for Internet connectivity. Kevin listened to music when we were in remote locations with no TV. It also has a great camera.

Best Adventure
Taking a dune buggy ride in Oregon. This was better than any roller coaster you have ever been on.

Best Nights Sleep
The Hot Springs Inn in Ouray, Colorado. Not only did they have the best bed (king cloud 9 pillow top) and the best pillow, but there was a river outside the window offering soothing sound effects.

Best Deal
After booking 10 nights of $50-$80 rooms on hotels.com, we stayed in a $275 room at the Sheraton overlooking Niagara Falls for free.

Best Travel Websites

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ - if you have a destination in mind. This website will help you find a good place to stay, a good place to eat, and the best things to do. We found the Hot Springs Inn in Ouray and the photography tour of Antelope Canyon on Tripadvisor.

http://www.aaa.com/ - Internet Trip Ticket if you do not have a destination in mind but you are driving. This site will let you create a trip ticket with multiple destinations. It will give you driving directions and driving times. My favorite feature is that it will show all AAA approved lodging on the map and allow you to make reservations from the map. This is great if you have a long distance between destinations and are looking for a stop over in between.