Twenty years ago, when I was a teenager, my mother, father, brother and I
spent a year working our way through the fifty states during the
bicentennial year, traveling in of all things, a VW beetle. ('Course we
flew to Hawaii! Or actually the plane did). My mother, a naturalized
citizen and native of Bogota, Colombia, wanted us to appreciate our
country and share her patriotism. Our family financed the journey by
working as fruit pickers, migrant workers, restaurant help, etc. Although
we started our adventure very quietly, not sure if we would be able to
complete it, before it was over we were featured in many newspapers and
television shows. I wrote about the adventure in Seventeen magazine. It
was an amazing time ...

I grew up to be a television journalist and publisher of small regional
newspapers. Now I plan to repeat the adventure with my own family   my
husband, three-year-old son, and 11-year-old daughter. Because of the
children's ages, we probably won't be able to work ... but have to be
extremely frugal on the road. We too want our youngsters to appreciate
their country ... learn its history and geography first-hand ... and share
what they learn with other youngsters. We will home school our daughter on
the road.

We plan to document this trip in print and through video ... and as we
prepare for our July 4th departure (for a July 4 return) we are busily
researching the country.

The reason for this mega-note is to ask for your help. We want to know the
best places to go ... especially those with minimal or no cost involved.
Tell us about your cities and towns! We especially look forward to hearing
about America's little known jewels. We'll probably be camping out a lot
also, or sleeping in our vehicle, so we'll also want to know your favorite
places for overnight stays ... especially the free ones. We're not
picky...we just want to be successful at experiencing all of America in
one year. We also hope to make this a cybertrip ... visiting the places
and people we learn about through the internet.

Any and all help would be appreciated! Reply here ... or e-mail
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Marlene