Cross-Country Road Trip

I have always loved to travel. The majority of my "Bucket List" consists of places I want to visit and things I want to try there. I have been lucky enough to travel to some really amazing places on 4 different continents and I plan to visit the other 3 at some point in my life :) But first, I want to see where I live... I have been to embarrassingly few states aside from California and before I grow up and get married and have kids, I would love to take a road trip! I am pretty sure it won't be happening until next year, at the earliest, but maybe somebody else can have an awesome trip around the country using my ideas before then. If this does happen, you have an obligation to report to me about what I cannot miss, songs that inspired you, places to stay, etc!! 

First of all, it must be in an R.V. so we have the freedom to travel any time of the day or night and only one person has to be in the uncomfortable driving position at a time (although usually we will hang out with the driver!). Secondly, Greg and I need to go with a couple or just two fun people who will simply "go with the flow" because this is going to be that kind of trip. Plan on the go and do whats available in each state. For example, if there is a once a year carnival somewhere in the midwest... we are going, if there is a sweet country concert happening in the south... we are going! And I really love kids, especially babies, but this trip is NOT for them! Thirdly, figure out how long we can/will be gone and plan how much we can spend overall, break it down into days and decide how flexible that is. It has to be enough to enjoy local venues, delicious food, concerts, maybe a few hotels if they are one-of-a-kind type places, but also not so much that we could have gone to Europe, Australia or somewhere super exotic. 

Here are a couple musts I already know about:

• Play a fun song that pertains to each State we enter (and, per my sister's suggestion, we will play "Back to Cali" when we are re-entering California)
• Visit all National Parks and natural wonders and rock climb, hike or swim at the ones we can - Great site to keep you from missing out is: http://matadornetwork.com/trips/photo-essay-18-natural-wonders-of-the-usa/
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Death Valley, CA
• Monument Valley, UT
• Niagra Falls, NY
• Mississipi River
• Zion National Park, UT
• Crater Lake, OR
• Old Faithful, MT
• Smith Rock, OR
• Mt. Rushmore, SD
• Drink with locals... everywhere :)
• Kentucky Derby (which is in May so this may be tricky!)
• REAL country concert
• Salem Witch Trial Tour in MA
• Famous specialty food places 
• White House viewing
• From a TIME magazine article I would like to visit "the Beer can house" in Houston, TX  
• From Forbes.com - I want to stay the Jules Under Sea Lodge in Key Largo, Fla and At Winvian Cottages in Morris, Conn. where you have a choice of 18 differently themed cottages (prob too expensive though)

Feel free to provide additional thoughts and suggestions as I plan this future trip! I will add to it as the time gets closer.