United States of America Travel Answers

Amanda, It should be a great time to be in the American Southeast. It should not be super hot yet. The chance of snow is nonexistent. You will probably see some rain but just bring the right clothing and enjoy it anyway. Get off the main highway and enjoy seeing some of the rural south. It will be an interesting contrast to you home in rural Australia. Try to find some good Cajun food and music as you pass through the delta. The chance sighting of bears is a possibility but is in fact not common. The Smokies are the place for it so I say go for it. Remember that they are rather protective of their young and food sources in the spring so give them a WIDE berth. They have very sharp parts. Welcome and Have a Great Time In The U.S. Randy

Agree with the above poster regarding possibility of snow. That far south at the time of year the only slight possibility of snow would be a dusting and that is fairly remote. You will always have a slight chance for a tornado which is very dangerous. This year was an especially bad year for the southern parts of the U.S. We had 2 huge storms that impacted Missouri and Alabama. But you can never predict weather too far in advance. Just be aware of the daily forecasts where you are traveling and you will be fine. We saw a bear cross the road near the Great Smoky Mountains a couple of years ago on vacation, but that was about it. It ran across the road in front of us while we were driving 30 MPH and by the time anybody could get a camera it was long gone.

If you take the southern route, then you'll avoid snow. There's a good chance of snow in mid- to late March along I-40 in Arizona and New Mexico, but not on I-10. Most of the bears have been gradually driven away from the tourist parts of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Black bears are sort of like larger, rarer, much more dangerous raccoons. I've honestly never understood why people want to encounter them. Between New Orleans and Knoxville, I would encourage you to take an alternate route. Unless you have business in Atlanta, or want to see it, it's always best to avoid Atlanta completely because of the traffic. From New Orleans, if you follow I-55 north, you can catch the Natchez Trace Parkway in Jackson, which will take you through some very pretty country to near Nashville and I-40. Recently driving between Nashville and Arkansas, I took the route across southern Tennessee and found that pleasant for the most part. There are a lot of nice, small towns in that part of the state. US 412, US 64 and US 72 all work for this. US 72 would be my first choice, because then you can roll through the prettier part of Mississippi (especially Oxford) and the Muscle Shoals region of Northern Alabama (also very pretty) before going through Chattanooga (very nice town). All of this depends on how much time you have though, of course. If you can, avoiding the interstates makes your journey longer, but much more pleasurable and memorable. Interstates are America at its blandest and most homogeneous. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the honest advice everyone. Definitely won't be heading to close to a bear! Watched the coverage of the US tornadoes over here in Australia earlier this year. I didn't really think they were a good enough reason to avoid that area, should I? I kind of thought they were a bit like Cyclones on the East Coast of Australia in that they are very difficult to predict, probably won't happen and are devastating when they do? Are there precautions we could take? Definitely have little interest in most cities and interstates. What we really would like to see is a fair bit of Texas, I would love to do a swamp/bayou tour somewhere, Smoky mountains and a bit of different countryside in between. You have given me some food for thought with regard to the route now! Will head back to the drawing board there.

"I didn't really think they were a good enough reason to avoid that area, should I? I kind of thought they were a bit like Cyclones on the East Coast of Australia in that they are very difficult to predict, probably won't happen and are devastating when they do? Are there precautions we could take? " I wouldn't avoid the area because of the possibility I just wanted to make sure you were aware of them which you obviously are. They are hard to predict, but unlike Cyclones or Hurricanes which form over water and take days to form, tornadoes can occur very rapidly with little or no warning, but as long as you pay attention to the weather forecasts and local radio stations while driving you will be fine.

Thanks Rich. My nephew is obsessed with tornados so I have sat through a few documentaries with him! The sudden formation as you say compared to cyclones which stress us out for days before they turn is a bit scary from my point of view but we will of course take a lot of notice of news etc.