Cross-Country Car Ride Quiz | Our World for Kids

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Our car ride starts in Maine. Heading south, we decide to visit Minuteman National Park, site of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. To which New England city (famous for a tea party) are we closest while there?

Answer: Boston, MA

The Battles were fought on April 19, 1775 and are generally seen as the start of the American Revolutionary War. The towns are in the Boston metropolitan area with Concord, the farther of the two towns, about 19 miles west of Boston. Patriots' Day (April 19) is a legal holiday in Massachusetts. Sites associated with the battles include the Lexington Battle Green and the North Bridge in Concord, near which stands Daniel Church French's 1875 statue, the Minuteman. (An early event of the American Revolution was the Boston Tea Party, in 1773.)

Portland, ME to Concord, MA is 115 miles.

2. Next, we decide to visit the Smithsonian Institution. While this organization has buildings in several states, in which city are the majority of its museums - including the National Museum of American History and National Museum of Natural History - located?

Answer: Washington, DC

The National Museum of Natural History opened in 1910. The museum features a large collection of gems, including the famous Hope Diamond. The museum also features casts of several dinosaur skeletons, including one of a Tyrannosaurus rex. The museum's collections include much more than is on display at any one time. Over 4.5 million plants are stored there. The National Museum of American History opened in 1964. Exhibits include the original US flag that flew over Fort McHeney, the John Bull locomotive, and the kitchen set of chef Julia Child's television show. These two museums and several others are located on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Concord, MA to Washington, DC is 439 miles. Total distance is 554 miles.

3. Continuing along our way, we travel to see the famous Niagara Falls. Into which of the Great Lakes does the water from Niagara Falls flow?

Answer: Ontario

Less than 20 miles from Buffalo, NY, Niagara Falls flows into Lake Ontario. It is a set of three waterfalls (Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls) on the border between the state of New York (US) and the province of Ontario (Canada). The drop of the falls is about 160 feet. Erosion actually causes the falls to retreat upstream at the rate of about one foot per year. Visitors to Niagara Falls can take a boat ride at lake level to visit the falls, view documentaries about the history of the falls, and tour an aquarium, among other activities.

Washington, DC to Niagara Falls is 402 miles. Total distance is 956 miles.

4. Turning south again, we drive our car to Huntsville, Alabama, where there is a center, including a well known children's camp, focused on which particular type of transportation?

Answer: Rockets

The US Space and Rocket Center was founded in 1970. Many artifacts of the space program are there, from an F-1 Rocket Engine to the Apollo 16 mission capsule. Space Camp began in 1982 as a way to introduce math and science concepts to students through the space program. Space Camp is a week-long program aimed at children ages 9-11. (Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, said it was "One small step for a man and one giant leap for mankind.")

Niagara Falls to Huntsville, AL is 838 miles. Total distance is 1,794 miles.

5. We decide we want to drive through the two states which each border eight other states. One of these states is Tennessee. Which state, which borders Tennessee, is the other?

Answer: Missouri

Missouri, known as the Show Me State, borders Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. (Tennessee borders Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. The Mississippi River forms much of Missouri's eastern border. The Missouri River flows through the state from west to east. The largest cities are St. Louis and Kansas City. The capital is Jefferson City.

Huntsville, AL to Jefferson City, MO us 549 miles. Total distance is 2,343 miles.

6. Next, we turn our car towards South Dakota so we can visit Mount Rushmore, most famous for its sculpture of four US Presidents. Which president is not part of the sculpture?

Answer: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson is not part of the Mount Rushmore sculpture, although he has appeared on US 20 dollar bills. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial features carved heads and busts of George Washington (1st President and Revolutionary War general), Thomas Jefferson (3rd President and author of The Declaration of Independence), Abraham Lincoln (16th President and Civil War President), and Theodore Roosevelt (26th President). Some people have observed that Gutzon Borglum, who designed the sculpture, physically resembled Theodore Roosevelt. The nearest town to Mount Rushmore is the small tourist town of Keystone, SD.

Jefferson City, MO to Mount Rushmore is 914 miles. Total distance is 3,257 miles.

7. We then drive to Pike's Peak (though we use another method of transportation to travel to the mountain top). To which state have we traveled?

Answer: Colorado

Though not the tallest mountain in the United States, Pike's Peak is the easternmost of the fourteeners (mountains in the United States that rise at least 14,000 feet above sea level - about two and a half miles). Pike's Peak reaches an elevation of about 14,115 feet and lies about 12 miles west of Colorado Springs, in the US state of Colorado. The mountain is named for US Army officer Zebulon Pike who observed the mountain in 1806. When I visited Pike's Peak in 2012, I rode the cog railway to the top of the mountain. The weather was overcast on the ride up the mountain and beautiful and sunny on the ride down. While I was at the top light flurries briefly fell - in the last week of June. Many of the Rocky Mountains are in Colorado, which has "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its state songs.

Mount Rushmore to Pike's Peak is 446 miles. Total distance is 3,703 miles.

8. Our next stop is the world-famous Grand Canyon in Arizona, created by erosion over millions of years. Which major river created that erosion?

Answer: Colorado River

Spanish explorers named the river the Colorado because of its reddish color. The process of erosion or wearing has taken over 2,000,000,000 (two billion) years to create the current Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona. The canyon has a length of 277 miles, a width of up to 18 miles, and a depth of over 6,000 feet at its deepest. The Grand Canyon is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States. One can apply for a permit to hike to the bottom of the canyon on foot or ride a mile. It is also possible to get a permit to travel through the canyon on the Colorado River by raft.

Pike's Peak to the Grand Canyon is 611 miles. Total distance is 4,314 miles.

9. Eventually, we decide to stop driving for a while and check into a hotel so we can rest. Which state, famous for a city with bright lights, would we visit that has one of the highest number of hotel rooms per person living there?

Answer: Nevada

In 2012, there was one hotel room for every 14 people in Nevada, compared to one room for every 67 people in the United States as a whole. Many of the people in Nevada live in the southern part of the state in or near Las Vegas. Several of the largest hotels in the world are located there. Las Vegas may be best known for its many casinos with numerous bright lights on their exteriors. Although only people 21 or over can gamble, there are several options for families including visiting a Vegas Golden Knights (National Hockey League) game or a Las Vegas Aces (Women's National Basketball League) game.

Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, NV is 280 miles. Total distance is 4,594 miles.

10. We park the car in a parking garage and walk to our last destination - a tall building known as the Space Needle. In which west coast city are we located?

Answer: Seattle, WA

The Space Needle was built in 1961-1962 for the 1962 World's Fair held in Seattle. The top of the building is 604 feet high and for several years it was the tallest building in Washington state. At the top of building, reached by elevator, is an observation deck and a restaurant, Sky City. At the bottom is a souvenir store which sells tickets for the elevator ride. The building was designed to withstand both extreme winds and powerful earthquakes. (The Seattle Mariners are a Major League Baseball team and the Seattle Seahawks are a National League Football team.)

Las Vegas, NV to Seattle, WA is 1,125 miles. Total distance is 5,719 miles. I hope we remembered to stop for bathroom breaks and snacks.

Source: Author bernie73

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor NatalieW before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Cross-Country Car Ride Trivia Quiz

Imagine you and your family are traveling by car across the United States. See if you can answer ten questions about sights we could see along the way.

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