I currently live in the Seattle area, but this September I'll be driving from my hometown in Eastern NC back to WA. My tentative plan is NC to Annapolis; Philadelphia; Cleveland; Indianapolis; Clinton IL; Riverside and Des Moines, IA; Ashfall Fossil Beds; Mount Rushmore; Yellowstone; Craters of the Moon National Park; and Hanford, WA. Do any of you have any suggestions for places I should check out along the way? Sadly it'll be too early for cuttings otherwise I'd throw some in my bag and see if anyone wanted to swap along the way lol. Are there any cool growers, gardens or nurseries? Or maybe just a restaurant or roadside attraction I shouldn't miss?

Nice  my hometown was Charlotte  and I lived on Lake Wylie.    Have fig cutting fun.   Carry paper towels hydrated Perlite in a plastic tote and baggies and your snippers.  You never can tell what might take and of course  you don't want to say   I wish I could have snipped that.....Joyce

just a cpl miles from Mount Rushmore is  The Needles Hiway  Spectacular  

I do not envy the Cleavland to Indianapolis leg.  Brutally boring country northern Ohio and Indiana...  The whole great plains can be rough, but man oh man there is a special, dark place in my heart for terrain that flat.  I'm from northern Indiana, and unfortunately there's not a ton to do without going to Chicago (Navy Pier, Museum of Science and Industry) or down to southern Indiana (Wyandotte Cave is pretty nifty...French Lick is kind of a cool little town to stop and check out).  But yeah...if you're going Cleaveland to Indy to Clinton....not a lot in between there.

Don't get me wrong, Indy is a fantastic city...but it needs some more tourist attractions.

If its not out of your way edible landscaping in VA is pretty neat. and depending on when you'll be on the road there's a pawpaw festival in Ohio in september.

Thanks for all the suggestions!