Okay, after over a year’s worth of planning, the evening of
June 28th finally got us out of the house and down the road for our
6 week, 11,000 mile extravaganza!
Actually, that was our plan.
The reality included finding that our last minute responsibilities
lasted to beyond our planned departure time, so we “recalculated” and decided
to set the alarm for 4:15 am on Friday June 29th to finally set out
on the trip. We hit the road about 5:30
rested and ready.
The car is packed. We have three large loose-leaf binders
filled with maps, directions, tourist info, hotel and camping reservations,
tickets for attractions, coupons, and lots of miscellaneous info. We are ready to roll! Our minivan is loaded up with food and
snacks, clothes, a great double bed sized foam-rubber mattress, lights, cameras
and action….okay we are going to have to supply the action. We have plenty of sunscreen, insect
repellant, rain gear, and umbrellas.
Our time will be pretty evenly split between camping in the
min-van, hotels with a couple of nice resorts thrown in, and stays with friends
and family along the road. The trip will
take us from San Diego to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana,
Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,
Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and home.
We are feeling really good about our planning for this
trip…. which has to be to keep on schedule and get us back home in time to
return to work on August 13th.
And we have commitments to people we are staying with, as well as hotel
reservations, and special events we plan to attend. So this is NOT one of those kick-back on the
beach vacations.It is more similar to one of those graduate level,
interdisciplinary travel seminars, studying and learning many different topics
and then writing a reflection journal as you go.
However, do not worry.
We are still allowed the flexibility (within the larger structure) to
find the pleasant surprises or to skip something because of weather or it just
didn’t hold our interest. Our plan is
our guide, not our taskmaster.
Are we ready to roll?
Oh yes! The Adventure awaits!
And Alabama. :) See you soon!
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