Starting back in January we began the planning phase consisting of:
1. Pick a starting point (Downers grove) ..... and an ending point (also Downers Grove) and feed them them into the mapping software. (Not much brain-work there.)
2. Stick a virtual pin into the map at Zion Nat'l Park where Val says, "This time we're staying at least 4 days or I'm flying there without you!"
3. Stick several more pins in the "must-see before I die" places I've been planning for years. (Big Bend Nat'l Park, Columbus NM, Canyon of the Ancients Nat'l Monument CO, Burr Trail UT).
4. Press the GO button and let the software find the best route.
5. Load in my voluminous collection of out-of-the way, off-beat, and just plain ridiculous things to see in the US. Then change the "best" route to find as many cool things as possible.
OK - I admit its probably overkill, but it would be a tragic loss to have driven right by "The World's Largest Pistachio Nut" and not even know its there. We're not getting any younger, ya know?
Anyway, three months later, after pouring over almost 300,000 square miles of Google Earth aerials and USGS Topo maps, we (I) have tentatively settled on a route and timetable that hopefully will keep us from roasting in the Chihuahuan Desert of south Texas, or needing snowshoes in some of the high country of Utah.
The 1st leg is pretty much a bee-line to Big Bend National Park Texas, with possible short stops at the Marlin Perkins Statue in Carthage MO, The International Linen Registry in Tulsa, the Route 66 Shoe Tree in Stroud OK, World's Smallest Skyscraper in Wichita Falls, National Wasp (bug, or white anglo...?) Museum in Sweetwater TX, (etc. etc. etc.). Then stopping in Big Bend for 3 days.
From Big Bend we make our way to Zion Nat'l Park by way of, (depending on weather forecasts), south New Mexico, then up through the middle of Arizona and into south Utah.
The only locked in dates are Sedona and Zion for 3 days each. After Zion, we are free-range-chickens and plan to zig-zag back and forth, (redundant?), across southern Utah and Colorado with a focus on early native American and more recent western history sites, and of course general scenery.
As usual, I have a stable of "toys" including 2 active cell phones, 2 dead ones (still GPS capable), two laptops, a tablet (maybe two), a mobile hot spot, and the on-board GPS. That's NINE gps devices. A RECORD!! No satellite dish yet, but I did get an new sat-phone (texting only) which will also drop a bread-crumb every 10 minutes on the live map below EVEN without cell coverage. I'm still experimenting with this, so we'll see......
More to come when we're actually On the Road Again
Brad & Val
Woo hoo! Time to hit the road again! If Dominic and Julia see all the thumbtacks on your "cool things to see" map they may never set foot in the funmobile again! Happy trails : )
ReplyDeleteWell, no wonder you're not going to make it to Oregon this year. You have to stop at Mr. T's RV Dump and the Historic John Oysterman Gas Station. Maybe they have bumper stickers.
ReplyDeleteHa Ha. Go ahead and make fun. That's what retired parents are for anyway. But by this age, we've probably seen almost all of the famous tourist stops in the US, so we have to set the bar a little higher to get a new thrill.
ReplyDeletePS - Fro that, we're going to bombard you with "gloat" photos.