Time to plan!

There is some interest in our road trip this summer, so I thought I'd write a little note to describe/explain the plan.

We usually take a 2 week family trip in the summer to get back east. Most of the time it's to see family. Last year it was to visit New England, so this year we wanted to get back to family. It's an expensive proposition, no matter what mode of transportation you take. We really like getting back to see folks, but it's never simple, always expensive, sometimes inconvenient, and frequently stressful. All trips can be. Between making the plans, coordinating time off from jobs, navigating family obligations, figuring out how to fit it all into a short schedule, I decided to try a different approach this year.

I stopped working in January, so I no longer had to figure out my time off from work, just Chip's. It's limited since he's in a new job this past October, so driving was not an option for him. But I love to drive and travel, the kids do too, so we decided to see if they wanted to drive across country and back and Chip will join us by plane on the east coast and again later in the trip. No mad dash across the continent; we'd take a more leisurely stroll and see what we wanted to along the route. They were eager, so the planning went on.

We'll start here in Mesa, travel to El Paso, TX, then San Antonio. We'll sight see for a day there, then visit Don and Mary (and Lucy and Ellen) in Katy (outside Houston). From there, it's on to Lafayette, LA, Mobile, AL to see the battleships and the Gulf of Mexico. Off to Atlanta, GA, Wytheville, VA, Skyline Drive, Luray Caverns, my sister Trish in Hilltop, VA, and 2 days in DC. The kids want to see monuments...I know how to do that, plus we have tickets to see the capitol and Library of Congress (in the works), and possibly the White House. Then we visit Steph and Greg in Richmond, and on to family in Virginia Beach. This is where we pick Chip up.

This is like the halftime intermission. We get to settle for a few days in one place...catch up with friends and family, hit the beach, maybe see Big Daddy take the Neki Hoki to the strip. Then we head up Eastern Shore, take the Cape May Ferry to NJ for the second half of intermission. More family, beach, pool, friends, resting up before the journey back. We also say goodbye to Chip until Denver, CO.

The trip back starts with a visit to my sister Lynn outside of Rochester and Niagara Falls. Since I've gotten my passport, we'll do the day at the falls (both sides), stay in St. Catharines, Canada, then head to Toronto.  A few hours there, then through Canada to Port Huron, MI and Toledo.  From there it's off to Chicago to get Grammy and we'll stay in Rockford, IL.

We head to Rapid City, SD, spending the night in Albert Lea, MN. On our way, we'll see The Corn Palace and whatever odd sights we can come up with along the path.  RoadsideAmerica.com helped us find some of these.  In SD, we'll check out Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding parks. Then it's off to Denver. We'll drop off Mom for a side trip she's taking and pick up Chip for the remainder of the trip.

From Denver, we head to Moab, UT and Arches NP. The next day we leave for Zion NP and Bryce Canyon. Then it's off to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Page, AZ, Meteor Crater, and Holbrook. We'll spend part of the day in the Petrified Forest and then head home.

Our friends and family seem to be split in their opinions. Half think it sounds like a great time, the other half think I've utterly lost my mind. It might be a bit of the latter, but definitely more of the former, I think. I'll try to post updates and pictures as we go along.

Wish us luck and pray for a safe journey.