Tuesday, August 2, 2016

To Drive or Not To Drive... That is the Question.

I have been wracking my brain trying to decide whether I should do This Crazy Trip or not.  I really, really want to.  After driving to Kansas City and back to Maryland in a four day weekend, I realized that long days will be tough now that I have to baby my knees a bit.  So, the 200-300 miles a day that I had originally planned might be okay.  I figure if I start in January and start with the Southern route first, I'd get to the northern most part of the trip at the end of March, beginning of April.  That's still pretty snowy in most of those areas.  I have a few places to contact regarding a car or small self-contained camper/conversion van thingy, figuring that might help in the few places that I was going to have to camp.  My mother about had a heart attack when I told her I was going to camp, alone, in Yellowstone.  :)

So.  What to do?  I have no idea.

Then tonight, my friend Francine Speaker sent me this link to a blog post about how to see all of the National Parks in one trip.  It's pretty close to my original plan and covers almost every city that I have in my list.  Not all of them, since it leaves out my in-laws and probably more, and yet, it's a start.

http://www.randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/

I'm still excited about doing this.  My family is not so excited about it.  I'm really trying to weigh the plusses on my side (getting to see the U.S.; doing something really crazy and fun; getting to see my friends and family all over the U.S.; figuring out a way to actually do this for free; writing about my adventure, etc.) against the negatives that my family sees (ACK! SHE'S GOING TO GET KIDNAPPED, KILLED, AND BE GONE FOR 4 MONTHS!!)

What do you think?  Is This Crazy Trip just one step too far? Let me know what you think.