The Adventure Takes Shape
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After years of dreaming and planning, we are finally starting to believe that we will really do this. Notice has been given to our landlord and employers. Our final round of sales is well underway. In two weeks we will be unemployed, and a week after that we'll be homeless. We can't wait!
I finally got around to mapping out our route and trying to work up a rough timeline. After visiting my parents and brother we will take off and perhaps do some storm-chasing. Eventually we will visit friends and relatives in Oklahoma City, Topeka, Kansas and Burlington, Iowa. More relatives in Illinois and Cincinnati, then some genealogy research in Ohio. More relatives in Ohio and Michigan. That leg should take around eight weeks, but I have no way of knowing if I am under- or over-estimating.
After that, friends in Chicago and Minnesota (darn near Canada!) with a stopover at Aldo Leopold's center in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Then on west to an old high school classmate in Cody, Wyoming, hopefully some time at Yellowstone, then north to Glacier Park. By July we hope to be at Angie and Rand's place north of Seattle. Eventually we'll head south along the Pacific coast stopping for giant trees and tasty vineyards. San Francisco is a must-see, then more big trees, then Los Angeles and some long-lost relatives. Oh, and maybe some Charlie Sheen fan action!
Next we hit Hoover Dam and the desert. Southern Utah, northern Arizona, back to Utah, Colorado and the four corners. Final pass through New Mexico, then down to Marathon, Texas for one last stay at the desert oasis known as Eve's Garden. If all goes as planned we'll be back in the D/FW area in time for Thanksgiving and my dad's 80th birthday. That's when we sell the car and the camping gear and hop on a plane headed south.
In total, the current road trip looks to be over 9,000 miles, will pass through 23 states (and possibly Canada) and will last eight months. When you look at it that way, it sounds much more epic and awesome! Do you know of anyone who would like to sponsor our trip in exchange for crazy publicity? Let us know!