6.2 - Seven-Thousand Six-Hundred Miles

I have finally finished planning the route for our once-in-a-lifetime, three-week-long, cross-country family excursion. I'm still not sure where we're going, but we are leaving July third.

I have essentially mapped out the places we want to go, the roads that lead from one place to the next, and a tentative timetable for getting it all done, but there is lots of flexibility built into the schedule as far as where exactly we go and where we end up on any particular day.

It is shaping up to be a great trip. There are really only three things that concern me:

1. Sleep. We aren't making any sleeping arrangements. We're taking the camping gear, and will stay in hotels sometimes, but we can't make reservations when we don't know where we're going to be. I expect to spend at least one night sleeping in the van because there's no room at the inn.

2. Distance. Averaging about 320 miles—5.5 hours—every day.

3. Time. Add the driving time to the finding-sleeping-arrangements time and I hope we still have time to see the sights and do some fun things. Another time concern is that the family won't want to leave some places, which we must do if we're ever going to make it home again.

Here's a partial list of planned destinations: Chicago, Badlands/Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Hell's Canyon, Crater Lake, Redwood Forest, San Francisco, Yosimite, Area 51, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Crater-of-Diamonds State Park, and Atlanta.

Have any other suggestions for places we should visit? Save them for the next trip—this one's full.