Planning the Journey

Planning a month-long trip that covers 6,000 miles and at least 11 major sights (along with as many minor sights as we can possibly squeeze in) is a little different than planning a week’s trip to Florida – where you’ll stay in the same hotel and lounge on the same beach every day. When the enormity of this trip finally sank in, I began to hyperventilate (as well as say a few things that should not be repeated aloud).

What was I thinking? I don’t have time to plan this trip. I don’t even know where to start.

I took a deep breath. Ok, I’ve planned trips all over the world. Surely, I can get my family across the USA, where everyone speaks English and the road signs are written in a language I can read.

I wasn’t really questioning my ability. But, I was questioning my time. There was none.

I thought back on my childhood vacations. That was back in the dark ages – before GPS and Mapquest. How did my mom handle the logistics? Then I remembered that she would call AAA and request a TripTik®.

I’ve been a member of AAA for 20+ years. But, I use my membership for hotel discounts and fixing flat tires. I mean, does AAA even still create TripTiks?

They do, and they did. In fact, I called AAA, and Amy designed a route – exactly to my specifications (all 11+ destinations).

I sent my husband, Ross, to pick up the info. He came home with two bags of goodies – TripTiks, maps, Destination Guides, Guides to the National Parks, etc.

I started to hyperventilate again. How was I going to read all that info? Then, a light bulb went off. I had a great idea.

This would be a great project for my children, Ethan (age 15) and Autumn (age 12). Think how much they would learn as they researched each place and calculated mileage and ….

If you’re a parent, you’re already laughing. You can guess how that turned out. It was quickly evident the kids were going to need “active supervision” to accomplish anything. It would be easier to do it myself. In the essence of full disclosure, they were helpful with a few pieces of research.

But, most of the work was left for me. I’m still working on it. Even though we leave in a couple of hours, I’m still re-writing the itinerary. Let’s just say . . . we’ll be filling in the blanks as we go along.

Westward Ho!