The Official Summer 2013 Plan: There and Back Again
This photo is a sort-of hint. Any guesses?
Ok. I’ll admit it. I was wrong. Again. The whole stay-somewhere-for-two-months plan that I outlined a few weeks ago isn’t going to pan out.
Why? Several reasons.
This is a HUGE sort-of hint!
First–while the whole ‘stay somewhere for a while and get to know it’ thing sounds good in theory, it’s just not the kind of trip I’m ready for at this point in my life. I always think that ‘settling down’ sounds lovely; I’d get a puppy, buy a house in the country, and–I don’t know–knit something. Slowly. You can tell when I start having these thoughts; I’ll typically buy something new for my house (this time it was an area rug for the living room) and read half of an issue of Better Homes and Gardens. But after some not-even-that-deep thought, I realized this plan just isn’t me. Yet. It may be some day, and that’s the summer (or year) I’ll go to live somewhere else for an extended period of time.
Second–I can’t decide where to go for my One and Only Trip of Summer 2012 if, in fact, that one and only trip is to only one location. And by ‘I can’t decide’ I mean ‘my husband and I can’t agree’. He is super enthusiastic about Quebec City; I want to go to Barcelona. See–definitely two very different options.
Connected to my second reason is my third reason; as it turns out, aforementioned husband is not available for the entire two months. He has three days of training that he absolutely must attend exactly halfway through the summer. Sadly, oh well, I’m going to Spain without you, then didn’t go over very well. (Surprisingly. I mean really, he’s used to this by now. Hey honey, I’m going to Bermuda/California/New Orleans next week. I’ve said all of those things and it wasn’t even remotely an issue.)
So instead of making this three day training thing a huge deal breaker, I decided to use it to our advantage (or, rather, to my advantage). And thus, a perfect trip was born. It is a trip that crosses many, many places off of our must-visit list. It is a trip that fulfills a bucket-list item for both my husband and myself. It is a trip that allows for budget-control. And it is a trip that gives me what I always not-so-secretly desire–alone time.
We are driving across country. Together. I am driving back. Alone.
I’ve been planning this trip for several weeks already; I have a cork board on my desk with the summer calendar drawn on it, half-covered in post it notes scribbled with driving times and destination ideas. I already have a portion of the lodging booked, and I’ve been doing some serious online research to figure out the best routes and stopovers.
The first half of the trip–from Pennsylvania west–is pretty much planned. We will be making a pretty straight shot to Chicago, then on to the Black Hills of South Dakota, Jackson, Wyoming and the Grand Tetons, and then on to Yellowstone for several days. We will then drive northwest, up to Glacier National Park where we will spend another few days before continuing west to Seattle and the Olympic peninsula.
The return trip is another story entirely. Imagine me, looking at a map of the US, knowing that I have an entire month at my disposal to make the return trip–solo. I can go anywhere I want. And of course I want to go everywhere.
So I’m open for suggestions–which route would you take to get home , traveling from Seattle to Pennsylvania over the course of four to five weeks? Where would you stop? And, more importantly for me–what would you skip? Please share your suggestions in the comments section below.
I thoroughly enjoyed crossing back through Canada, though some parts are very, very… scenic (?)
Another thought is to swing LOW – and resurrect the South :-p
I spend about twenty minutes last night looking into the ‘return via Canada’ option and quickly ruled it out. It seems like it would be a bit too…lonely? Plus I like the idea of an all-US trip.
I think I have a return plan in place. Well, there are post-its on my board, anyway. If only there was something to be done about the damn midwest; I have myself driving for 14 hours straight, from Santa Fe to Memphis!
I’d consider any of the following places
Crater Lake Oregon
Lake Tahoe Nevada
Salt Lake City Utah
The Grand Canyon
The Painted Desert
The Petrified Forrest
Denver Col.
New Mexico
Dallas and Houston Texas
Glufport Alb.
Silversprings Fla
Atlanta Ga
Svannah Ga
Charleston SC
The Outerbanks of NC
anywhere else in NC (of course)
Memphis and/or Nashville Tenn.
St. Louis
Kenntucky
Now, I know that really isn’t a helpful list.. But it suggessts you pick either a more central route or a more southern route. Then plan your route based on YOUR interests and time.
See my problem! That’s, like, the whole country! And all of it sounds good! And NONE of it is in Oklahoma, Kansas, or Nebraska (and those three states are smack dab in the middle of all routes!)
I’ve already ruled out the following due to time and distance (though having ruled them out means that I seriously considered them, too):
Crater Lake
Grand Canyon
Denver
Most of Texas
Savannah
Charleston
I am likely going to be in Salt Lake City (on the way to the Utah national parks, namely Arches and Canyonlands) and Memphis (after a long, stop-free drive across Oklahoma and Arkansas. And I’d like to spend some time in Colorado (Durango, most likely) and New Mexico (Santa Fe).
Of course, this could all change at any time!
Wow, a cross country trip sounds exciting! My husband really wants to do something like this someday, once he gets into a position at work where he can take more time off to do it. I have rarely traveled very far west so I don’t have a lot of good suggestions for your drive back, but as always I’ll look forward to what you come up with!
I can’t wait to see what I come up with, too! My plan is becoming more solid by the minute. Stay tuned!
Before you go you really need to read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, it’s a fantastic book, the hotel they talk about and is an important part of the book is in Seattle and you can go in and have tea, coffee and small snacks.
Also, you should take the Seattle Underground tour, I took it this past September and it was really interesting. I have gone out to Seattle for the last three years to visit a friend and her family. Laurel and I met thru the Rick Stevens helpline, she is the one that I’m going to walk the Cotswolds Way with in 2014.
Well, my suggestion to stop in lovely Elkhart Lake, WI just went by the wayside when I see you have decided to go much further south. I hate that you will miss Savannah and Charleston – so lovely! – but you will like Memphis. I suggest Backbeat Tours (great tour of the city with music) and the River Inn at Harbortown as a place to stay. They are both travel-writer friendly and I would be glad to give you my contact info if you email me directly. I’ll be interested to read about your trip!
Woah–small world. One of my (virtual) travel writer friends is in Elkhart Lake right now (I know this only because of her always-epic Instagram pics on Facebook) and it DOES look lovely. I looked at a map, and it IS on my way from Chicago to South Dakota (sort of); I’ll check it out! Thanks!
And thanks for the suggestions–I will be messaging you soon-ish. The putting-together of this trip is an odd process; I’m starting with the ‘must be booked early’ places on the westward portion starting east to west and then doing the same with the ‘must be booked early’ places on the eastward portion, starting west to east. Confusing, I know, but it is working out. I think!
As for Memphis–how long of a visit would you recommend?
Ah–I see you recently wrote about Elkhart Lake, too. And Nashville! I’m going to have to do some serious research on your blog later today! Oh–and I totally agree with you that ‘comped’ lodging is NOT ‘free’ lodging (or tours or tickets etc.) I was actually thinking about writing a whole post on that topic. I may do just that.
Any chance you’ll be at TBEX Toronto? I’m trying to amass a group of friends before I even arrive. My virtual friend Gray from SoloFriendly will be there–if you’re going too, we should meet up!
Road trip! Great idea! Think about how much you’ll be able to see, together and alone.
Yeah–I’m kind of super psyched. Of course, people have already said some version of ‘really? you’re driving back–alone?’ No one seems to get that that makes me as excited as the idea of the trip itself.
If you get to the eastern Iowa/southern WI/Western IL area and need to stop and have lunch or dinner, let me know!
You probably don’t remember me, I read your blog a lot when you first started. I looked you again because I’m going to take my very first solo cruise in January. I thought of you immediately after DH & I agreed that I should go. Good luck with your trip! The longest we’ve done is Iowa to New Mexico, to Salt Lake City to Seattle and then on a cruise to Alaska back to Seattle and then drove back to Iowa. It was fabulous!
First–wow, I had to look at a map to understand your geographic area! I think I found you, though! Ha! I’ll keep you posted–I’m definitely hoping to hang out with as many people as possible along the way (in fact, I’m currently looking into a way to gather friends across the country in some sort of organized, online format–more to come as soon as I figure out what that will look like!)
And second–tell me about your cruise! Which line, where are you going? Please do ask me questions if you have any; as you clearly know, I did two solo cruises last year (and one with my husband; the solo ones were MUCH more fun!)
Your road trip sounds pretty extensive. I’ll be in Seattle and New Mexico (Santa Fe area) so I’m totally up for any tips or suggestions you may have; I may also be in SLC for a night, but I’m not positive. Tell me good things about it and I’ll consider it more seriously.
Thanks for returning!
Oh also–the big question mark in my itinerary is ‘what to do between Seattle and SLC (well, really Moab) that isn’t just ‘drive really fast’. Wait–strike that–I’ll be traveling Portland to Moab. But it’s pretty much the same roads and areas. So–any suggestions for that giant stretch of seeming nothingness?