How I planned our EPIC summer road trip (Part 1)
The Rand McNally Road Atlas
My husband and I started discussing in February what we wanted to do for our summer vacation this year. With limited vacation time, funds not to exceed $3500, and varying tastes in what each of us considered to be vacation-worthy destinations and activities, we HAD to start the negotiations early in order to settle on something in time to, you know, actually PLAN the vacation.
Both of us are big fans of road trips - short jaunts to Flagstaff and Sedona earlier this year just whet our appetites for some serious road time. That narrowed down our options and expectations - no airfare, and no destination that was TOO far away. Then, because we live in Arizona, we figured we’ve done the six-hour drive to the San Diego area, like, a hundred times - so we decided not to go in that direction again. Next, we determined that neither of us were interested in going to Mexico, swine flu notwithstanding. So, we didn’t need to get passports either (something that’s been on my to-do list for, oh, about ten years). That took care of South, and West. I started casting my attention toward North, and East.
It was during a Sunday afternoon watching The Discovery Channel that we got the notion to visit Yellowstone National Park. Really, it was a, “Well, duh!” realization of the destination we were looking for. My husband has visited the park once, way back in his youth. I’ve never been there, myself, and I’ve always wanted to go. In the end, it was an easy decision to make, with immediate agreement on both sides. Enthusiasm started to build now that we finally had a direction in mind.
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Yellowstone Geyser - pic courtesy of US National Park Service
I began planning our route immediately. I’m an avid fan and collector of maps, so I was happy for the excuse to pick up a Rand McNally Road Atlas. I mean, there’s only so much planning one can do utilizing Google Maps, right? One needs to be able to see the big picture, the whole state or region or country laid before oneself, right? That’s my reasoning, anyway. Plus, the road atlas was only around $12.00 - a very VERY sound investment in planning and executing a road trip, to be sure. Though not all people have a natural distrust of all things GPS, like I seem to have. Your mileage may vary. No pun intended.
Anyway! Did you know that there’s a lot of country stretched out between Phoenix and Wyoming? There is! I started tapping destinations into MapQuest just to see what kind of mileage I was looking at. I had no idea (still don’t have one, really) of how many hours we can dedicate to straight-shot driving. For example, is it too much to expect of either of us to leave Phoenix, AZ and not stop until we reach Salt Lake City, UT? We’re talking about 676 miles, which is 10 hours and 45 minutes according to MapQuest’s calculations - which we all know are based on the posted speed limits along the roads, and who the heck goes the speed limit anyway? Certainly not MY husband. So, you know, maybe we could make it in ten hours flat. Or even nine-and-a-half! If any of you kind readers has done the drive between SLC and Phoenix, I’d love to know how long it took you! Drop me a comment, you’d be doing me a solid.
I started looking at websites and making phone calls, trying to figure out just were, in the whole Yellowstone vicinity, we wanted to stay. In the park itself? In Jackson Hole? In Cody? How many days did we want to stay - how many did we NEED to stay, in order to see everything we wanted to see in the park? Also, good heavens! Look at that, the Grand Teton National Park is just a short jaunt away from Yellowstone’s boundaries. Did we want to take some time to see that, too?
It’s here that my husband and I started coming to the realization that Yes, Virginia, it IS a Big Country. We were making plans as if we didn’t want to miss anything, when we are pretty much GUARANTEED to “miss something”. Here’s where my college courses in economics came in handy - we had to weigh the “opportunity cost” of picking one destination or landmark or Must See sight, over another. Because, realistically speaking, how often are we going to be in that part of the country? We may never be there again!
Vacation planning may be one of my very favorite pastimes, but that doesn’t mean it’s free of its own kind of stress…
To be continued, so stay tuned!
