LIST OF TRIPS
2011
1. Original Trek: June 12, 2011 to August 15, 2011: I went up the East Coast to Maine, then across New England and upper New York State, into Ontario through Niagara Falls, on to Detroit to see son Jeff, Jen and the grandkids, back into Ontario and across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, then across the upper tier of states to Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies, then down to Mesa Verde National Park and Great Sand Dunes National Park, and east to home. Included was a sidetrip to Chicago in July for niece Jennie's wedding.
2. Trip to Madison, Wisconsin: August 25-30, 2011: Julie and I traveled to Madison to visit with son Michael and DIL Amanda.
3. Trip to Washington, DC: September 24, 2011 to October 3, 2011: I traveled to DC by way of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia; I stayed in Silver Springs, MD for five days visiting museums in DC and Bull Run Civil War Battlefields. On the way home I drove through Shenandoah National Park and along the entire length of Blue Ridge National Parkway.
4. Trip to California and Oregon: October 15, 2011 to November 5, 2011: Julie and I traveled to San Luis Obispo, CA, to visit with Mom and Dad. Julie went back to Pensacola, and I took a rented car to Northern California, visiting with Uncle George and Aunt Wilma in Weed, CA, then up into Oregon to visit Crater Lake National Park, Devil's Canyon, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. St. Helens, the Oregon coast, the Northern California coast to San Francisco, and then a flight home.
5. Thanksgiving trip to Hiawassee, Georgia: November 23-27, 2011: Short trip to northeastern Georgia to visit with Julie's sister Mary Ann and her family for the holiday.
2012
6. Trip to South Florida: January 11-17, 2012: Son Dan and I traveled to the Everglades and the Florida Keys for a few days of R&R.
7. Trip to Texas: January 20-27, 2012: Julie and I traveled to Austin, Texas, for funeral of Paul Taylor (Amanda's dad), and then I spent three days in the Dallas area before returning home.
8. Trip to California: March 1-7, 2012: I traveled to San Luis Obispo, CA, for the memorial service for my brother Norm. While there, I drove up California Highway One from Morro Rock to Monterey.
9. Trip to China: March 28, 2012 to April 12, 2012: Julie and I traveled to Shanghai, China, to visit with Jeff, Jen and the grandkids. We traveled with them to Beijing to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
10. Trip to Texas and New Mexico: May 5-17, 2012: I traveled to South Texas, then to West Texas, then to White Sands National Monument in southeast New Mexico, then to Santa Fe and Los Alamos, then back to West Texas to Guadaloupe Mountains National Park and Big Bend National Park, and then home.
11. Trip to North Carolina: May 24-28, 2012: Julie and I went on a house-hunting trip to Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina. We also visited with Mary Ann and Taleb.
12. Trip to Omaha, Nebraska, and across country to San Luis Obispo, California, and back. July, 2012. I started out with a trip to the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota. While on my way, I received a call from Mom that she needed help with Dad and with relocating to assisted living or obtaining in-home assistance. I drove to California via Denver and Las Vegas. I was in California for about three weeks. During that time, I camped in Sequoia National Park and environs for three nights. I traveled back to Pensacola via Reno, Great Basin National Park, and Glen Canyon. Prior to receiving the call from Mom, I traveled from Pensacola to Omaha via Memphis. I stayed three days in Omaha visiting sites.
13. Trip to San Luis Obispo, California. August, 2012. I made a return trip to SLO to help Mom and Dad move into the assisted living facility.
14. Trip to Madison, Wisconsin, August 28 to September 8, 2012. Julie and I spent a week with Michael and Amanda in a rental house near Madison. Julie flew and I drove. We visited a junk sculpture museum and attended an outdoor Shakespeare play (Richard II). I traveled back to Pensacola via Chicago (visit with sister Joan and to Museum of Science and Industry) and Indianapolis (Indianapolis 500 Racing Museum).
15. Trip to New York City, October, 2012. We went to New York City for Britt's wedding. Again, Julie flew and I drove. I traveled North a few days' early and toured Rockefeller Center and Times Square, visited the space exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History, and the Sandy Hook Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. After the wedding festivities, I traveled on by myself to Vermont, visiting the Shelburne Museum near Burlington, through the Catskills, to Pittsburgh, where I visited the Senator John Heinz History Center.
16. Trip to Charleston, SC, and Orlando, FL, November, 2012. We traveled to Charleston to see the sites with Mary Ann and Taleb. Julie flew home and I proceed South, stopping at the Folkston Funnel (famous train-viewing hot spot), and Jacksonville (Fort Charlotte), and on to Orlando. Julie flew in for a conference. I went to the Orange County History Center. We drove back together to Pensacola.
17. Trip to Apalachicola, FL, Thanksgiving weekend, November, 2012. Short trip for the holiday weekend. We visited the renovated lighthouse on St. George Island.
18. Trip to San Luis Obispo, CA, December, 2012. I flew to California for a week-long visit with folks.
2013
19. Trip to Big Island, Hawaii, February, 2013. Julie and I flew to Kona/Kauhia for a week of visiting with Jeff, Jen and the four grandchildren, and touring the island. Highlights were a day at Volcanos National Park, experiencing a luau, going to several beaches, a visit to the southernmost point in the 50 U.S. states, and a visit to the Mauna Loa macadamia nut processing plant.
20. Trip to Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Madison, WI, March 2013. I viewed the National Museum of the Native American in DC. I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show. And I got my first visit with new grandson Andrew in Madison.
21. Trip to California, March 2013. Julie and I flew to San Francisco, where we visited with nephew Hub and his partner Jacob. Michael, Amanda and Andrew also flew in and we spent the week driving around California with them. Next stop was a visit with niece Elizabeth and her husband Ronnie in Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. They had a house party where I met with cousin John Dibelka, whom I hadn't seen in over 40 years. We then traveled to San Luis Obispo to visit with Mom and Dad, and then back to San Jose to drop off the Madison crew. Then Julie and I traveled along the coast from San Francisco to Santa Cruz and spent a day there before flying home from San Francisco.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
I like to experience new things and I like to drive. I have taken many long drives on my own since I started driving at age 16. My current vehicle is a 2007 Ford Mustang GT Coupe. I have equipped it with a Stowaway2 Sport storage box connected by a hitch. The storage box is for my camping equipment.
When I decided to retire upon reaching my 65th birthday in April 2011, I decided that I would transition from my work-a-day existence by taking a longish trip around the United States. I started planning the trip in December 2010. Over a period of several months the plan grew to a final form of about 22,000 miles over about 150 days. The idea is to see and experience much of the United States and some of Canada that I have never seen before. I have never done much camping, but I have decided to spend about half of the nights on the trip camping in a tent. The other nights I will stay in motels. I plan to begin the trip on June 12th and to finish it by early November.
HOW THE TRIP DEVELOPED
I started with a counter-clockwise outline of the United States going North along Interstate 95, then West on US 2, then South on US 101, and then back East on Interstate 10. The book Road Trip USA by Jamie Jensen was the first reference I used. Then I started looking for scenic drives within range of this basic outline. Two books were very helpful: The Readers Digest's The Most Scenic Drives in America, and National Geographic's Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways. By the time I had incorporated the scenic drives, not much of the original outline of the four major highways was part of the map.
From there I looked at a lot of regional and state travel guidebooks to find things that interested me along the route. I particularly like the Rough Guides for regional coverage and the Moon Handbooks for state-specific coverage. Because I am taking in about 22 USA national parks and 7 Canadian national parks, I found another book very helpful: Fodor's The Complete Guide to National Parks of the West.
