On the road again...

Well, not quite yet. In about a year, it will be "Road Trip...YEAH!...time again.

Let me explain. When Jeni, my oldest, graduated from high school, I wanted to give her a different kind of graduation present, something that would stick with her for years to come. Knowing that she loved to travel, I gave her a Road Trip. We rode Amtrak to New York City and spent 4 great days there before hopping in a rental car and visiting Cooperstown New York and Baseball's Hall of Fame. Then because we were in the state of NY, we had to visit Grandma in Buffalo and then we drove back to Greenville, SC. It was a fantastic trip.

When Laura, that's my youngest, graduated from high school there was no question as to her graduation gift.(She's a travel lover as well) This time we got a bit more ambitious and we brought along my 'adopted' daughter (Laura's best friend, Marla) to round out the Wood family road trip. After decking out Dad's van with cushions, bean bag chair and pillows, we drove to see Grandma in Buffalo. Then it was Niagara Falls, a drive across Ontario, a brief stop in Detroit and then on to Chicago for a four day stay there. Another great trip.

Jeni graduated with her Bachelors in History just a year ago, so we took off to Washington D.C. for a week, with a day trip to NYC. Once again, the road trip did not fail to excite and please.

Now Jeni has begun her Masters in Teaching which she will finish in one year, so I have a graduation trip to plan. Originally, Jeni had asked to travel to Europe, which held all kinds of possibilities, but a few weeks ago, she told me that she wanted to get to know her own country a bit more before she went overseas. She suggested a road trip across the US attempting to hit all the states west of Indiana that she has not been in. I loved the idea and began plotting courses.

The results of my first route included all the states in the continental US that Jeni has not visited west of Indiana. It also would have taken 19 days of an average of 8 hrs of driving time. Not a workable plan, so it was back to Yahoo Maps. I finally came up with a route that included 18 new states for Jeni and only 12 days of driving, which if broken up between early in the morning and later in the evening leaves plenty of "tourist" time and the drives will allow us to actually see the beauty that is America. So the route is set, or close to being set, now the details. Which I will discuss later, because my stomach is growling and it lunch time.