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Published: August 5th 2009
It is time for us to get serious about preparations for our trip. We plan to camp part of the time, especially when visiting national parks, so we are going through our camping equipment to make sure it is all in good working order. We will use one of our Civil War "A" tents--very simple to set up and take down. It uses three wooden poles, and they are all too long to fit comfortably in the car, so we plan to cut them in half and install hinges. Also need to check over the propane stove and choose appropriate cookware and eating utensils/cups/plates. We will be car camping, so don't have to be quite so careful with weight, etc.
We are also working on refining our itinerary. We expect to leave after Labor Day, stopping first to see my mother in Indiana, then joining a family reunion there. Then we hope to spend a couple of days in Chicago, where we will see family and friends. We expect to head West along a northern route, across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota. From there, we will start to explore national parks and other sites. High on our list is Glacier
NP. We are debating whether to also go to Yellowstone--it is by all accounts a spectacular park, but is also one of the most crowded. Our hope is that since we are traveling after Labor Day, we will avoid the worst of that. Guess we will have to decide, somewhere around the Badlands, whether or not to head to Yellowstone.
Our next destination will be to reconnect with some of our closest and longest held friends in the Seattle area, then head down the West coast through Washington, Oregon, and California. Yosemite will definitely be a destination, and we intend to spend a couple of days in San Francisco. Then it's down through Big Sur and on to LA, where we will check in with several friends and family for a few days.
After LA, we'll head east into Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. We want to see Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, Arches, Bryce, Zion, Crater Lake, Canyon de Chelly, and as many of the other sites as we can fit in.
Then it will be on to Texas, where we will check in with Vicki's brothers in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. After Texas, we will move on for a couple of days in New Orleans, then travel to South Carolina to chill out with our friends on Kiawah Island for a few days. After that it's back to Virginia to do our laundry and get ready for our final leg, traveling to Madrid on November 2. It should be quite a Fall.
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Mirjana
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Can't wait to see you guys
We have two empty bedrooms with queen size beds waiting. Lots of places to see in the great northwest. So far, the only dates we're out of town is the weekend of Sept 26 - going to Tuscan Arizona for a wedding. Our trip to Asia is still in limbo with no definate dates yet but we're thinking it may be in November. Glad you set up a blog. Looking forward to keeping up with your expoits.