Before we jump into the Ford Escape and onto the highway, we're jumping on the blog bandwagon! We hope this blog allows our friends and family to experience the road trip with us as we witness all of the magnificent to unusual sights our country has to offer.
With a week to go before wheels up, we are scrambling to finalize our travel plans while also orchestrating a big move from NC to Connecticut. The move was the original inspiration for this road trip, as we initially planned on making a few stops on our drive up the east coast to our new home. This drive quickly evolved into a 27-day cross country detour! Josh and I were both fortunate to have our schedules coincide during the month of August, allowing us to take this once-in-a-lifetime trip!
We are excited to kick off our trip on August 1 from Lexington, NC. First stop: St. Louis! Thanks to Priceline, we reserved fantastic accommodations at the downtown Hilton in St. Louis. After that, we downgrade to an earthen bed in South Dakota. We will be camping for about 2.5 weeks of the trip and will be staying with friends for the other days (thank you Fuglers and Brian Freeman!). Our other planned stops include:
August 1-2: St. Louis, MO
August 3: Souix Falls, SD
August 4-5: Black Hills, SD
August 6-9: Yellowstone, WY
August 10-13: Colorado
August 14-17: Grand Canyon, AZ
August 18-19: Carlsbad Caverns, NM
August 20: Dallas, TX
August 21: Little Rock, AR
August 22-23: Memphis/Nashville, TN
August 24-25: Raleigh, NC
August 26-27: Farmville, VA
In preparation for our departure, we are gathering camping items including a tent, grill, food, lanterns, sleeping bags, blankets, etc. I even made Josh go to REI to purchase a $45 life-saving, miracle bear repellent. A few weeks ago, I expressed my concern over the growing bear population in the United States. Josh isn't quite as worried about bears, his solution being: "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you, Vanessa." Thus, the bear spray was added to the list.
We'd like to add a new post to the blog every day, however this may not be possible due to our campground accommodations for a majority of the trip (can anyone hook up WiFi in our tent please?!). We encourage you to send us your travel trips and suggestions and certainly let us know if you will be in any of the cities at the same time we're rolling through!
Here's to road trippin'!
