Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Advice, tips and suggestions for driving cross country





In an effort to help us plan the first of many legs of our journey, please feel free to add comments to the advice given to us by my Cousin Brad:







I drove across the country and back in the summer of 1999 and it was
one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. So, in an effort to help
make your trip memorable as well, I wanted to impart upon you some
lessons and tips I learned on my trip.



1) This may sound obvious, but plan ahead. I would recommend that
you know where you’re going to wake up every morning, what you’re
going to see that day, how much time you’re going to spend in the car,
where you’re going to eat your meals, and where you’re going to go to
sleep. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to pick out a restaurant for
lunch, but rather, I’d recommend planning out your driving and get a
good idea of what towns you’re going to be near when it’s lunchtime.
Doing this will ensure that you will not waste good driving time, for
example, stuck in some boring place for the night because the next
townis too far away. And, I would also look at the opening and
closing times of each of the attractions you want to see. That way,
you won’t show up to find out it’s closed on Mondays, or something
like that. In addition, I would make as many hotel reservations as
possible. It’s much easier to cancel a reservation before 6 PM
because you don’t need it than to find one at 11 PM in the middle of
nowhere. (Trust me, I found that out the hard way.)

Having suggested that you should plan out the entire trip, I would
also recommend putting in a few floating days where you don’t have
anything assigned. That way, if you go somewhere and want to spend
the day instead of just 3 hours, you can do that and it won’t screw up
your overall schedule. And, be realistic about driving times and how
much time you’d want to spend places. Don’t become Clark W. Griswold
and always rush to the next thing at the expense of where you
currently are.

2) Get a tent and two sleeping bags and camp some of the nights. This
will save you a good amount of money and will be kind of fun. If you
do it enough, the money you save from hotels will pay for the cost of
the camping equipment. And, you’ll probably use the equipment again
when you’re in CA. Of course, since you’re going to be traveling in
December, look at the weather reports. Maybe it’s too cold everywhere
and doesn’t make sense. I don’t know. (Also check altitude, which
makes things very cold at night.) And, you have a dog, so you’d need
to figure out how to camp with a dog. I imagine if it’s too cold the
dog, it will be too cold for you.

3) Don’t screw around with anything east of the Mississippi River.
There are lots of neat things east of the Mississippi, but they’re all
very similar to things we’ve all seen growing up on the East Coast.
Get across the river as quickly as possible and see the West. There’s
nothing like it anywhere else in the world. You’ll probably need to
spend one night east of the Mississippi, so you can find a neat
town/city and stay there. But, other than that, go West.

4) I might even change the above recommendation to say don’t waste
time east of the Rocky Mountains. There are a few exceptions, like the
Badlands, but for the most part, the Plains States are very flat and
after you’ve driven across them for hours and hours, you won’t want to
stop anyway.

5) Bring all of your music with you. I don’t know if you have an iPod
or other music player, but if you don’t get one used from eBay.
You’re going to be in the car for hours and hours. You’ll need
something to listen to.

6) In a similar vein, rent or borrow books on CD to listen to between
Graham and the Rockies. You can rent them from any Cracker Barrel
restaurant for $3.50 per week and return them to any other Cracker
Barrel. (They make you pay the full price when you rent it but you
get it refunded, minus the fee, when you return the book.) I’d check
to make sure that these restaurants are well placed out West, though,
so you can return the CDs without going out of your way. Also, you
can get books on CD from your local library and buy padded envelopes,
address them, and buy postage for them before you leave. Then, when
you’re done, you can just mail the CDs back to the library.

7) Focus on National Parks. When deciding where to go on your trip, I
would use National Parks as anchors. Learn about which ones are out
there, decide which ones you’d like to visit, and then work out the
details of traveling between them. I’m not saying that everything
you’ll want to see is in a National Park, but some of the best parts
of the country are in those parks. There’s a reason they’ve been set
aside, so you should enjoy them. I would recommend looking at
Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Glacier, Rocky
Mountain and Arches. As with the camping recommendation, I would
check the weather to see what is reasonable to visit in December.
John and I were at Rocky Mountain National Park on May 3 of this year,
and you really needed snowshoes it was so cold and snowy. So, you
might need to take this recommendation with a grain of salt, given
your traveling in December.

8) If you think you’re going to go to a few National Parks, I’d
consider buying an “America the Beautiful” National Park pass. It
costs $80 but gets you into all parks for free for a year. It’s
transferable to whatever car you’re in, and it gets everyone in the
car in for free. Individual parks cost $20 each, so if you go to 4
parks over the course of the year, it will pay for itself. Even if
you don’t hit that many on your trip, you’ll probably go to Kings
Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, etc while in CA. You can
get more info here: http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm.

9) Consider joining AAA, if you’re not already a member. They’re good
with towing, if anything happens to the car. In addition, they will
give you free maps of all the states you’ll visit. And, if you give
them your destinations and preferred routes, they’ll mail you a
triptik that gives you detailed maps of where you’re going, what
you’re going to pass, and where you can eat/stay. Much of this info
is available online, but you’re going to be spending a good amount of
time in places where you don’t have any cell service, let alone wifi.

10) Again, because you won’t always be able to get on the internet to
look things up, buy one or two good travel books. These books will be
good to plan your trip, and also as a reference while you’re on the
trip. I like Frommers and Lonely Planet. There are also books that
specifically focus on the National Parks. And, there are books that
tell you where pet-friendly hotels are. I’d considering buying one of
those too.

11) Take a good cooler with you. You can buy sandwich stuff and
drinks in grocery stores on the way, and just replenish the cooler
with ice as necessary. It will save you a good amount of money
because you won’t need to buy every meal at a restaurant. And, it
keeps you from having to be in a populated area every time you want to
eat. In addition, throw in at least one good knife, but the rest of
the stuff (plates, other silverware, cups) can probably be
paper/plastic and disposable.

12) Buy an altimeter for your car. They’re cheap and you can get them
at camping stores or maybe even Target. I found it fascinating how
high I was on some of the roads. On tops of mountains, they tell you
the elevation, but those signs are few and far between. If you think
you’d be interested in this information, it’s worth the investment.

13) Stash a few hundred dollars in $20 bills somewhere in your car.
You’re not always going to be where you can use cards or checks. So,
just in case, hide some cash in the car somewhere. It could help you
out of a jam.

14) Finally, when you’re in California, make it a point to do
something every week. When I was in Ireland, and again in Olypmia, I
made this rule. It doesn’t have to be anything amazing, but just make
sure that every weekend, or at least once during the week, you go and
look at something cool, or do something you won’t be able to do when
you come home. If you don’t force yourself to do this, you’ll miss
out on all kinds of cool stuff in California. Of course, I’d
recommend going to National Parks, but LA and San Francisco are also
fantastic, as is the Central Coast, which is the stretch of land
between the two. After a few months, you’ll be experts and the people
you work will with be envious of how much interesting stuff you’re
doing.

Many thanks to Brad for all of his advice and insight!
We look forward to hearing more tips and suggestions others may have!