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The parameters of the trip were defined even before we decided to go. My previous job mandated that I take two weeks of continuous vacation at some point during the year. We had already booked and paid for a trip to Hawaii in August. Thus, we decided to drive west to Los Angeles, fly to and from Hawaii out of Los Angeles, and then drive a southern route home.
I have planned it out trying to choose destinations and activities that will leave impressions on my kids – and that Twiggy and I will enjoy. It is highly unlikely that I will ever prioritize a trip to South Dakota for my kids to see Mount Rushmore. As the trip took shape that means that getting as far west as the Badlands in South Dakota as soon as possible, seeing the sights and getting somewhat active -- Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, a float trip down the Snake River, a dude ranch in Wyoming. Added to that is seeing family in both Nevada and California on the eastern side of the Sierras.
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| Our planned route west |
We are then going to Hawaii (Oahu, Kauai, and Maui) as long-planned, then heading back east along a southern route via Hoover Dam, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Nashville and the Outer Banks.
All-in-all the trip just on the mainland and without any side adventures is mapped out to cover over 7600 miles and is estimated by AAA to take about 121 hours driving time.
Some of the return trip will cover ground we traveled in our 2007 trip over Route 66, particularly from the West Coast to Oklahoma. As I have alluded to in my previous post, when re-visiting some sites that left good strong impressions in my mind, sometimes they appear less impressive the second time around. Sometimes they reinforce the reason why I wanted to see them again. Niagara Falls "held its value" from the time I saw it first as a twelve year old to the time I went with the family a few years ago. On the other hand, St. Louis, outside the impressive architectural structure of the Gateway Arch, did not live up to the impression I had been carrying around in my mind.
As I think about it now, I wonder if it is the case that natural beauty tends to always be that, whereas visiting different cities is really about different experiences and much more about human interactions and those can vary. Each time we visit British Columbia, I am awed by the natural beauty as I am whenever we visit certain parts of California.
The point I am working up to is that on the return leg we want to revisit some of the sites in the West that we visited in 2007. However, it is unlikely that I will find that awesome Mexican restaurant in Flagstaff again or, even if I did, that it would live up to expectations. I am curious as to whether the rock shops in Holbrook, Arizona -- which I think the kids will really enjoy now at their ages -- will be as impressive this time around. Hoover Dam will probably hold its own, but who knows? So we are taking some risk in covering the same ground, but that risk is entirely Twiggy's and mine, not the kids since they don't remember the earlier trip.
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| Our planned route east |
All-in-all the trip just on the mainland and without any side adventures is mapped out to cover over 7600 miles and is estimated by AAA to take about 121 hours driving time.
Some of the return trip will cover ground we traveled in our 2007 trip over Route 66, particularly from the West Coast to Oklahoma. As I have alluded to in my previous post, when re-visiting some sites that left good strong impressions in my mind, sometimes they appear less impressive the second time around. Sometimes they reinforce the reason why I wanted to see them again. Niagara Falls "held its value" from the time I saw it first as a twelve year old to the time I went with the family a few years ago. On the other hand, St. Louis, outside the impressive architectural structure of the Gateway Arch, did not live up to the impression I had been carrying around in my mind.
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| At the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, 2007 |
As I think about it now, I wonder if it is the case that natural beauty tends to always be that, whereas visiting different cities is really about different experiences and much more about human interactions and those can vary. Each time we visit British Columbia, I am awed by the natural beauty as I am whenever we visit certain parts of California.
The point I am working up to is that on the return leg we want to revisit some of the sites in the West that we visited in 2007. However, it is unlikely that I will find that awesome Mexican restaurant in Flagstaff again or, even if I did, that it would live up to expectations. I am curious as to whether the rock shops in Holbrook, Arizona -- which I think the kids will really enjoy now at their ages -- will be as impressive this time around. Hoover Dam will probably hold its own, but who knows? So we are taking some risk in covering the same ground, but that risk is entirely Twiggy's and mine, not the kids since they don't remember the earlier trip.
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| Hoover Dam |
