Best Laid Plans

     I didn't plan on not having a job a few short weeks after returning from our big trip. At least that was the only major thing I didn't plan for that happened. (As I was quite paranoid something would go wrong or very bad would happen to us along the way.) We started talking about the big trip a little over a year before we left for it. Even with all the talk and planning that went into it, it just didn't seem real. Of course it was and I have plenty of pictures to prove it. I still can't believe we did it though. It was a major undertaking that went very well. Except of course that now I don't have a job anymore. But thats why I'm here now right? So, enough about that...

     Working at the library was very beneficial in our planning. I scoured our collection and the collections of all libraries in Suffolk County for any good useful information for the trip. Slow times at work were spent looking through many different travel and guide books. From obscure things like "Marilyn Slept Here" to plain old travel books for each state. The internet was quite useful too, although sometimes a bit overwhelming with information. I was able to request and receive travel booklets, pamphlets and even maps from just about every state we would be going to or through. All for free. I'm definitely a sucker for freebies. Some were more useful than others of course, some sent tons of info, others I couldn't get anything. Just having the information made me feel better about the planning.

Our mapped out road trip hanging in the dining room

     We had all sorts of ideas of where to go, what to see, and what to do. There's just so much out there. (Which is why we're already thinking about the Big Trip part 2-the states we missed!) Cost is what steered us in certain directions most times. Even though we always had to keep an eye on the bottom line there were plenty of ways to work around it. And we definitely made things work. The main attraction that really started the whole idea of the trip was the Grand Canyon. Playing around on mapquest I figured if we were going as far as the Grand Canyon why not go to Disneyland? Disneyland was not cost effective for us so it became Six Flags Magic Mountain, also known to us "National Lampoons Vacation" lovers as Wally World. The Six Flags Parks around the country then became our destinations. I never thought we'd hit all of them but with my husbands input we had 7 lined up for the trip: Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, California, 2 parks in Texas, and Georgia.

     The locations of the parks gave us a general idea of the road we would take. There were some large gaps in-between certain parks and we had to find some other things to add in as well. This was never hard to do. Especially with all the visitor guides and travel books I had been collecting and going through. Many ideas were tossed about some stuck some just didn't work as much as we would have liked them to. I found a great website called http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ that you could plug in any state or town and they'd list any crazy roadside attraction you may want to visit in that town. It was great. Who knew there was so much strange stuff out there. This is how I found the 60ft tall Jolly Green Giant statue we visited in Minnesota. I'd have the route lined up on mapquest to see what towns we'd be going through and where we might need a stop, then compare it to roadside america site to see if anything fit.

     We didn't stay in any ritzy, glitzy hotels. We don't need all that. We did need space for all of us and beds to sleep in. Being a family of six, one room just fits us, when we make it fit. Two would have been nice but not feasible budget wise. We brought two sleeping bags and a fold-up camp cot for when needed, which wasn't all, but most nights. The kids definitely didn't mind. It was part of the adventure, though it was Robert who most often slept on the floor in the sleeping bag when needed. The only things we made sure of were two double beds, air conditioning, and free breakfast in the morning. Added bonus' were a pool and of course laundry facilities when we knew we'd be needing them. Of course some places were better and nicer than others. We lucked out with a family suite in Wyoming, by far the best place we stayed. We made do when we had to. Most places we did a little furniture rearranging to make us all fit more comfortably. 

     We didn't plan where we'd be eating each day, except of course for breakfast. We also brought along some canned microwavable meals so we didn't always have to eat out. Of course not all hotels had a microwave in our room. We had an idea of what was around and the GPS, which was helpful sometimes and not so good others. A few places we chose from it happened to be closed down. Planning easy days for getting laundry done and the car checked out were an absolute necessity. Knowing we'd have a sort of down day coming, one that wasn't spent in the car for hours, was helpful. 

     After 25 days on the road with four kids there are a few things we'd do differently. The main one being make sure we have shorter drives. We had two way too long days of driving and no one wants to do that again. The other would be getting gas when we see a station even if we're still 1/2 or 1/4 full because you never know how far off the highway that next gas station will be. Especially in Utah!