Are We There Yet?

Posted on | February 19, 2017 | 7 Comments

The most time-consuming part of MegaTrip II is over. That would be the planning part. It started last year a couple weeks after we came back from MegaTrip I and I booked reservations in the National Parks. Which needs to be done almost a year in advance. Then I started collecting Fodor’s and Frommer’s and Lonely Planet from the used bookstore. Then I spent hours online with Google Maps and TripAdvisor and Yelp.

But the hardest part isn’t figuring out which path to take and which stops to make along the way. The hardest part isn’t finding sites and activities that appeal to the interests of 6 very different people. It isn’t juggling the National Parks pass, Groupon, Yipit, and other discounts to keep down the costs. It isn’t searching through hotel sites, and VRBO and airbnb.

The hardest part starts now. The waiting.

Because once you have looked at all the pictures and read all the reviews and have printed your 12 page travel guide—-with mileage and drive time; sites and hikes; restaurants and lodging—-you need to go. Now.

As a matter of fact, it seems like every minute that you are not on MegaTrip II is a waste of your life. If it wasn’t for the fact that it takes 6 months of work to afford a MegaTrip, I’d be on the road right now.

So I guess waiting is the only option. In the meantime, please review my trip plans. Let me know if you have any tips for the sites we are visiting. Please pass along any coupons or discounts or free activities in the areas we’ll be traveling. Restaurants or cool places to eat; food we absolutely need to try. Whatever you think we are missing. Because I left a margin on my 12 page planner for all your advice. And The Other Half’s favorite part of the trip is trying to read all those scribbles I put in the margin for him to decipher while I’m driving.

Here goes:

King’s Mountain National Military Park, Blacksburg, SC Battlefield trail

Caesar’s Head State Park, Cleveland, SC Raven Cliff Falls hiking trail

Atlanta, GA: Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint, Margaret Mitchell Sqaure, Tabernacle, SkyView Atlanta, Georgia Dome, CNN, Centennial Park, Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site, World of Coca Cola, Atlanta History Center, Walking Dead film sites

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Tuskegee, AL

Biloxi Lighthouse, Biloxi, MS

New Orleans, LA: Jazzy Pass for trolleys, Germaine Wells Mardi Gras Museum, Bourbon St, New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, Gallier House, Old Ursaline Convent, French Market, Jackson Square, Pirate Alley, Cafe Du Monde, Washington Artillery Park, Frenchmen St, Barataria Preserve (Plametto Trail, Bayou Coquille Trail, March Overlook Trail)

LSU Rural Life Museum, Baton Rouge, LA

Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Beaumont, TX

San Antonio, TX: River Walk, Alamo

Carlsbad Caverns, NM Natural Entrance trail

Roswell, NM: International UFO Museum and Research Center, Roswell Museum and Art Center

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Tularosa, NM

Eagle Ranch Pistachios, Alamogordo, NM

White Sands National Monument, NM Dune Life Nature trail

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Silver City, NM

Tombstone, AZ: OK Corral Historic Complex, Boothill Graveyard

Saguaro National Park, AZ Red Hills Visitor Center, Scenic Baja Loop, Valley View Overlook trail, Signal Hill Petroglyph trail

Phoenix, AZ: Just spending the night here. Places to see? Places to eat?

Joshua Tree National Park, CA Black Rock Nature Center, High View Nature Trail

Bakersfield, CA: Just spending the night here. Places to see? Places to eat?

Sequoia National Forest, CA Giant Forest Museum, Big Trees trail, Moro Rock, General Sherman Tree, Congress trail, Big Stump trail

Fresno, CA: eat dinner at In-N-Out Burger

Yosemite National Park, CA Sentinel Dome trail, Glacier Pt trail, Tunnel View, Birdalveil Fall trail, Cathedral beach, Mist trail to Vernal Falls, Ansel Adams Gallery, Lower Falls trail, El Capitan, Grove of Giant Sequoias trail, Olmsted Pt trail, Pothole Dome and Tuolomne River trail

San Francisco, CA: Union Square, Dragon’s Gate, ChinaTown( Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory , Golden Gate Bakery for egg custard), Little Italy, Washington Square Park, North Beach, Filbert St steps, Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower, Embarcadero, Pier 39 sea lions, Pier 45 Musee Mecanique, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Coroked St, Nobb Hill, Golden Gate Bridge

Muir Woods, Mill Valley, CA Ben Johnson trail

Lake Tahoe, NV Sand Harbor Beach, Sand Pt Nature trail

Death Valley National Park, CA Darwins Falls hike, Mosaic Canyon trail, Sand Dunes, Mustard Canyon, Harmony Borax Works trail, Zabriskie Point, Twenty Mule Canyon, Dante’s View

Las Vegas Strip, NV: Bellagio Fountains, Caesar’s Palace Fall of Atlantis and aquarium, Mirage volcano, Treasure Island outdoor show, The Ventian/The Palazzo waterfall/atrium, LINQ Promenade, Paris Eiffel Tower, Las Vegas Sign at Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino

Hoover Dam Bypass/Mike O’Callaghan-Tillman Memorial Bridge, NV

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ South Rim trail, Desert View Dr

Cliff Palace Mesa Verde National Park, CO Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, Spruce Tree House, Park Point Overlook

Albuquerque, NM: Old Town tour of Bottger Mansion, Rattlesnake Museum, La Placita, San Felipe de Neri, Guadalupe Chapel, Museum Sculpture Garden

Petroglyph National Monument, NM Piedras Marcadas Canyon trail

Sandia Peak Tramway, NM

Amarillo, TX: Cadillac Ranch, Ozymandias on the Plains, Floaitng Mesa, Combine City, Historic Rte 66, The Big Texan Steak Ranch

Paris, TX: Eiffel Tower

West Monroe, LA: Duck Dynasty Warehouse, Willie’s Diner, Black Bayou Lake Nature trail and overlook

Vicksburg National Military Park, MS

Birmingham, AL : Civil Rights Heritage trail, Vulcan Park

Chatanooga, TN: Just spending the night here. Places to see? Places to eat?

Rock City, Lookout Mountain, GA Lover;s Leap, See 7 States, Fairyland Caverns, Swing-A-Long Bridge