Hittin' the Road!

Do you ever fall down a rabbit hole on Facebook? Like, someone posted something that made your brain record-scratch and you had to keep digging?

That's how this entire idea was hatched.

Sometime in 2019, I was bored and scrolling Facebook, and came across one of those "You'll never believe THIS could be REAL!!!!!!" click-baity posts. I can't find the post anymore, but it was about a lake in Georgia that you needs to make reservations for. Yeah...

So I followed the link and watched a small video about some lake in northern Georgia, called Lula Lake. Lula Lake is owned by the Lula Lake Land Trust and is only open a few days a month. Reservations are needed to keep it from becoming too busy, and the entrance fee of $15 also helps to off-set the cost of running the Trust.

So, I'm thinking with my Photographer Brain... that seems cool. I'd love to drive up there for a day and check it out. I love nature shots, and waterfall shots, and it would be a great overnight trip. So I pulled it up on the map... it's only 7 hours from home! We could even stay the whole weekend!

Oh, but then... I noticed something... do you see it?

Not sure why Interstate 75 would take me this far out of the way...

It crosses into Tennessee!

My mind started working, you could hear gears in my head...

I mean, if we're going all the way up there, we might as well go to Tennessee as well!

So, that's the very basic story of how this started. A day trip turned into a weekend trip.

Oh, but then... More gears. More cogs. More smoke coming from my ears. I began playing "How Many States Can We Touch?"

Round Knob is there SOLELY so we can cross into Missouri

My first attempt (yep, I said first) had us visiting or traveling through eleven states (Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and back home), for a total 33 driving hours, and 2,175 miles (not counting any detours). We'd try to keep the trip at around 7-8 days, to allow for sightseeing time in many of the bigger cities we'd stop at for the night.

I told Hubby about this one night over dinner, and I said that it would be cool for us to do for our anniversary in 2020 (right about now, actually)... He said we should think about doing it the following year (2021) for our 25th wedding anniversary (who says men aren't sentimental?) So, with that in mind (and knowing I had a lot more time to plan), I went back to Google... How many other states could we touch?

So many more states! Will I be sad I missed Memphis? Maybe...

We were able to add 2 more states, to make it thirteen (Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and back home). The difference, besides the two extra states, was adding in the St. Louis Arch, and going pretty far into Oklahoma. This trip would be 40 hours, and 2,678 miles. We'd probably allow 10-11 days for this trip.

Yes, you could argue that we're missing a lot of America within that circle, but that's okay. As two people who haven't traveled out of our own state - except to see family - seeing any part of America is better than seeing none at all! I can tell already that this won't be our one and only road trip... I already have grand plans for Parts 2 and 3 in the next decade! (If I can get my phobic hubby on an airplane, that is). 

Hubby isn't super-involved with this trip (he never is, really)... He knows I love to plan things, so I'm running wild with ideas right now, and once I begin to narrow things down, I'll go to him with would you rather options and get his input from there. So, as of right now... I don't know if we'll do the big trip or the small one. Which would I rather do? The BIG ONE, duh! Which do I think I can handle? Probably the smaller one. That's more than a week of driving, traveling, hotel beds, ugh... I don't know...

But I really want the big one. 

So, what have I done so far? I mean, besides an awesome trip on Google? I have (at last check) a 21-page Word document for me to record my every single thought as it pops in my head. Hey! Beignets! Don't forget to buy socks! Oooh, the bed and breakfast in Chattanooga looks cool! Lots of random stuff like that. I have a running list of songs I want to download, which are either specifically linked to a state we'll visit (like "Chattanooga Choo-Choo") or just awesome songs that make travel fun (like "Born to Be Wild"). 

I have a running shopping list (and a coordinating Shopping List online at Amazon and Walmart) so I can spread out my purchases over the coming year (things like gift cards, clothing, snacks, camera equipment, and similar).  And as I purchase things, I move it from the To Buy list, to the Bought list, to ensure that I don't make any repeat purchases. I'm thinking I'll start buying stuff come this Fall, especially if anything shows up on Christmas or Black Friday sales!

Also in this document is a list of things we want to do in each state, broken down by state (to make referencing it easier). Things like Lula Lake, Lookout Mountain, in Georgia. National Civil Rights Museum or Beale Street in Memphis. I'm hoping to do a lot of "off the beaten path" types of experiences, or things you wouldn't normally think about doing in each specific place (like kayaking the Wolf River Harbor in Memphis). I'm also watching a lot of YouTube travel videos and making notes of places to stop, or more specifically, places to stop and eat at in each of these places!

Most importantly, I have a running budget... for each option (Budget for Option 2 is larger, since the trip is longer). It's actually saved in Excel, and then inserted into the Word Document, so whenever I update the Excel spreadsheet, it updates the Word document, too. Really cool! I break it down by what we'll need to pay for, how much we'll need (I tend to estimate high), and any notes:

This hasn't been updated since February

Then, I have a separate table for what money and funds I have available (this is very much out of date, as you can see in the notes):

This also hasn't been updated since February

And finally, the most fun part of the whole Word Document (for me, because I'm a logistics nerd), is the Day to Day Itinerary! It's laid out for each day:

This will be fleshed out much more in the months to come

It includes where we're starting from (Little Rock) to where we're driving to (New Orleans), and any notes or itinerary underneath. In this example, we'll wander Little Rock until after lunch, drive through a few towns on our way to Nola, then stay the night in Nola. I make a note of rivers because of Hubby's dislike of bridges so that I can warn him ahead of time. 

So that's it...  That's where we are right now. Covid is 'ravaging' the globe. Everyone is locked in their homes. People are killing each other. And all I want to do is plan an epic road trip for 2021. 

Over the next 10 months, I'll do a lot more research into what could be fun to do in all of our stops. I'll decide if I can really do the long trip, or if I need to settle for the short trip. I'll buy stuff. I'll plan stuff. I'm already looking forward to it, and it's still 12 months away!

I'll leave you with this terrible Dad Joke:

How long does it take to get from Louisiana to Alabama? 

One Mississippi