The Perfect Roadtrip: Part One

It's 4:30 a.m. in June of 2002 in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. With our parents misty eyed, smiling and waving, I back my '94 Saturn out the drive and onto the trip of a lifetime. The amazingly detailed trip that will take us across the United States to the Pacific Ocean and back to that Conestoga drive in just over 2 weeks. Are you game?

What you do not know is that we're only 18, we have both just graduated high school, one has never been camping, one has only been driving a few months, and both have no clue what lies ahead of them. Sounds like the perfect trip.

Our planning began literally in the 8th grade. During our ever wondrous english course with Mrs. Johnson we explored our imagination and traveled to places unknown in our writing. One work of fiction consisted of our dream to backpack across Europe. After a few years of growing apart as friends, and only reconnecting in our senior year while working as journalism interns for our school newspaper, we decided to re-explore that fiction work and ended up translating it into a non-fiction piece as a roadtrip across the United States. AAA became our closest friend.

We spent hours going over maps of the United States and picking out "hot spots" of places we had read about and explored in our dreams. The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, the St. Louis Arch, the Golden Gate Bridge, and many other joys that can only be found by heading west. We made a list of the places we would love to see and that began marking everything on a map to see if we could find some way to connect the dots. There were a few extras we would have loved to see, such as the South, but with our time and cost calculations, we determined that the South would be a trip in and of itself, so we left Texas and east points from there alone.

Finally we narrowed down our points of interest. This is a vital step in planning any roadtrip. Everyone wants to see everything, but you have to be realistic in your goals. See as much as you can, but keep in mind how much time you can spend in one area. Some places you may want to spend days and others, just hours. This is a good time to ask around and research each place you want to visit. Find out the entrance costs as well as the recommended sites to see around the area. Don't hesitate to over investigate! Gas prices, hotel prices, entrance fees, local attractions besides the "main event" and whatever minute detail that can think of. Everything will help you!

I personally met with a AAA advisor and had them make a Triptik. This service is awesome! I gave them a list of all the places we wanted to visit and within a few days, I have a flip chart map listing routes, construction information, as well as maps of every city we were travelling through. I also secured backup maps of each state we were going to travel to just in case we got lost. I also made sure all my information was updated with AAA in case of a roadside emergency-another smart thing to do, especially if your car is no longer covered by a factory warranty.

On this trip, we camped about 90% of the time. In order to make sure were staying at nice facilities and had plenty of amenities at our campsites, I signed up for a KOA value card. For us, it was easier to stay at KOAs most of the time so we could receive a 10% discount, and so we knew we had a place to stay at every location. Having spontaneity during a trip is always fun and certainly interesting, however, not always practical. Being so young at the time, we wanted to be as safe as possible, and the KOA campgrounds offered us secure, safe locations at every spot, not to mention most had a cool pool and coffee!

The next thing I mention will be one you want to tattoo into your memory: CD'S! Or these days, MP3's, IPods, whatever music medium you are using. Have plenty of music! We burned a special 3 disc "California" set which included not only our favorite songs, but many songs that related to California. California was our goal, so we made sure to keep that the focus in our minds the entire trip. Whatever your road trip is focused around, make a CD of related songs to keep you in the mood. For those too often times when you get stressed, lost, or annoyed at your co-pilot, you will need this to bring you down to the reality that you are on the trip of a lifetime!

The last prep tip I will mention to you is to take a good look into your cell phone, the plan and all of its options. I did a lot of research to make sure I had an awesome plan that would cover a majority of the places we were travelling through. No plan will offer full coverage at every spot, but you don't want to risk spotty reception all over the country. I bumped up my minutes so we made sure we had lots of talk time to contact family and friends about our whereabouts, and to check in with our campground if we were going to be arriving later than open hours. There is no issue in upgrading your minutes just for your trip-in fact, I recommend it. I also made sure my phone was in good working order along with strong battery power. Battery power is especially important because of the constant signal switches your phone will make throughout your trip. This causes the battery to drain significantly. I think that's enough about a cell phone.

Once we secured all of our camping supplies, went shopping for eats and treats and made sure all of our maps and important items such as car insurance documents, car registration and IDs were in a safe spot, we packed up that little '94 Saturn and began our drive. Now, before I begin on our fun journey I should mention one important thing, especially for you women out there: Do not overpack. Trust me, there are laundromats along the way, and if you're making this a quick trip, you don't need to take any "fancy" clothes: especially while camping. Each of us took a large bag, and when I went to get behind the wheel the first time I could barely get in! Big mistake.

Ok, now we're finally onto the trip! From Conestoga, Pa we headed straight west towards Chicago, Illinois-our first stop of the trip. This first leg of the journey was completely boring. Personally, I don't find much exciting about Ohio, Indiana or even Illinois. Had we had time to stop by the Rock & Roll hall of fame, or the Navy Pier along the way, maybe my opinion could be swayed, however, paying over $30 in tolls and driving one direction with no hills past Pennsylvania, well, we were BORED! Now here is one important tidbit to make note of around Chicago: read your directions carefully and follow them precisely. At the time, we didn't know about Mapquest, and sometimes unfortunately, it does get you more lost than if you had it, however, it's always good to have that third back up. First step, triptik, second, regular map of the city and third, Mapquest or whatever online mapping site you prefer.

Once we maneuvered our way past being lost, we made it to our first official stop: The KOA of northern Chicago. Nothing too impressive, but we were happy to be off the road after over 10 hours of driving and had an opportunity to re-organize our packed car. The next morning: Sioux Falls, South Dakota. More advise here. As tempting as it was to drive back into Chicago and explore around, since it was only around 5pm once we arrived at our night stop, keep in mind how far you have to travel the next morning and how early you have to get up. We knew we had about a 9 hour drive the next day, and we didn't want to risk getting lost in Chicago again, so we stayed put. I highly recommend this option. If you haven't done too much research on a city, or are confused as to where you are going, just find things to do at your nightly stop. We listened to music, read books to each other (which is another great tip to use when you get sick of listening to music in the car), and played a few card games. This keeps everything simple and cost effective.

We awoke another early morning and began our 600 mile journey to the town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This drive was also pretty unventful, however, we were able to see some of the classic spots to visit in South Dakota. The first of which is the Corn Palace, a magnificant building covered inside and out with nothing but corn. Every year there is a different scene and it is certainly something to behold! We made the mistake of driving to Sioux Falls and unpacking at our campsite first, and then having to make the hour drive back towards Mitchell, SD to see it, but it was well worth the trip.

We arrived back in Sioux Falls in the early evening and went to check out how the town received its name. Sioux Falls can best be described as unkempt beauty. The falls were just beautiful as they flowed right through the city, however, the algae was not the best thing to look at. It was a nice evening, nonetheless, and kept our minds off the exhausting 800 mile drive to Bozeman Montana the next day.

The next day's drive included seeing over 1000 signs pointing towards Wall Drug's illustrious free ice water in Wall, South Dakota. Not to mention a free bumper sticker! As if Wall Drug needs any more advertisement! Either way, it's an interesting tourist destination that you at least need to check out at least once in your lifetime. The next stop took us to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Expensive. As unique as a huge carved out of a mountain statue of four presidents' heads is, we were just as happy to pull off to the side of the road, snap some pictures, and keep driving. Same with Crazy Horse. No way were we going to pay the expensive fee to see a horse carved into a mountain that wasn't even finished. Let me know when it's done and maybe I'll check it out. It's a beautiful site, either way, but if you're on a tight budget as we were, I recommend taking pictures from the side of the road and using your zoom. It is no different.

Now onto being grateful for good music. My co-pilot fell asleep in Wyoming, which, as amazingly beautiful as the scenery is, I have to admit it was hard to keep awake. This is a great time to kick up the music you like and enjoy the ride. When my co-pilot awoke, we were a good portion into Montana and a storm was brewing. I have never seen anything as grand as a Montana mountain thunderstorm. With this, comes a little tidbit. Make sure you have good tires on your car and that you have gotten everything from belts and hoses checked out beforehand. Don't forget to get an oil change every 3,000 miles as well. It will make your trip much smoother.

Ok, now back to that Montana mountain thunderstorm. It definitely got to a point where we had to pull over to enjoy it because the rain was pelting our car so hard. It is best to play it safe when you encounter any storm on the road. It is especially crucial when you are unfamiliar with your surroundings. There is nothing wrong with taking a few minutes to relaxin in your cramped, uncomforatable car while you partake of the scenery.

One last thought on travel before I move on to the next destination: take advantage of friends and familys' hospitality. It is always nice to stay with someone you know along your travels. Not only will it save you money, but you get a great experience to add into your trip. If you know anyone within 100-200 miles of your travels, make the effort to visit or stay with them.

We arrived in Bozeman late and had the opportunity to enjoy a 2 day stay in God's Country with my co-pilot's sister and her husband. Burgers on the Homer Simpson grill, a Walmart hair dye job, and an oil change later, we were back on the road, this time headed to Yellowstone National Park. As long as I could write about Yellowstone and all of its grand beauty, I'll keep this short and sweet. Allow time, make sure you have lots of film, or a large capacity SD card in your digital camera, and plan to spend the night if possible. We had to speed through Yellowstone because we were due in Salt Lake City, UT that evening, and that is one of the few things I regretted on this trip. Whenever you have the opportunity to visit any of the United States National Parks, allow plenty of time to explore everything. It is well worth the extra time and effort.

While leaving the park, we ran into the one of the construction zones noted on our Triptik. It took a few extra hours, but it is one of the most interesting things I have ever witnessed. The west handles construction completely different from the east. Instead of creating a new road to drive on, or just shutting down one lane, they rip the entire road up until there is just dirt, leave one lane, and have you wait for over an hour until a lead car takes you miles through windy quiet roads until you are back on the macadem. It's completely unique and well, kind of fun! Yeah, we didn't arrive in Salt Lake City until 11 pm (partly because we also got lost: another tidbit-don't talk on the phone in the middle of an interstate switch. You will take the wrong way guaranteed) but the experience was fun.

End of the Part One. Please check in soon for Part Two which will take you from Salt Lake City, UT through the Nevada Desert, along with some lost items, a speeding ticket and running over a jackrabbit.