Summer Plans, at least most of them, Finalized

Memorial Day weekend is going to be just plain awesome! On Thursday I'm driving up Lake Oswego to join my brother and nephew in watching the 10:40 pm showing of Solo, with no work on Friday! So I'll probably go practice español in Shar's 2nd grade class. Which is a good thing, because I'm a solid opposite kindergartener in that language now. By that I mean I can read Spanish well, but can't translate it fast enough when its spoken to me to keep the context going. 

Then after Shar finishes work on Friday, we'll start the test run of our plans of a Boston or Bust road trip.

We keep an old Metsker map of Oregon on the wall in Shar's apartment. We highlight in pink every road we have travelled together. Most of the map is pink after four years of traveling, other than a nice section in the northeast.

So we'll spend Memorial Day weekend driving some roads we haven't, and testing aspects of our trip to Boston and back. We'll compare sleeping in the car, to finding a place nearby to pitch a tent. We'll test our one cooler idea as we pass through the numerous small towns, Maybe even try grabbing a hotel room Sunday night for a hot shower and a regular bed. Both of us are taking Tuesday off, so we don't have to rush home for work after Memorial Day. I know I'm excited!

Thats not the only trip planned for this summer. Last weekend I finished registering for hotels and buying train tickets for my daughter and I's Riding the Rails trip. The picture shows the five hotel locations we will be staying at in between our train legs.  We're taking Amtrak's Empire Builder from Portland to Chicago, then the California Zephyr from Chicago to Emeryville, CA where Shar will pick us up.

Nights 1 and 2 are on the train. I have a rent a car reserved for pick up right there in Union Station, Chicago. Night 3 is in Alton, IL. I'm planning on doing a the St. Louis Arch (www.gatewayarch.com) that next morning before heading west for a drive through Kentucky. Nothing sightseeing is planned, but we'll use Trip Advisor to hit the major attractions along the way. Night 4 is in Ashland, KY. Night 5 is in Greensville, PA after a quick swing through West Virginia. Night 6 is in Hudson, MI after a driving into New York and driving through Ohio.
Nights 7 and 8 will find us in downtown Chicago. I'll be buying a city attraction pass for Ally and I and spending the three days we have there exploring the city. Having a rent a car certainly adds a flexibility to touring the city, though having been to Chicago before, using the lightrail and bus system isn't daunting. Nights 9 and 10 are back on the train heading west.

Shar and I took the train from Salem to Seattle last year and I absolutely fell in love with train travel. Its relaxing and you arrive at your destination ready to have fun vs exhausted from flying or driving. The current plan is stocking up on breakfast, lunch, and snack foods, and eating dinner in the dinning car. I'm still researching the "service stops" which may or may not give us enough time to jump off and grab a to go meal.

My planned activities while on the train are reading. I have a  series by a great historical fiction author Jack Whyte that I am saving specifically for the trip. I also have a external hard drive of movies and tv shows that will provide entertainment, and then there will be the blogging of the trip. I also plan on taking a deck of cards and the cribbage board to teach Ally to play cribbage. We'll either buy a couple travel board games, and/or buy the apps on the Ipad. Ally is brainstorming ways of not getting cabin fever. Hopefully she's successful, because WiFi won't be available and reception will be spotty.

The final trip is actually the first trip of the summer. Shar, Ally, and I are taking a late flight to Alaska in mid June as soon as school is out. I have friends who live in Anchorage we will be visiting, as well as some sightseeing.

So my summer is packed to the gills. By the end of it I will have visited thirty-five different states. I'll have travelled by planes, trains, and automobiles. And I'll be very curious about the number of miles I'll have covered.

Funny thing is I'm already thinking about the following summer's trips.