Background
In the summer of 2006, the Joiner family decided to take a road trip across the western United States. I say we decided this in 2006, but in reality, my dad (Willie) had been planning it for many years. When he was young, his parents took him and his brother and sister on a trip out west. Ever since, it had been a dream of my dad's to do the same with his family. The actual logistic planning began months ahead of June 2006 when Daddy solicited free travel information from seemingly every organization possible. Nearly every day a new state tourism magazine arrived in the mailbox. He organized them by putting them all in a large boot-sized shoebox which managed to travel with us on the trip. The four of us were gone for two weeks in a green rental van. Among some of the sights from that trip were the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Yellowstone National Park, the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, the Golden Gate Bridge, Mall of America, and the Space Needle. We hit several major cities, several long stretches of nothing, and a Pearl Jam concert which booked every hotel in the state of Washington. With the four of us sharing EVERYTHING, the trip was, needless to say, an "adventure." We managed to visit twenty-six states that summer.
Here we are at the Four Corners. Each of us is in a different state.
Of course, if you have done much traveling of your own, you'll likely understand that it only whets the appetite to see more. We had seen the West (save Nebraska, Kansas, and North Dakota) and wanted to do the East. Daddy again began planning for our next road trip adventure scheduled for summer of 2009. With some planning done, my PawPaw became very ill last summer and we postponed the trip. Now, one year later, we are still determined to make this trip. Daddy has deemed the voyage, "Road Trip 2010" with subtitle, "Going Where We've Never Been."
The Way it Works
Although this next statement could be debated, planning the trip is really a family venture. We have each been assigned certain cities/attractions for the purpose of researching and planning activities. For the past few months we have been conducting "Open Forums" in which Daddy presides over a rather restless crew of Joiners on laptops with open trip itinerary files, tourist websites, and Facebook minimized (or not.) The scheduled route can alter based on the preferences of the different family members to see one sight over another. Hot spots include but are not limited to major universities, state capitols, battlefields, museums, major league baseball stadiums, or sights of significant historic value. (Not to mention civil engineering treasures [Ode to WV bridges] or major shopping centers.)
This Time Around
Now the plan is to head up the East Coast and back. As of now, we're planning to make a turn-around in Calais, Maine, the northernmost city of the continental US. When traveling, though (especially with 4 Joiners), flexibility is KEY. Also, we are hoping to run across some interesting unexpecteds like the huge cow we saw in Wisconsin. And yes, it often feels like we're living in a movie.
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This is Hannah writing, so please come along for our adventure and comment as you would like to. I hope to keep this updated throughout the trip, pending the ability to update via my Blackberry in the many, many hours of road time we will have. Did I mention there are cell phone use regulations? Because there are. Perhaps I can maneuver around them and still manage to post updates about the expedition. I hope you can join us, but please-- go easy on the luggage-- Fowler's Xterra will fill up quickly.
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