If you haven't noticed we take a lot of road trips. We like to travel and we normally drive. Eric doesn't like to fly and sometimes it's cheaper just to drive anyways. Throughout the year we will take quick trips up to the mountains in Tennessee (about 5 hr drive) or down to a gulf coast beach (about 4 hr drive). We consider those short drives easy trips we could do for a long weekend. Longer trips take more planning and of course more vacation days away from work so we really only plan one epic trip a year.
The longest road trip we have ever done was a big loop trip where we drove about 4,000 miles in 10 days. It was crazy we pushed ourselves too hard. Sure we saw a lot on that trip, 3 national parks Badlands, Yellowstone, and Tetons but it was just too much time spent together in the Jeep driving. I still think its amazing we didn't kill each other on that trip (thank you audio books) but I am glad we experienced it.
This year we are planning another road trip out to Colorado. It is one of our favor places to visit and it has been two years since our last trip out there. It is about a 20 hour drive (one way) for us so we are planning to split it up by stopping overnight in Kansas City. On our drive out we planning on stopping for dinner in KC at a vegetarian restaurant but then will get back in the car and drive another hour or so to stay in a cheaper hotel outside of the city. On our drive back home we are going to use reward points to stay at a more expensive hotel downtown so we can have a more relaxing dinner and maybe check out a brewery.
Planning your stops make road trips smoother. Trust me it will make you feel better if you know where you are going to be staying at the end of a long day of driving. Hotel reservations can usually be changed within 24 hours of your stay if your plans change for any reason.
The drive should be part of your adventure. If you know your driving limits your stops will be easier to map out. We usually aim for 8 to 10 hours of drive time in a day. It is better to error on the shorter side of your driving limit because you never know when you might get stuck in traffic. Also that gives you leeway to stop and check out landmarks you are passing by that you might not have even known about when planning your trip. Plan your trip by looking for fun cities to stop in. College towns make great stopping points because they will have fun restaurants and bars. Larger cities can make good stopping points too but they can be more expensive.
We are really excited about all the hiking will we will be doing in Colorado. We are renting a house in Estes Park so Eric pulled out our Rocky Mountain National Park map and started plotting out our hikes. I made some quick trail mix with some Granola I had already made. I mixed granola with some sunflower seeds and dried pineapple. I wish I had some shredded coconut or maybe some cashews to add but it was pretty tasty. If anyone has podcast or audio book suggestions please send them my way!
