10 Days to Departure

We decided to make a cross-country driving adventure to see family and friends. This was started by my desire to attend the American College of Surgeons meeting in Washington, D.C. so that I can obtain continuing medical education credits (CME's) to keep my California license active. In addition, this meeting takes place from October 16-20 and coincides with Earline's 61st birthday on October 19th. Since she has a brother living in the area around Washington, D.C., we felt this would be a great time to see family, collect CME's and to celebrate a birthday.

As our plans crystalized, my brother Dave, who lives in Florida, was coming out for a visit to Santa Cruz and we explored the possibility of his joining us on our road trip adventure as the last time he crossed the country to Seattle, he had the company of a wife and two elderly dogs with tiny bladders. This meant that sight-seeing was limited as you can't leave the dogs in the vehicle for very long. In addition, it was like having a newborn child. He had to get up several times each evening to let the dogs out for the call of nature.

We initially decided to drive our Nissan Armada, a great beast of an SUV with 4-wheel drive, so that we could all be comfortable. Next, the plans morphed into pulling our 24' Jayflight travel trailer so that we would not be bound by needing to find a motel in the evenings. Earline got excited and packed the RV with lots of wine and was planning an abundance of meals. At the last minute, my brother developed severe back pain and had to stay in Florida. We decided to return to the plan of using the Armada only so that we didn't need to worry about rough terrain or the possibility of snow.

Earline unpacked the travel trailer and we made alternative plans to take two sleeping bags and a small tent and an electrical inverter so that we could at least make hot coffee in the mornings should we need to camp due to scarcity of lodging. We then started to plan our travel route.

Since there are fires closing the south gate of Yellowstone, we decided not to go so far north. Besides, Earline and I have already visited this National Park. Next we decided on visiting childhood friends in the Phoenix, Arizona area. We plotted a course through Joshua Tree National Monument and plan to see this before venturing to the Phoenix area.

Following this, we want to travel to Monument Valley and to see other historic sites in Arizona before moving to the north. Earline has friends in Ohio and then we plan to visit family and friends in Pennsylvania before traveling to Washington, D.C. area. Following our visit with Earline's brother and my conference, we plan to visit her brother, Earl, and Earl's daughter and her family  in West Virginia. Following this, we will make our way back west, hopefully seeing Carlsbad Caverns and other interesting sites before seeing other friends in the Sedona, Arizona area.

This trip is not very well planned and may change multiple times depending on events and weather but the thrill of adventure is upon us!