I have the trip roughly divided into 3 segments/phases -- each is approximately planned to take a month. Phase 1: Home to Chicago (mid-Aug to mid-Sept)
Phase 2: Chicago to CA (SF/SD) (mid-Sept to mid-Oct)
Phase 3: CA back to home (mid-Oct to mid-Nov)
The planned route.
A few states that appeared "untouched" (WV, WY, IN) will be accommodated as the itinerary gets refined.
I also quickly realized the futility of planning too far ahead or in too much detail since I don't know what my "velocity" is going to be, in all meanings of that term, until the first week or two. So, I figured I will update my itinerary on a rolling basis. What I do have for now is that every camping day is followed by a few days or staying in a hotel or a home (friends) so I can get my laundry, nice bed, food replenishment, etc. Camping is also planned for mostly closer to the weekend so that I can work from hotel lobbies with some quiet and food and drink around.
After I planned out the first few days and I was going back to review I noticed that I may have missed a logistical issue that is likely to bite me. Campsites tend to have limited check-in hours and a common advice is to check in early. Which means I will need to drive up early to a campsite. Not sure I have thought that through very well. But somethings you are going to find out the hard way, right?
The first leg is focused on hanging on to the eastern seaboard as I wind my way up north. With a lot of friends and people to meet on that segment I have the luxury of staying with them and meeting some after years. By the time I hit Vermont and upstate NY it will be early September and I hope to catch the first fall foliage colors that time of the year.
Part of my trip planning is also to find interesting and off-beat places to see. I have joined several FB groups that discuss cross-country trips and there's places and experiences being shared there. I then use Roadtrippers to check out reviews, interesting detours, and then finally plugging into Google Maps to figure out routing.
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