Getting our kicks on Route 66....part 2! Pre-trip planning for December 2013 road trip

After last December's adventure, I was already looking at the calendar to see how Christmas and New Year's Eve 2013 would fall. A road trip during the Christmas break from work was inevitable. The only questions were 1.) which days of the week would be spent scouring the countryside, 2.) where would I wind up, 3.) would I be going alone yet again, and 4.) would cockroaches survive the next ice age? The first of those questions to be answered was #1. Being that Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, I knew I'd be heading out in the wee early hours of Thursday morning and plan to be back for New Year's Eve. Wow, 5-6 days...I could tear up some serious pavement in that amount of time. The wheels in my head were already spinning. I hadn't been back from the last trip long before I was already thinking of where to go next Christmas break. Next question to be answered was #3. As things moved forward in my personal life it had become very apparent that I now had a traveling partner. We've taken a few short trips and she seems to love it as much as I do. I warned her I have a bit of a wayfarer attitude...I just go with the wind. I don't make reservations most of the time. I may mark some spots on the map that I want to visit, but everything in between those dots is open range. Maybe two places are 200 miles apart, but I make drive 400 to get there. Some people just can't handle not knowing where they will be and when. Lots of structure. Luckily for me, Denise can just go with the flow. The first time we took a little road trip I told her it was a test...of course I didn't say it was a test before we left because I didn't want her to pretend she enjoyed it to satisfy me. But it was very important to me that the person I was going to be with could handle this type of thing. I was unsure what she would think about traveling like this because she has such a busy life with 3 kids and a business to run. School, dance, sports, me being a big baby when I'm sick, etc. You have to plan things out to make any attempt at keeping your sanity. Well, she passed with flying colors. Turns out a trip like that was just what the doctor ordered for her. She was able to relax and NOT worry about deadlines for advertisements, placing orders for inventory on time, skipping lunch because she was too busy...but she did take care of the big baby. Passing with flying colors is an understatement. She is the perfect companion in EVERY way. I have the need to take these types of trips, and she has the need to be taken away sometimes. Match made in Heaven. I appreciate everything she does for me, and in return this is one little thing I can do for her. I told her we were going in December, and she said I'm ready. Done.

So question #2 gets my juices flowing....I love looking at the maps and seeing how far I can get in the allotted time. Should I go northeast up to Tennessee? How about due west to New Mexico? How about driving around the traffic circle on Brownswitch Road with a long trailer for 5 days and clog up the whole thing so no one can enter it? Inevitably, nostalgia starts to kick in and I narrow down an area that I love, yet can go off the paths I've been before and explore new territory. In this case, my thoughts turned to some of the old towns along Hwy 287 from Denton, Texas to Amarillo. Over the years, the highway has been modernized to 4 lanes almost all the way, as well as bypassing some of the Main Streets of the little downs along the way. Following the maps, I found myself lost in the old days of when the lonely highways went directly into these now familiar towns. Through the awesomeness of Google Maps, I was able to see some new and interesting places within these towns that I was planning to visit. I happen to love historic court houses nestled in these little town squares. Many of them date back to the 1800's and were marvels of architecture for the time. Each county seat would try to be more ornate than the others. So following the familiar path northwest from Dallas I spent a couple weeks marking stopping points and things were falling into place. Awesomeness. Then something happened and it all changed.

While going through one of my external hard drives I came across my pictures from the 2009 trip that included the Texas and New Mexico stretches of Route 66. If you have ready some of my other blog posts (if you haven't I suggest you read them immediately if not sooner), I have been bitten by the nostalgia bug ( and I have no cure and couldn't be happier about it). A new plan began to hatch in my head. I've always wanted to drive the entire route, but I've come to grips that unless I hit the lotto or retire, I won't have the time to do it all in one shot. But I had the opportunity to put more miles of the Mother Road under my belt AND catch those spots I saved on the map, albeit exploring them west to east instead of east to west. Hey, I'm not picky....as long as I am there I don't care how I get there! I immediately went for my awesome EZ66 guide and special maps I had purchased prior to the last trip down the route. There have been so many alignment changes and most of what is left is not clearly marked that you need a special set of maps to navigate it. Now I'm REALLY pumped! New territory, nostalgia, old familiar places...and the best travel companion I could wish for! I'm ready to throw some underwear in a bag, grab the camera and some beef jerky, sour Skittles, and some water and hit the road now! I have a plan! Even though I have the route pretty much mapped out, I still don't know where we will stay or when. I'm taking my time and taking pics along the way. This is probably one of the most planned trips I've made, but at the same time there is still enough "unknown" to drive my adrenaline meter through the roof.

As a side note, I made a huge ass boo-boo on my last trip down Route 66. The last group of pictures I took, especially those at the world famous Cadillac Ranch, were "somehow" deleted from my memory card so I have no proof that I was there. I also have no proof that not only did I eat a 72oz. steak at the world famous Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo...I ate 2 of them then got an extra thick vanilla shake at Dairy Queen just after. But since I lost all my pics, you will just have to take my word for it. So I'm definitely going to visit the Cadillac Ranch again this trip. I would eat another 144 ounces of steak, but I don't want to be a showoff with Denise so I'll just skip it this time. There may, however, be an extra thick vanilla shake or two to write about though....

Now here we are...in the waning hours of Christmas Eve...and as excited as ever. I absolutely love being on the road exploring. The truck is all clean (I'm not OCD about ANYTHING...except having a clean truck before I leave). I have no idea why that is. Everything will be neatly packed into a spotless truck when we leave...and won't remain that way for long. It's like having Christmas 6 days in a row. Each new day exploring brings out the kid in me...and this kid can't wait.

Oh, and as far as question #4? My money is on yes they will.

As I leave my blog for the night....I'll leave you, all 3 of my fans, pictures from the last trip down the Mother Road and a warning....I WILL be detailing this next adventure right here. If you have made it this far with my rambling and haven't had the urge to stick a butter knife in a toaster, I thank you for hanging with me. See you on the road!