The Next Grand Adventure

Our friends Kent and Christine are finally getting around to making it legal, and they've invited us to their wedding in Connecticut on the 17th of July. There's no power in the 'verse that can stop me from being there, but I spent weeks trying to find a reasonably affordable flight that would allow us some time in NYC as well, but to no avail. I wracked my brain trying to think of ways to get around the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of spending nearly a thousand dollars on two plane tickets and hotel for a few nights, not to mention food, transportation, etc once we're there, and I just couldn't figure out how we could make it work.

Until one night, a couple of weeks ago, I hatched a perfect plan. It was so perfect that I stayed awake for hours past my bedtime because I just couldn't fall asleep after hatching such a perfect (and exciting) plan.

We're driving.

We've done long road trips before, but nothing quite this extensive. Dan's parents have graciously agreed to take the kitties for a couple of weeks, and we're going to spend the middle two weeks of July exploring the country, meeting up with old friends (and meeting with new!), having adventures and seeing some friends get hitched eleven years after their first date. I am super duper fantabulously excited about this plan, so let me tell you a bit more about it.

Our intention is to drive the northern route on the way out to the East Coast, leaving sometime during the weekend of July 10/11, and stopping in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, and possibly NYC along the way before we make it out to the wedding on the 17th. Then, we plan to stop in NYC, Philadelphia, Boone (North Carolina), Louisville, and Kansas City on our way back. We'll do a mix of camping, cheap motels, and maybe even couch surfing, and between that and the price of gas we won't even come close to what the cost of the trip would have been had we opted to fly. Plus, this way each of us gets to add a few new states, we get to see people we like, and I'll have a heck of a lot of blog fodder. What's not to like?

So if you live in one of the above cities (or you've visited) and you have ideas, suggestions, or are willing to let a couple of crazy Strykers crash in your living room, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. :)