Road Trip Grand Plan

We now have one week to go until my trip back to Virginia begins.  On Thursday the packers will come, and they will load on Friday.  I took Wednesday off to prep, so I only have two more days of work here - yipee!  We'll stay in a hotel from Thursday onward until we leave at 00:00 on Sunday on the Alaska Marine Highway System.  The trip to/from Juneau & Bellingham is typically three days, but I was able to split this up into 2 segments so we have 2 day break in Ketchikan.  This is great because Millie would go nuts stuck in a car for three days straight.  (See my post on the trip coming here.)  I don't expect there will be a whole lot to do in Ketchikan, but hope we find some nice trails to walk Millie on.

We arrive in Bellingham, WA on 2/15 and will drive 11 days straight until we get to our hotel in Herndon, VA.  The nightly stops planned as of the moment is this:


2/15/2013 Portland, OR
2/16/2013 Boise, ID
2/17/2013 Salt Lake City, UT
2/18/2013 Bryce Canyon City, UT
2/19/2013 Flagstaff, AZ
2/20/2013 Alberquerque, NM
2/21/2013 Shamrock, TX
2/22/2013 Little Rock, AR
2/23/2013 Nashville, TN
2/24/2013 Roanoke, VA

I went back and forth on what route to take and some how ended up with the above.  Unfortunately, I didn't make any plans for an extended stop anywhere.  Most of the driving days will be short though (~5 hrs), so I do hope to make good use of some mornings and afternoons to see things.  We do have a plan to stop into Bryce Canyon, Petrified National Forest, and Smokey Mountain NP.  We might throw some other things in as time permits.  I only wish more National Parks allow pets on the trails.  I don't really want to go somewhere on a road trip and have to leave Millie in the car.

In addition to seeing some sights, I found out some of my friends live near some of the places I'm stopping, so I am making plans to try to catch some of them also.  This probably means the most relaxing part of the trip will be the ferry ride, but it should be a fun road trip.

The only thing I really have to worry about now is weather.  I think I'll be fine down South but am not quite sure what I'll see around Boise and Salt Lake City.  I want to take my winter tires off now since I won't be able to switch 'em out until mid-April possibly if I drive with it.  Hopefully I'll get lucky and not hit much snow....