Opal Creek Falls- dry run

I can't believe that I've lived within 2 hours of opal creek falls for almost 40 years and never been.  What an unbelievable place.  There is a 3.5 mile forest access road that you can hike/bike that runs along north fork creek through an old growth forest.  We did both- because I failed to get my oldest daughters bike in working condition prior to leaving.  The forest however- absolutely unbelievable.

Also unbelievable...how much stuff a family of five needs to go.  I should've taken a picture of our rig.  We added an skybox that has 18 cubic feet of space plus a bike rack...we still barely squished in enough stuff for one night.  The good news is the kids don't seem to like to change when camping so maybe we won't need so many clothes!

If this were a software pilot, I don't think we would release on June 15th.  But this project is mostly about schedule.  We've paid for homes, hotels etc through early August so we just  need to get there. Now how to get another 21 cubic feet?

the plan is settled

We now have places booked for our trip.  51 days, 4482 miles,69 hours.  Now the detail planning...what will we do at these places?

Follow along with our trip planSummer plan 

Cheers,

DL

Travel Planning without internet?

It's unbelievable to think how I would have had to plan this trip without the internet.  In 1994, Betsy and I planned a western states backpacking trip which included 7 back packing trips with a few days driving in-between.  We had a book that gave us most of the 7 backpacking trips, but we had to organize the drive.  We went to AAA to get regional and local maps.  We counted miles along our route to get mileage and then guesstimated at travel times.  Now some locations had identified mileage like Portland to Seattle, but getting to remote camping spots?  Forget it.  Now you just type in the locations and boom...you've got mileage, time, and housing options.  Unbelievable.  I remember thinking my grandma had lived through everything (1898-1993): planes, ww1 & 2 etc. That said, I think the internet has opened more up than anything she experienced.  We are truly lucky.

Initial 3 week itenerary

Starting to get more and more excited as we move from draft form to actual bookings.  Booking a trip is a lot of work.  Good thing that my prior employer set me free.  Here's the itenerary
1.  Diamond Lakes (10 minutes north of crater lake.  2 days.
2.  Florence Oregon (Sand Dunes) 1 day
3.  Cave Junction (near oregon caves) 1 day
4.  Redwood National Park- 3 days
5.  Arcada (near Redwood national park) 2 days.
6.  Santa Rosa (wine country) 1 day
7.  SF ( with alcatraz tour) 1 day
8.  Monteray (north end of big sur) 1 day
9.  Morro Bay ( San Luis Obisbo) 4 days
10  Sequoia National Park 2 days.
11.  NYNY Hotel Vegas- 1 day (July 3rd(
12.  Moab- 4 days.

It's also starting to sink in that for the first time since I graduated college I will have no job or school- that was 22 years ago.  Based on this timeline, I will be 65 when I get my next summer vacation.  Whoa.

The last time Betsy and I spent a lot of time camping was after my senior year in college.  That was when we set our sights on hiking the pct, a 2200 mile trek from Mexico to canada.  This is much more than a hike it's a test of your planning skills and logistical competancy.  So too is a six week road trip with three kids.  The five p`s are in play....proper preparation prevents poor performance.   Stay tuned.

The Grand Plan

The plan started rather innocuously with a discussion about our annual summer trip.  I floated 18 ideas for our summer trip and asked the family their thoughts.  At the end, Isabelle (my oldest) asked, why not take the summer off and do them all.  Crazy I thought.  Then I thought some more.  By 3AM the following morning I had a preliminary map made and the plan started to take root.  What a great way to pay my family back for all their sacrifices while I helped build Axium.  And a great way to move on from the great employees and customers that I've worked with for over 12 years.

Stay tuned for more stories.