Searching for a Photo Theme

I think it would be neat to have something that I take a picture of everywhere I go. Not a landmark, though I'm sure there will be plenty of those, but, rather, something that would mark the difference and sameness of every place I see. For example, perhaps you remember posters of the doors of Europe? I couldn't find that one but this one of the doors of Yale is similar in concept.



That's the kind of thing I'm looking for. Some ideas I've had: mailboxes, window flower boxes, feet or hands (a stretch but I really love feet/shoes and hands), some sort of sign, rocks. Nothing's floating my boat and a lot of the destinations are really arrive, eat, sleep, and leave the next morning. So perhaps the constant is food, as is so often the case. Perhaps the dinner table each night? Ideas please!

Itinerary - What Do You Think?

Okay, here it is, what I think works to get from point a to point z and several in between. Check it out. Add your two cents' worth. Suggest better stops, places to stay, see, eat, skip ... your ideas much appreciated. Meanwhile, I'm off to bed 'cause it's up at the crack o' dawn tomorrow.

Is There a Harley in My Future??

Wow, I've managed to use up more planning time than I have left and I'm probably a little better than halfway through planning. No, that's not true. The big picture, minus a few stops, is planned out. Monica, Debra, and Bonnie are committed and have pretty much gotten their plane tickets (I think only Debra still needs to find her Utah to DC best fare). David just needs to swing a ticket to LA, which won't be at all difficult to do.

Today I put pins in the map for the spots I know I'm going to. The big "hole" is Minneapolis to Yellowstone, complicated by the fact that our travel through South Dakota runs us smack dab into the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally.


Sturgis, in case you happen not to know this, is near Mt. Rushmore. That's one of the places we plan to visit. Debra's never seen it. I have and I'm thrilled to see it and mostly the Badlands again. I also want to touch foot in North Dakota, which takes us a bit out of our way perhaps. So there's the challenge of mapping a route and also of finding a place or places to stay. Somehow I doubt there's much room left in Sturgis if this photo from an earlier rally is any indication.

Monica and I reserved places on Macknaw Island and also in Sister Bay in Door County. Bonnie and I have booked places in Zion, Capitol Reef, and Sedona. And Debra and I have a place to stay in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. For the rest, I'm relatively sure we can find places on the spot -- very daring of me, the one who always likes to know just where I'm going. It's too much to figure out in advance, frankly, and who knows what we'll find once we get some place. I've only been concerned about making sure we have a place to say in popular summer vacation spots.

Other progress: I have found someone to stay most of the time at the house. I think Jeff and Shelley will be able to manage the rest. So that's taken care of. I'm starting a pile in my room of things I'm picking up for the trip -- a first aid kit, a road trip game I saw. Any suggestions of what to be sure to bring???? And I'm starting a notebook with reservations, places to see, places to eat, etc. It's beginning to feel like it's really going to happen!