Overview

Winning the lottery incinerated my motivation to be a responsible adult, and in turn ignited my already simmering need for a cross country trip.  It took months to consider and plan what would inevitably be a stupendous endeavor. We even hired a driver, as I wanted to make sure I was able to stare out the window as much as possible without getting into car accidents.

 As I planned, I had to constantly remind myself that I could not go everywhere, but instead would have to settle for some of my favorites. My problem was that everywhere was my favorite. I decided, eventually, to combine my love of amusement parks with my interest in national parks and west coast cities. I then decided it would be easiest to envision my trip as a five legged creature.

The first leg of my trip was more of a nostalgia ride – a jaunt from Boston down to Atlanta, hitting all of the major amusement parks on the way. This is something I do to some extent every year, so I figured, why not hang on to the classics? There aren’t many national parks in the region that I have an interest in, and I’m rather keen on ignoring east coast cities.

The second leg of my trip is still something I’ve done, albeit not all at once. This would include jaunt from Atlanta up through Chicago and to Minneapolis. I’ve done Atlanta to Louisville, and Louisville to Chicago, and I’ve been dying to do the upper Midwest. I’d hit both Dollywood and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, along with my favorite park – Holiday World – and Mammoth Cave National Park. Chicago would be my second city, as my brother lives there, and then we’d get all of the upper Midwest amusement parks.

The west, including the prairie and four corner states, encompassed part three of my trip. I would go from North Dakota’s badlands to South Dakota’s badlands and then into Colorado and Utah, hitting as many national parks as my little heart desires in the area, and including a visit to both Denver and Salt Lake City. I’d then travel south into Arizona, dip into New Mexico, and wind up at my birthplace – Tucson.

The fourth leg would be the easiest to explain. California. From San Diego northward, including Death Valley and Sequoia, and then heading up to San Francisco and Sacramento. Naturally, the parks along the way would earn my patronage.

The last section of my trip would be the northwest. From northern California up to Vancouver, I would be visiting Crater Lake, Washington’s national parks, and Seattle, meeting up with my sister’s fiancée in Vancouver. He was pretty bummed he couldn’t go, but he’s so close to graduating that it makes more sense for him to just finish up instead of waste his time with us.

The issue of lodging and accompaniment came along quite a few times, and actually presented a difficult decision. While an RV would murder gallons upon gallons of gas, it would better to be able to get up and walk around without having to stop, and would be an easier lodging option. A second driver was thrown on board, and our planning was concluded.

I knew I needed to keep track of this endeavor – I’m a member of roller coaster enthusiast clubs, and usually report my trips to them, but they wouldn’t care about the national parks. My friends who enjoy national parks wouldn’t care for the roller coasters… I decided to write a blog, if not for whomever feels like reading it, then for myself to remember this epic journey by.