Which is why I'm planning a road trip out west. Just me and my dog.
Driving is not a problem for me. I moved to St. Paul, MN from Philadelphia, PA three years ago and have made that road trip several times, once by myself (and my dog of course) during winter. My father is a truckdriver and has been since he was 14. I guess you could say driving is "in my blood." Growing up we would always drive wherever we went. We would go to and from Florida once a year and our other vacations were loops through the mountains in Virginia and North Carolina. My first road trip without my dad was when I was 19 when I drove through New England, to and from Maine, with stops in Rhode Island to visit friends.
Now I want to start planning my ultimate road trip.... something I've been trying (and failing) at planning for years. I get a decent amount of vacation at work (three weeks paid) so I should have enough time to do it.
The most important things are:
1) Making it to California and driving down the coast
2) Making it to Utah and New Mexico to explore (I've been to Arizona and Colorado already)
3) Making it back to St. Paul with myself and my dog alive and healthy
I guess the things I need help with are:
1) Cost estimation (besides gas)
I will have a tent and sleeping bag and will likely be going in the summer. I lived, worked and travelled around the state of Alaska for 6 months in 2008 so not showering, eating peanut butter and jelly and stayin gat campsites is not an issue for me.
2) To know if this is even possible. Is this a ridiculously long trip for 2 - 3 weeks? Will I not even get to see anything?
3) What sort of connections should I have? Should I have contacts for garages all over in case my car breaks down? I have AAA but I'm guessing I need more than that. I know how to change a tire... but that is about it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to be doing a ton of research no doubt for the next couple months; but any random advice, places to visit, eat; places to avoid even would be a help for sure!!!
Thanks in advance!!