Phase One: Gathering Info for 4+ Month Solo Trip

Acadia National Park in Maine is very nice.

On the drive from Georgia to New Mexico -
- Fort Worth/Dallas area - lots to see & do. Dallas has a very nice arboretum & botannical garden. Fort Worth Historical Stockyards is interesting with a lot of history learned in the free walking tour.
- Big Bend National Park in Texas
- Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico - you won't want to miss this.

From San Diego to Vancouver - some suggestions:
- Yosemite
- Redwoods NP
- coastal drive up into Oregon
- Mt. St. Helens
- Mt. Ranier

Looks like you've got a beginning to your plans. Now you have the fun of adding in all the little details (half the fun!)

Let's keep it civil -- folks.

An empty gas can (unless never used) is more of explosive hazard than a full one. I would still leave the can at home.

Mark

Sounds like loads of fun Linda... I've been contemplating doing the same myself (solo)... I just terminated my employment in January and was thinking of a trip around the perimeter of the USA.. i was thinking of a year round trip, spending the summers in the north, and the winters in the south.. my plans are to stay in hotels, hit some golf courses, do a lot of photography, and just taking my time.. and enjoying it.. i intend to take a laptop with GPS and maintain a nation wide internet service to help plan out the next legs.. making hotel reservations.. etc.. Extended Stay hotels seem to have good rates and KOA's have some fairly good rates on cabins.. all of these can be accessed via the internet for reservations and to locate... anyway.. good luck..

ideas for you:

buy William Least-Heat Moon's book-Blue Highways and read it all right now. it will speak to where you are at.

take tapes with you like Women who run with the Wolves, etc-it is great heart and head stuff..good to think about while you work things out mile by mile...

i go west every year alone, to santa fe to see a very good friend. if you go to santa fe, go to 10,000 Waves for a japanese spa soak and eat dinner or lunch at the Oasis Cafe. great hiking too-everywhere around the town...

do you like small, west texas towns and modern art? try Marfa, Texas, full of art, a great bookstore, an amazing minimalist art installation called the Chinati Foundation...search Google for Marfa, you'll get a great website. see the mysterious Marfa Lights which appear and are unexplained after 100 years...

31 is VERY young! enjoy!

journal the trip-revel in being alone and in the wildness of the west...(I am partial to it for working my stuff out...the east cannot compare!)

-onward!

Linda,
I sure wish i had that kind of time to travel the country...Good luck with the trip!! I live up here and Oregon and would highly recommend driving up route 101 along the Oregon coast instead of I-5...its my favority place around and has a ton of things to do along with some really nice small coastal towns. It will take some time, but u seem to have a lot of it. I also would try to eat at as many small dinners or local places as i could because you can strike up some very nice conversations with people as i have learned over my few trips. Its great to interact with people from a different part of the country and hear about how much different they are then you...Good luck and have a safe trip!

Linda~
I am planning a trip of my own and got lots of advice from the postings you've received. Just wondering if you started your trip as planned and how it's going. I respect you for doing what's in your heart. I am not that brave, so I am waiting until I am officially layed off in May and I am forced to put everything in storage. Anyway, I hope you are on your way and having a great time! If you have access to the internet, let us know. Thanks and good luck!

LINDA WHEN YOU ARE IN N.H. YOU COULD SCOOT OVER TO JACKMAN MAINE (THEY HAVE A WEB SITE) REMOTE PLACE. THEN DIRECTLY NORTH TO QUEBECK ONT. (OLD CITY). GREAT FOOD. WHEN IN SANTA FE NM ON YOUR WAY TO COLORADO DO NOT BY PASS TAOS NM 6,000 PEOPLE AND OVER 80 ART GALLERIES YOU CAN GET TO 11,000 FT. ELEVATION IN THE MOUNTAINS WITHIN AN HOUR OF DOWNTOWN. GOOD COFFEE SHOPS WE WILL ENJOY HEARING ABOUT YOUR TRAVELS THANKS GEO.F.