My Perfect Road Trip(s)

Because of the BLIZZARD we had this week and because of how bad the Philly area is at clearing roads, we just had a bunch of snow days this week. So, obviously, I had lots of free time to plan my perfect road trip! I think I mentioned how much I have wanted to go on another road trip back in my post about Big Sur, and even though it is probably not going to happen, at least now I have one totally planned out just in case.

At first I started out with the idea of basically going to Big Sur and back, but then I figured, "If I'm in Big Sur already, I might as well go to San Francisco. And if I'm in San Francisco, I should probably head east and hit up Lake Tahoe and stop in Sausalito on the way because it is adorable. And maybe Yosemite. And you can't not go to Sequoia! And then Death Valley is right there, and then it's really not that far to the Grand Canyon." And so I ended up with this:

A/R: my house, B: the Getty Villa, C: Santa Barbara, D: San Luis Obispo, E: Hearst Castle, F: Big Sur, G: Santa Cruz, H: San Francisco, I: Sausalito, J: Lake Tahoe, K: Yosemite, L: Sequoia National Park, M: Death Valley, N: Las Vegas, O: the Hoover Dam, P: the Grand Canyon, Q: Big Bear Lake, R: my house

That is not even like a road trip anymore, you would probably need at least three weeks to do it. I guess most of the stops are just places I would stop along the way to break up the driving (the Getty Villa, SLO and Santa Cruz, etc.), but there are also a lot of places where you would have to spend at least two nights so you can have a whole day in Big Sur or Lake Tahoe or Yosemite.

So then I split it up into two smaller road trips. The first one is just in California (because why would you ever leave??), and the second is kind of like a southwest road trip.

A/M: my house, B: the Getty Villa, C: Santa Barbara, D: San Luis Obispo, E: Hearst Castle, F: Big Sur, G: Santa Cruz, H: San Francisco, I: Sausalito, J: Lake Tahoe, K: Yosemite, L: Sequoia National Park, M: my house

A/J: my house, B/H: Barstow, C: Death Valley, D: Las Vegas, E: the Hoover Dam, F: the Grand Canyon, G: the Mojave National Preserve, H: Barstow, I: Big Bear Lake, J: my house

I think that the first road trip (the California one) would be really awesome do to in like October, because then Yosemite and Lake Tahoe and all of the other tourist places aren't insanely full of people like they are in the summer. Plus, October weather is really nice and not too hot (I hate being too hot). I would say that it would be a good fall break road trip, but I am not going to be in school in the fall!! That is terrifying/awesome.

And then the second road trip is one that I would definitely not do in the summer, because I would probably like die of dehydration in Death Valley. And then I would eat myself into a food coma at the GIANT IN-N-OUT in Barstow (that is the only reason Barstow is a stop). But it would be awesome in like early spring when the flowers bloom in the desert!

Even though neither one of these trips will probably ever happen in the near future, it's fun to think about. I've already found a campground in Big Sur that has hiking trails along the Big Sur River all the way down to the beach and horseback rides that go into the Redwood Forest (just typing those words makes that "This Land is Your Land" song get stuck in my head)! Who knows, maybe I will magically make enough money this summer to be able to borrow (steal) my mom's Prius and go on my California road trip in the fall!

Love, Jillian

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day! I am working in the cafe (again) and playing exclusively songs from the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs album, just like I did last year!