Rude Awakening

Dublin, OH

Isolated thunderstorms – lows in the 60’s and highs in the 80’s

The intense weather systems and tornadoes causing such severe damage in the Midwest finally arrived here in Ohio at 4:02 am. You might ask, “How do you know the exact time?” Well, when the emergency warning sirens sounded, the noise was so intense that I believe everyone within 20 miles could tell you the exact time! I think that the blast even awoke the coma patients down at Riverside Hospital.

As we are preparing to leave tomorrow, June 1, we were hoping that the storms would change from tornadoes in the Midwest to tropical depressions out over the Atlantic, but we didn’t expect them to come through Columbus.

Working with very little sleep, we were able to get the car packed with enough clothing to handle weather from the 30’s to the 80’s – either wet or dry. According to the National Park Service, we need to be ready for warm, sunny weather at noon and wet snow at nightfall. They have also told us to be prepared for some of the roads in the parks to be closed by snow.

We also have packed enough camera gear to do a photo shoot of the Himalayas for National Geographic. Well, maybe that is exaggerating a little, but not much. We just hope that the weather cooperates so that we are able to capture the incredible beauty of our famous destinations. We’ll just do the best we can.

Getting up at 4:00 am today was a good practice for tomorrow; because that is the time we plan to start the trip. I filled up the gas at Sams Club today for $3.899 so, we’re all gassed up and ready to go. The first stopover on the schedule is Omaha, NE.

Trip Technology

Dublin, OH

Partly cloudy today – lows in the 50’s and highs in the 80’s

My fellow techno geeks will understand that it’s difficult to apply too much electronic technology to a project. With that in mind, I thought that I would share some of the fun “toys” that we will be using on the trip.

Since we’ll be logging around 5,000 miles in the car, some interesting entertainment is in order. We have been using audio books from Audible on road trips for several years, and they really make the miles fly by. They have 1,000’s of titles to choose from in just about any category you care to name. Downloading the files and creating the CD’s is really easy using their software. Each CD contains about one hour of audio. An unabridged mystery novel may contain 12 or 15 CD’s.

In addition to the books, we also use XM Satellite Radio. They have 170 channels of crystal clear, commercial free music, sports, news, and talk available coast-to-coast. Anyone who has tried to listen to radio while traveling cross-country has experienced fading signals, enough country music and radio ministries to last a lifetime, and endless, mind numbing local programming. Don’t forget that Cub Scout bake sale next Saturday down at the Moose Lodge!

A GPS has become the must have car accessory in the last year or so. I have been using a GPS system for several years from DeLorme. It turns my laptop PC into a very powerful GPS navigation system. It will calculate alternate routes, program around detours, and provide a wealth of other information along the journey.

We have completely converted to digital photography by adding new cameras and lenses to extend the Nikon equipment we have been using for years. Digital cameras record a lot of information (called EXIF) about what camera, lens, exposure, and so forth were used to make the photo. The photographer can add to this data. For example, I add the actual location where the photo was taken by using a GPS device called a Photo Trackr from GiSTEQ. This process is called geotagging and allows the accurate placement of each photo on a map. More on this later.

Details Details

Dublin, OH

Mostly sunny today – lows in the 50’s and highs in the 70’s

Many people have provided us with great information and assistance in planning the details of the trip. Our son Bill and his family visited Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, and Glacier NP in 2007. He loaned us several books on those parks and their hiking trails along with great advice on the priority of “must see” sites at each. Thanks to his research, we feel that we have a much better idea of how to approach getting the most from a relatively short visit to thousands of square miles of some of the most beautiful country on earth.

Cynthia Byrne of the AAA in Dublin spent several hours with us in planning the routes, stopovers, and reservations. She did a great job of ensuring that we took advantage of all of the resources available through AAA. Our Triptik is about as thick as the Columbus phone book! I guess that’s to be expected with over 5,000 miles to cover on those little strip maps.

Our friend Norman Peer was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in the Black Hills near Rapid City, SD for four years and gave us great information on all of the sites around Mount Rushmore. One surprise was his estimated time to travel what looked like a very short distance on the map. Based on his experience, the narrow roads, twists and turns, sheer drop offs, and throngs of other tourists keep speeds down to 15 to 20 miles an hour. Oh well, we are not in any hurry anyway!

In addition to seeing the sites, we hope to create some great photos of the journey. We will be taking along quite a bit of camera gear with two digital SLR’s, assorted lenses, and accessories. One of the publications suggested getting camera coverage added on to your homeowners policy. We found out that it is an easy thing to do and inexpensive for “all risk” coverage. Our agent, Kate Leaver, explained that even if you accidentally walk away and leave the camera on a park bench, it’s covered. That’s one less thing to worry about.

Trip Planning

Dublin, OH

Cool but sunny day – lows in the 40’s and highs in the 60’s.

We are getting close to our departure date for the Edwards’ National Park tour. The plan is to leave Columbus on June 1st and be on the road for about a month. We’ll be visiting most of the national parks in the Rockies both in the US and Canada as well as the Black Hills. The itinerary includes Rocky Mountain NP, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Waterton NP Canada, Lake Louise of Banff NP Canada, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and The Black Hills: Deadwood South Dakota, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, and Badlands NP. We then are on our way back to Columbus.

Our friends, Phil and Nancy, took a similar tour in 2007 and provided excellent advice based on their experiences. Two books they suggested provided great information: Frommer’s National Parks of the American West and The Next Exit by Mark Watson. Frommer’s book contains everything you would ever want to know about each of the parks and tons of helpful advice about how to get the most out of your visit. Watson’s book is an essential tool for anyone traveling the interstate system. It’s a well organized, fact packed guide to the services available at each of the interstate exits.

Tomorrow we will start assembling all of the items on the various lists that we have been making to ensure that we don’t forget any of the essentials. Of course, there is the old saying, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan.”