The Evolution of the Route

The Original Plan:

My first map of the trip (created in May 2007) involved going to the following places:

• begin in Atlanta
• Graceland (Memphis, TN)
• Smithsonian (Washington, D.C.)
• West Point, NY (to pick up a friend)
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland, OH)
• Chicago, IL
• Mount Rushmore, SD
• Yellowstone National Park, WY
• Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
• Route 66 (via Albuquerque, NM)
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• Death Valley, CA
• Yosemite National Park, CA
• Monterey, CA (my birthplace)

The total distance would have been 8,652 miles.

West Point came off the trip plans because Im no longer in touch with my friend there. Chicago came off because we roadtripped there last summer for Lollapalooza. Everything else pretty much stayed the same, with minor adjustments, for my second plan (created in December 2008):

The major addition was stopping in southern California and driving back through central Texas through El Paso (I think a quick trip into Mexico was included).

• begin in Atlanta
• Graceland (Memphis, TN)
• Mount Rushmore, SD
• Yellowstone National Park, WY
• Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
• Route 66 (via Albuquerque, NM)
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• Death Valley, CA
• Yosemite National Park, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• San Diego, CA
• Phoenix, AZ
• El Paso, TX
• Dallas, TX

The total distance would have been 7,335 miles.

This map has stayed the tentative plan for the last six months while trying to plan the details of the trip. I didnt change to my final(?) map until a few weeks ago. I took Graceland off and I decided to cut off Yellowstone and Yosemite because they are trips in themselves. My mom told me not to drive through Texas but to take I-40 back home (see some of old Route 66). The last to come off was San Francisco, mainly because it was too out of the way and LA was closer and more summer-ish.

The Proposed Route (as of 06/21/09, two weeks out):

Obviously, the major addition to this plan was the drive to Buffalo, NY after we return from out west. My girlfriend Liz who is flying down to Atlanta to go on the trip is from there and I figured, why not just drive her home and spend some time in Buffalo/Canada with her before coming home? The other two additions are stopping at Arches National Park/Canyonlands National Park in Utah and at Mesa Verde/Four Corners in Colorado.

• begin in Atlanta
• Mount Rushmore, SD
• Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
• Denver, CO
• Arches National Park, Utah
• Mesa Verde, CO
• Four Corners
• Grand Canyon, AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• Los Angeles, CA
• Phoenix, AZ
• Route 66 (via Albuquerque, NM)
• back home to Atlanta

• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland, OH)
• Buffalo, NY
• back home to Atlanta

The total distance is going to be 7,232 miles.