You have to adjust your brain to quit worrying about the clock or strictly adhering to some schedule and enjoy "the now".
This is probably one of the best pieces of advice here. Also one of the hardest to follow.
I have to admit, I enjoy
planning trips almost as much as I enjoy
taking them and sometimes I tend to "over plan." This leads to the situation where we're driving down the road and we see something that looks interesting but we have to bypass it because we need to get to XYZ before dinner.
Obviously, this is sometimes necessary because for most of us, at least, vacation time is very limited and we want to get the most "bang for our buck" in terms of how we use our time.
Still it's not a bad idea to build some "slop time" into your schedule to allow you to see that Boll Weevil museum or the Worlds Biggest Ball of Twine or the house where Billy the Kid once blew his nose, or even that funky little junk shop that you often find out in the middle of nowhere.
The best advice I can give though, is to stay away from any corporate chain food / hotel, or as much as you can. There are so many (getting to be harder to find though) mom n pop diners/restaurants/B&B's that are much more interesting and serve way better food. Plus you can get a better feel for the area. I mean, if all you're going to do is eat and sleep in places exactly like what you already have at home, why waste the gas to get the same experience just somewhere else? Try sleeping in a Wigwam (Holbrook, AZ). Hilton 5 star it's not, but again it's fun and how many people do you know that have done it?
Well, I'm not 100% in agreement with this. Sometimes all you want is a predictable meal or a decent, clean place to stay. It's a popular assumption that a "mom and pop" restaurant is going to be better than a corporate chain but I have to say, I've eaten some pretty awful food at little restaurants like that and even where the food wasn't bad, it's often very bland and not any better than what you'd get at a chain restaurant.
That's not to say that you
shouldn't try new places or out-of-the-way restaurants but don't set your expectations too high. Most restaurants follow published, standardized formulas so unless they have some special ingredient or Momma's old recipe for this or that, the food isn't going to be that different from what you'd get at Denny's.
As for motels, I have to admit that I like chain motels (and the wife pretty much insists on them) because they generally have higher standards of cleanliness and functionality. If you're young and adventurous, I guess it can be fun to try some out-of-the-way funky little motel but from what I've seen, most of the cheap, non-chain motels in the West are not places where I'd want to hang out unless I was looking to indulge in some - shall we say, illicit activities.
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At the other end of the motel spectrum are the quirky old motels that have been turned into upscale "resorts." These can be nice but are often pricey compared to the more common chain motels. It all depends on whether you are looking to be pampered or if you just need a clean, safe place to lay your head down and get a shower in the morning.
Good luck with your trip. There is a lot of beautiful country between the Atlantic and Pacific, and so much variation in what you will see as you cross it. If you drive it, I truly hope you enjoy it.
:iagree:
I would also suggest that you try not to "disconnect" too much from the surrounding countryside that you're passing through with movies, iPod music or books, reading, etc (obviously the movie/book stuff applies to the passenger, not the driver!)
What I'm saying is, don't be afraid to tune the radio to a station you might not normally listen to. Whether it's a bible-thumping preacher or the local farm reports and crop prices, announcements about the upcoming high school football team, community classified ads, whatever, it adds a lot to the "flavor" of the country you're going through and makes you feel like you're not just flying over this "flyover country."
And of course, if you're anywhere near the 4 corners, definitely turn your radio to 660 AM and listen to
KTNN, the "Voice of the Navajo Nation." Listening to that station - where country music tunes are interspersed with DJ's talking and advertisements that are almost exclusively in the Navajo language - is a great reminder of the fact that there are still places in the US where we can be reminded that we are "foreigners" too!
A road trip can be great, if you've got the right frame of mind. As with so many things in life, your attitude determines how much enjoyment you'll get out of it. :bounce:
