Prologue
As you may have read in my post “where do we go from here?” Beth has finished her cancer treatment, and the lease on our apartment in Denver runs out September 6, 2012. We originally intended to find a place to hole up for the next six months or so, do some day trips, try to get our finances under control, and figure out what to do next.
But Beth really wants to go see the fall colors in New England, just in case we’re not able to next year for some reason (like recurrence of medical problems). But the only way we could make it work is to keep working a lot and travel very cheaply. So I put together a “straw man” itinerary of where we might go, and who we might stay with. I put out some feelers, and when I found that a lot of family and friends along our path could let us stay with them, we decided to go for it.
The Itinerary
So now our general plan is this:
- Leave Denver September 6, 2012 and go to Kansas City for a week or two
- From there, head northeast to New England, then south along the coast
- Spend the month of November in Atlanta, then head west in December to Austin
- Then up through Albuquerque back to Denver, where Beth has some doctor appointments the week before Christmas
- Finally, to Redstone to spend Christmas and New Years in the Rocky Mountains with my family
- Then in January, go somewhere else that we’ll figure out later
Wanna see it on a map? Check this out:
View Larger Map
Here is the current plan. I’m sure it’ll change, and there are lots of gaps to fill in. So I plan to come back to this page and update this along the way.
Dates are “hotel-style” where the first date is arrival and last date is departure.
Lines in italics are specific events
Sept 7 to 21: KC, MO with Dorothy
Sept 21 to 23: Dubuque, IA
Sept 22: USARS NC tourney; Five Flags Center (Dubuque, IA)
Sept 23 to 25: Winona Lake, IN with Daren and Lorraine
Sept 25 to Sept 27: east-bound and down; highway motels probably
Sept 27 to Oct 1: Burlington, VT – need lodging
Sept 28 to 30: WFTDA Easterns
Oct 1 to 4: Claremont, NH with Amberleigh
Oct 4 to 9: making our way south through several states – need lodging
Oct 9 to 15: Falls Church, VA with Margaret
Oct 13: Buennekes’ 25th anniversary party
Oct 15 to 20: Virginia Beach with Bianca
Oct 20 to Nov 1: driving south via Kitty Hawk, Outer Banks, etc. – need lodging
Nov 1 to Nov 30: rent apartment in Atlanta
Nov 2 to 4: WFTDA Champs
mid-Nov: visit Sybil and Rowan in Chattanooga
Thanksgiving, Nov 20 to 25: side trip to Okeechobee, FL
Alternate approach: Instead of renting an apartment in Atlanta for a whole month when we would be gone for parts of two weeks of that month, why not just stay there for the week of the tournament, then go to Chattanooga for a week, then go to Florida for Thanksgiving, then head west from there?
Nov 30 to Dec 3: travel west – need lodging
Dec 3 to 7: Austin with Matt
Dec 5 or 6: visit Cen-Tex Roller Girls (tentative – if anyone’s available)
Dec 7 to 9: Midland, TX
Dec 8: visit Tall City Roller Betties (tentative – if anyone’s available)
New Mexico Plan A – If USARS Champs are not in NM
Dec 9 to 11: Roswell NM – need lodging
Dec 10: gather doc footage
Dec 11 to 12: Trinidad, CO – hotel
Dec 13 to Dec 21: Denver, CO – with Silver Fox, Smallz, and other friends who offer
Dec 18, Dec 21: medical appts.
New Mexico Plan B – If USARS Champs are in NM
Dec 9 to 11: Roswell NM – need lodging
Dec 10: gather doc footage
Dec 11 to 17: Albuquerque – need lodging
Dec 14 to Dec 16: USARS Champs in Albuquerque
Dec 18 to Dec 21: Denver, CO – with Silver Fox or Smallz or other friends
Dec 18, Dec 21: medical appts.
Dec 21 to Jan 3: Redstone, CO with the Bradley clan
Your Suggestions
Do you have a recommendation for where to stay or what to see along the way, please email me. Just remember, think “inexpensive” or “free”. We are doing this trip bare-bones, so we’re not staying anywhere fancy or dining at the top restaurants. Our lodging will be spare bedrooms, couches, and occasionally floors whenever possible. Know someone with a spare couch they’d let us use for a night or two?
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