Saturday, April 8, 2017

2017 Travel Plans

First Part Trip 2017

Our travels for 2017, as planned, is broken up into three segments.  Above is the first segment which will take us as follows:
Over to Deland Florida to see Marcia’s brother Dean and wife Caryl
Up above Jacksonville to see Marcia’s friend Gerry
Up the Georgia and South Carolina coast just because we can
Through the Smokey Mountain National Park just because we can
Up to northern Indiana so that we can visit Marcia’s family there, friends in the Chicago area…we will be in this area for a week or so
Up into Michigan (where we will see more of Marcia’s family) and into Norther
Michigan where our travel will slow up a bit
From Northern Michigan we will decide if we indeed go into Canada as the map shows, or if we stay in the states and not go over into the Dakotas…it will all depend on time.  By mid-June I need to be in Little Rock for another annual exam.  This is a bit early, but we don’t intend to be near Arkansas again this year, so mid-June is the projected date.  It will include a visit in Kansas City with my son Ryan and probably other family I have there…just don’t know if that will be before or after Little Rock.  We also want to have some front-end work done on the RV in Little Rock…mainly brakes and boots.

Second Part Trip 2017

The second leg of our trip will be at very casual pace, especially when we get to Colorado.  The map above just shows us going through Colorado, but in reality we will zigzag through parts of the state enjoying the cool Colorado weather, the pretty scenery, and just enjoy the time there.  Because some of the roads I hope to take are closed for winter still, Google Maps won’t let me plan a route through them.  It is likely that some places will be visited while on day trips…the route will be fine-tuned as we go along.  The only time schedule is essentially being in California by late September.  Some of what we want to see are as follows:

Rocky Mountain National Park
Pike’s Peak & Colorado Springs area
Many locations in the Rockies such as Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Vail, Breckenridge and Keystone.
We have already visited southwestern Colorado a few years ago.  On our way to Utah we will probably end up on highway 40, which means there will be some high elevation involved with our travels since some of the elevations are in the 11,000 foot range.
Salt Lake City to see my daughter.  We have visited many places in Utah, and Marcia has never been in the Northeastern portion. 

Third Part Trip 2017
The Third part of the trip is the trip home starting the day after Christmas.  This trip will need to be a little flexible too since we need to allow for winter weather.  Essentially we have to be back in the Condo in Holiday by January 6th for a doctor’s appoint that Marcia has on the 9th, which gives us two extra travel days in case there is bad bad weather along the way.  We plan to stop in the Phoenix area for a couple of days and there should be some time built in there to meet up with people who might be in the snowbird region of Q, Yuma, Tucson, etc.  Overall I am figuring on another 9,000-10,000 miles, which is far short of the 16,000+ we did last year going to Alaska.

Of course, as with all of our travels, plans are made by man…but it is always in God’s hands…

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that's quite a trip! You really have it all planned out and I haven't decided where we'll be next week. :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It starts out with "where are we going to be for Christmas". Decided it would be California this year, so then it becomes, "what are we going to do before we get there". Marcia is from Northwest Indiana, also lived in Chicago for 30+ years, and hence she has a lot of family and friends up there...so a trip up there just seemed to be in order. The rest is just seeing nature and my kids.

      Perhaps our paths might cross again this year...

      Delete
    2. in your first leg of your journey don't you mean Smoky Mountain National Park instead of Rocky Mountain National Park? I am kinda partial to my Smoky Nountains too. Safe travels wherever you go

      Delete
    3. Yes, thanks...Rocky comes in middle leg. I have made the correction.

      Delete
  2. I LOVE Wisconsin and Michigan. Stayed at an Elks Lodge in Sous Saint Marie right on the water's edge where the big ships go through the locks. VERY cool place!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Although I have been in both states, it was always just passing through. Looking forward to it.

      Delete
  3. If your travels take you through Northern Alabama we have an RV site available with FHU's in our house less than 8 miles off I-65. Come see the area. Midway between Birmingham and Huntsville.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Phyllis, but I think the only part of Alabama we go through this year is along I-10. Love Alabama though.

      Delete

We love to hear comments from our readers. All comments are moderated by Dave before added to the website. Spam, advertisers and rude comments are deleted, and due to high spam attempts, Anonymous Users cannot post, sorry....register for a Google ID, it is free and it is easy. Go to: Get Google ID