Changes to plan, 1st edition.

Looks like we've settled on which route we're taking this summer! Still subject to change, of course, but we even nailed down dates for when we'll be in what areas. We wanted to get a plan nailed down because I need to send out a massive here's-our-schedule-join-us-for-part-of-it email to friends and family, so last weekend we hunkered down on the couch with some coffee and made our Official Hobotrip Plan (assuming, of course, everything still goes to plan).


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We've decided to do a pretty simple out and back, focusing on a few spots that we really want to visit and making sure we have a week or more in each. Plus we'll be staggering locations, so it's not like we have to drive from California all the way back to Minnesota with nothing cool to do in between.

So yay for that! Planning lull OVER. We'll write about each spot in separate posts, but here's what we're hitting:

• YELLOWSTONE. Of course. For like, 2.5 weeks, because Zach loves it so.
  
• Glacier National Park. Seems like a total can't miss, and we'll try to hit up some day hikes and random stuff along our route through Montana.
  
• North Cascades National Park.
  
• Olympic National Park.
  
• A couple of TBD state parks along the Oregon coast.
  
• The redwoods, likely the northern state parks around Crescent City, California.
  
• BWCA, obviously, because I've been obsessed with a long (3 weeks+) canoe trip for so long.
  

And we'll be hitting some fine cities for 2-4 days or so, taking breaks from the tent life:

• Seattle! Because of our many pals there. We'll probably swing through once on the way out, once on the way back.
  
• Portland, because it breaks up the drive and sounds like they have great food there.
  
• Missoula, because for some reason I feel totally pulled to hang out there?
  

We're skipping out on a lot on this trip, and that's just the way it goes. It seems heartbreaking to be in California but not swing down to Yosemite, for example, but we had to make some hard decisions regarding the time/money spent driving vs. the time spent camping. All in all, I think it's a great route and I'm really excited about it. And we're both really flexible people who will be all too happy to follow whatever whims we might have once we're on the road.

A little planning lull...

Right now we're in a rut. Our anticipated departure is just over 4 months away and our savings goals are totally on track, but we've both just been really lazy about making plans. This won't surprise anyone who knows us personally. :)

Focus is not really a quality we possess. We've had one main route in mind since the beginning, but we keep tinkering with it. Zach mentioned last night that he thinks we should add Banff National Park (yay Canada!) to the mix, increasing the miles and decreasing the time spent elsewhere. If we're bumping up the distance, I'd rather go to Redwoods. But if we go to Redwoods, why not toss in Yosemite since we're already out in the region and it's obviously a MUST-do? You see our problem. We can never decide if we should spend more time in fewer places, or go see everything we can comfortably fit into three months. It's a tough call.

But on the bright side, we've been doing a great job with our budget and savings. And we DID manage to buy a new (to us) car - a 99 Subaru Outback in totally pristine condition with low miles. It was a great choice and we're really happy with it. Those are two big things to scratch off the list, and now that I'm breathing easier about our financial and vehicle situations, maybe we'll get serious about making a real plan.

Hobo wheels

We won't actually be riding the rails during our adventure, and hopefully we won't be riding in Zach's 2002 Chevy Malibu, either. He got the car shortly after we started dating and we've taken it all over - it even hauled us out to Utah for our first real backpacking/road trip together. I don't have any pictures of it except for this one from our journey to Utah, which also nicely displays Zach's natural bad-ass side (the looong hair is sadly gone, but the white pine tattoo, aviators and bandana remain):



This Malibu is essentially our household car because I don't have one. I bike, bus, and drive his car alone pretty rarely. It terrifies me. 1) I'm a terrible driver since I've been carless since high school, 2) it sucks on the snow, and 3) it has a very unsettling rattle to it. My dad, an automotive genius, said every time he starts it he's pretty sure things are going to come flying out of the engine. Aside from that, it's a terrible fit for our lifestyle. We've taken it on plenty of trips, but frequently we have to borrow my mother-in-law's Jeep when we need to haul a canoe or drive through mountains in winter.

We've been talking about trading it out for something a little more useful. This weekend, when we were up north at a friend's cabin, the severe subzero temps really gave the Malibu a rough time. It took almost 2 hours of man-time to get it running, so we made an executive decision that we should start seriously shopping.

We'll be buying used because it's just what we and our parents always do. Buy used, drive into the ground, repeat. And, like many granola types before us, we're looking mostly at Subaru models. We can throw a canoe on, trudge through snowy mountains, and get decent gas mileage (for our budget). Then we'll slap a Pert Near Sandstone sticker on it and solidify our position as urban hippies.