Hey all,

I'm planning a cross-country trip, and I thought I'd fill you all in on my plans.

My schedule is very fluid, and this is a pretty rough outline.


June 8: Leave NC
June 8-12: Pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive through NC and VA. Hopefully find some other interesting places to see.
June 12-14: Stay with friends in DC and visit the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum at the Dulles Airport
June 14-17: Attend the BrickWorld LEGO convention outside of Chicago.
June 18: Stop by the Illinois Railway Museum
June 18-July 1st: Make my way from the Railway Museum to Lincoln, Nebraska. Stop at an awesome Air and Space Museum out in the middle of nowhere between Omaha and Lincoln. They have some rare stuff there!
July 1st-July 7 or so: Lincoln, NE to Visit my 88 year old Grandmother. My parents and my sister with her family will be making trips out there at the same time.
July 7-20: Head northwest from Nebraska to the following areas:
-Mount Rushmore
-Badlands
-Grand Tetons
-Yellowstone
-Glacier NP
-Waterton Lakes International Peace Park (Canadian side of Glacier)
July 20-Aug 5: Head south from Montana to the following areas:
-Drive around northern UT and visit what I can there.
-Rocky Mountain National Park
-Drive around CO
-Maybe do the Alpine Loop in CO
-Moab
-Arches National Park
-Canyonlands National Park
Aug 5-9: Visit friends in El Paso, TX. Maybe drive to Big Bend.
August 10-30: Stay somewhere around Flagstaff or Sedona, AZ. Visit Grand Canyon sometime in there.
September 1st-?: Stay in Southern California. Visit Yosemite sometime and DV if not too hot.
September 21-24: Ultimate Yota Pismo Jamboree
October 5-7: BrickCon LEGO convention in Seattle, WA (unsure if I will make it)
October sometime: Fly to the Philippines to help my sister and her family move there. (unsure of this as well)

After October: I have no clue. If I have a job lined up, great! If not, then I may settle down somewhere out West (southern CA or, more likely, northern AZ) or maybe head back to NC and settle down in the Raleigh area.

My contract at work ended about 5 weeks ago, so this trip is primarily a job search trip. I graduated with a Geography degree (concentration in GIS) in '08, so I'd like to find something in my field of study, but I'm open to other things as well. I will be looking for work along the way, with more attention given to the northern AZ, southern CA, and CO areas. As such, my schedule is very fluid and the dates above won't be exact, and in some cases, way off. It's just a very rough outline. I may land a job in 3 weeks and not even be able to do the trip, or I may get to SD and find a job there. I have no clue.

I will be running solo, so I don't plan on hitting many trails unless I have somebody else to go with. The 4Runner is pretty much stock, although I will have 265/75/16 tires, CB, fuel cans on the roof, and some recovery equipment by then. I'd also like to have sliders and heavy duty front skid plate on by then as well. At this point, the most I feel comfortable doing is just some long dirt roads, fire roads, or maybe something like the Mojave Rd or the trail up to Shuteye Peak in Yosemite (for those of you familiar with these areas).

If anybody has any suggested trails, places to see, things to do, good places to eat, or jobs available; let me know!

I'll try to get a map up sometime in the next few days.

As things sit now, I have a lot to do before I leave, and I'm really not sure I'll get out in time. I may just drive straight to Chicago, or maybe even skip that and drive straight to Lincoln. That's all up in the air right now. I'd like to put a new clutch in the 4Runner, but Marlin doesn't have any in stock at the moment.

Thanks!
Daniel