Over the past several weeks, we have been planning on our spring excursion to visit relatives and to take in some scenic places on our way back home. The process for making a travel plan is much the same as preparing a flight plan with certain differences, of course (winds aloft may not affect our ground speed, etc.).
Lots of things require some planning: travel times, rest stops, fuel consumption, provisions (water, food, etc.) and camping facilities. While there are several on-line utilities to assist in this planning, we have supplemented them with some home-grown tools. We have spreadsheets which enumerate the itinerary and project the fuel consumption and refueling stops.
We already have the GPS programmed for the next trip. There is a utility on our Garmin to plan each day’s travel, including times, distances and fuel consumption. It’s a very handy feature. In addition, we have the “GAS BUDDY” application on the Android which finds fuel sorted by price for a given area.
At this point, we are probably finished with the planning, including the food menu, which Damsel has under control. The on-board freezer and fridge have the basics in stock and we will be doing additional shopping as we go along the way.
The route plan depicted above is the basic loop where we plan to travel. The map excludes a couple of side trips which will be made using a rental car. We have no desire to drive the 35 foot diesel into the San Francisco Bay area where the grandkids (and great grandkids) live, so we will rent for that day.
So, that’s it for the spring plan. We will post our progress when we are underway. We still have some minor chores and appointments to complete before departure. We anticipate a good trip, good weather, good visits with everyone and some spectacular scenery in the great American West.