Road Trip Checklist

Sunrise and the open road. Does it get any better than this?

Checklist For a Road Trip - Get Ready to Hit the Road!
By Tara Waechter

Now that the spring is well underway in the northern hemisphere, and summer is just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about making the ultimate road trip. In this blog post, Tara Waechter provides some great tips to get the planning process started. Tara has also previously written about her Five Golden Rules of road tripping on this blog, and her Road Trip Planning Commandments so make sure you read that entry as well.

This checklist for a road trip will make sure that nothing important has been forgotten when you're finally ready to jump in your car or RV and go. Most people think about what they need to pack, but there's so much more you need to do when preparing for a road trip.

The items on this checklist for a road trip have been placed in the order that they need to be attended to - so don't jump ahead!

1. Select your road trip companions first - if you're going with your family or significant other, you can jump ahead to step 2. If you're selecting friends to take on your road trip, make sure you're truly compatible. That person that's fun to hang out with in a bar or go out with for the occasional coffee may not be someone you can handle on a 24-hour basis. Add all that time together to the close proximity you'll share during the ride, and tensions may mount. How do you know that they're the right person to bring? You want someone who generally shares your interests and attitudes, who is as much like you as possible or is complimentary, and someone who rarely (if ever) ticks you off. Watch out for any annoying habits or personal grooming issues - they will really get to you on a road trip.
2. The next item on this checklist for a road trip is to select a destination that the entire group is excited about. It's not good enough for just one person or half of your group to be enthusiastic about where you're going. A road trip is often a week or more, and part of what keeps you going every day is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: your destination. You don't want some people in your group thinking that pot of gold is really just a pot of cheap gold-painted plastic coins.
3. Map your road trip so that your route to your destination and your return route are different. This will make both journeys more interesting and give you more opportunities to see interesting sights, stay at different hotels, and eat at different restaurants - jazzing up your road trip considerably. Plan your route to hit sights, towns, cities, and various attractions along the way. A road trip is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. If you don't care about the journey, take a plane!
4. Make your hotel/motel or campground reservations and print out all reservation information to have on hand in case there is a mix-up. Doing this has saved me many times when mistakes were made on the hotel's end - sometimes I even got an upgrade and some complimentary wine or a fruit basket for my troubles! If I hadn't had the printed reservation, I would have had to find other accommodations (and when you're in a popular area - that can often mean no accommodations).
5. Pack your maps, any printed directions, and any reservation confirmations in a waterproof zippered bag that you'll keep in the car for reference. The waterproof and zipper part will come in very handy when you accidentally spill that soda or there's a downpour of rain when you're carrying it to and from the car.
6. Get your car checked out and have any necessary maintenance work done. I recommend getting an oil change unless you just got one - better safe than sorry. Check the condition of your tires and replace them if they're worn. If you don't have AAA, consider getting it for not only the benefit of roadside assistance, but also the discounts most hotels offer to AAA members.
7. Get both a roadside emergency kit and a first aid kit and put them in your trunk. Make sure the spare tire is in good shape.
8. Arrange for your pets and plants - either boarding the pets or having someone stop in at your home to take care of everything. Have all mail and newspapers held or have a friend or neighbor take them in daily.
9. Even if you don't have plants or pets, ask a friendly neighbor to keep an eye on your home. Let them know the exact length of your trip and also let them know that if they see a moving van in front of your house, call the police! I've heard too many stories of neighbors seeing a moving truck or van and thinking that it had something to do with the trip their neighbors were taking.
10. Get an extra refill of any prescriptions if possible - it's good to have more than you need in case your trip runs longer for some unforeseen reason.
11. Check with your cell-phone provider to make sure you'll have coverage where you're going and what the roaming fees are. You might want to check if your traveling companions have different calling plans and see if they are complimentary (they have coverage where you don't and vice-versa).
12. Get or rent a roof-top cargo carrier if your car is too small for all of your stuff.

Now that you've completed everything on this checklist for a road trip, you're ready to get packing!

Tara Waechter owns http://www.planning-fun-road-trips.com - a website that covers every aspect of road trip planning including mapping tips, packing lists, road trip games and songs, trip ideas, recipes, tools, and in-depth articles. Tools offered include a road trip budget calculator and a printable checklist of to-do's to handle before you depart on your trip. Tara has traveled extensively in the United States as well as abroad, and has learned the knowledge she passes on in her website through the "School of Hard Knocks". She is also an office manager and meeting and event planner. She resides in Cary, North Carolina with her husband, Ash. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tara_Waechter

Below you will find a selection of great books to help you plan your ultimate road trip.

Spring Has Sprung, Down Under

~ It is one of those quirks of nature that while the northern hemisphere enjoys summer, the southern hemisphere rugs up for winter. And so it is, that the first days of September herald the start of spring in Australia, while Europe and North America start moving into autumn (or fall, as our American cousins like to say).

And so it is too, that the more the months, weeks, and days tick inexorably by, the more I seem to have travel on my mind. Especially now that spring is in the air.

I am still not much nearer to finalising my travel plans for next year. Maybe it’s because I’m a Libran! Or maybe it’s because I’ve never been good at making quick or snap decisions that have the potential for major impact on my life. Personally, I hate to blame my procrastination and constant vacillating on a star sign. That’s too easy, and quite frankly a cop out. Still, all these things are plaguing my thoughts today as I look at the calendar and tick off the days in the lead up to April 2010.

One of the downsides of being a solo traveller, is that you have no-one to share the planning and decision making process with. Sure, you can discuss and mull over the various options available to you with family and friends, but there’s only so much you can expect from those closest to you.

Putting myself in their shoes, I think I would soon tire of the constant discussions revolving around which destination to visit first.

“Yes, Jim,” I can feel them thinking, “It’s all very well us sitting around planning your holiday with you, but while you are lazing on the sandy beaches of some Greek island, sipping coffee on the Champs-Élysées, or spending weeks driving the byways of America, we are going to be stuck here in dear old Adelaide!”

So, ultimately, you have to make all the decisions on your own.

As April draws nearer, I will start to solidify some of the ideas rolling around in my head. On any given day they can and do change constantly, but currently my thinking is thus: fly directly to Athens, Greece, and spend the first month or so on Ikaria (see Friday Photo #7: My Island Home, Ikaria, Greece). Then travel overland to one of several possible destinations (Italy, France, Spain or England). Since I am currently learning a smattering of Spanish (see Spanish is The Loving Tongue), it makes sense to visit Spain in order to reinforce the Spanish I’ve already learnt and to hopefully learn even more.

However, early next year I will also undertake a French for Fun and Travel class at the adult learning school where I am currently taking the Spanish class, so it would also make sense to spend some time in France.

At any point I can always return to Greece, which could serve as my European base. My aim is to spend most of the northern spring and summer in Europe, and then travel to America later in the year for a stay in New York, before driving south to Arizona to visit a cousin in Tucson. I will either return to Australia from there, or return to Europe.

As you can see, I have much to decide, and a thousand decisions to make before I book my flight, and for a Libran, a thousand decisions is about 999 decisions too many!

Spring Flowers image courtesy of Rikx Flickr Photostream

In Review: Great Plains



 

Click here to order from Amazon.Com

~ “Away to the Great Plains of America, to that immense Western short-grass prairie now mostly plowed under! Away to the still-empty land beyond newsstands and malls and velvet restaurant ropes!”

So begins Great Plains, the 1989 examination of America’s heartland. That vast inner expanse of plains and prairies that range from Canada in the north down to the Texas panhandle in the south. Stretching some 2500 miles in length, and about 600 miles across at their widest point, the Great Plains encompass parts of the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and parts of the American states of Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Part history, part travelogue, part extended road trip, Great Plains has the grandeur and sweep of the frontier itself crammed into its concise 214 pages of main text – which is no mean feat, let me tell you.

By the time he wrote this book, Ian Frazier had driven some 25,000 miles on the plains – from Montana to Texas and back again. Twice. As well as many shorter distances. His meanderings took him from an abandoned anti-ballistic-missile system command centre in remote Montana, to the exact site of Bonny and Clyde’s automobile plunge into the Red River; from the location of Sitting Bull’s camp on the Grand River, to the site of Custer’s last stand on the Little Big Horn; from Fort Union in North Dakota, to Fort Stockton in Texas.

It is no accident that rivers feature so much in this book – even as peripheral ‘characters’. The Great Plains are at times so dry and barren that in the early years of exploration parts of them were known as the Great American Desert. It made sense for the early settlers – just like Native Americans – to build their forts and villages, their towns and cities along the banks of any river large enough to provide a source of life-giving water and food to the populace.

No accident too, that the history of conflict between Native American Indians and settlers crops up throughout Great Plains. Frazier manages to examine the slaughter of millions of bison, the betrayal and death of Crazy Horse, and meet and mix with numerous descendents of the great warriors of the past as he traverses this immense space.

All the great characters are here; ranchers and homesteaders, mountain men and fur trappers, outlaws and gangsters, cowboys and Indians, railroad barons, oil men, coal miners, and more. You get to meet the great and humble, the rich and poor, emigrant Germans and former Southern Black slaves, and the men and women who struggled for generations (and who still struggle today), to make some sort of living from the Great Plains.

Ian Frazier is clearly a man in love with the Great Plains, its history, and its immense cast of fabulous characters – both modern and ancient. As an introduction to this vast area of land and open space Great Plains is entertaining and informative, and filled with insight, obscure historical facts and references, and ultimately, immensely readable.

Finally, the book is well indexed, includes 16 pages of black and white photographs, and has almost 70 pages of extensive notes to supplement the main text. Highly recommended.

“This is a brilliant, funny, and altogether perfect book, soaked in research and then aired out on the open plains to evaporate the excess, leaving this modern masterpiece. It makes me want to get in a truck and drive straight out to North Dakota and look at the prairie.” —Garrison Keillor

Click here to purchase Great Plains via Amazon.Com...

Great Plains by Ian Frazier (First published: 1989, Penguin Books)

Now available in Picador (May 4, 2001) . ISBN-10: 0312278500

Also by Ian Frazier is the book On the Rez, billed by Amazon.Com as “…a history of the Oglala nation that spotlights our paleface population in some of its most shameful, backstabbing moments, as well as a quick tour through Indian America. Much of On the Rez revolves around Le War Lance, whom Frazier first met in Great Plains.”

Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (May 4, 2001). ISBN-10: 0312278594

NOTE: scroll through the Reading List box on the left to purchase On The Rez directly from Amazon.Com. You can also click on the In Review tag below to view other book reviews on this site.

The King is Dead – Long Live the King!

~ Elvis fans rejoice.

Tickets are now on sale for the 11th annual Tupelo Elvis Festival, which will take place June 5 through 7 with headliners Jason Michael Carroll, Lucero, tribute artists Donny Edwards, Shawn Klush, Victor Trevino and Travis LeDoyt, and youth tribute artists Demi Downing and Nick Gutierrez.

Other activities include the third annual Tupelo Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Competition, the Elvis parade, the Ladybug’s Children’s Activities, the Sunday Gospel Show and free music on Broadway Street.

Oh, and who would dare to miss the Elvis-Look-A-Like Pet Parade? No, really.

“This is one of our most exciting events of the year,” said Linda Johnson, executive director of the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau (she was talking about the Festival in general, not the Elvis-Look-A-Like Pet Parade!).

“Elvis was born and spent much of his early life in Tupelo, and we are so lucky to have that history and be able to celebrate someone who made such a positive impact on so many people,” Linda said.

At the Lyric Theatre in historic downtown Tupelo, 24 tribute artists will compete this year for a chance to win the grand prize of $2,500 cash, represent Tupelo in the Ultimate Elvis® Tribute Artist Qualifying Rounds in Memphis during Elvis Week in 2009, lodging for three nights in Memphis, a commemorative plaque, a guitar from Tupelo Hardware and a feature performer at the 2010 Tupelo Elvis Festival.

Music that influenced Elvis or was changed by his style will be performed on the Fairpark Stage Friday and Saturday. Artists include AllyeriA, Jamie Davis & Soul Gravy, Spunk Monkees, House Rockers, Drew Chapman and the Kevin & Bethany Paige band. The gates open at 4:30 pm Friday, June 5 and Noon Saturday, June 6.

Sunday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church of Tupelo, fans can hear gospel music Elvis sang throughout his career. Headliners are Travis LeDoyt, the Foyer Boyz and the Landmarks.

Something About The Light

~ There is something about the late afternoon light that seems to be uniquely Australian – especially when you are out in the country.

On my recent road trip to Sydney, I slept in the back of my trusty station wagon four times. Twice going over and again on the return trip. Each evening I had an opportunity to sit and watch the sun dropping behind the western horizon, and each evening it did so in the form of a magnificent golden orb which was truly stunning to see.

While the sunrises didn’t seem to be quite as beautiful, they too were worth braving the almost freezing morning temperatures to watch and wait for.

The colour coming through the huge gum trees, and the quality of the light filtering through the eucalyptus leaves is quite exquisite. I think is has something to do with the way the late evening light refracts and reacts with the red dust particles that hang in the air. The dust is kicked up by the constant traffic moving along the major highways, and of course, by the farm machinery being used to plough massive acres of countryside in readiness for the new planting season.

During the heat of the day, you don’t notice the dust, but when the light from the waning sun hits it at a particular angle, and at a certain time of the day, it takes on another quality altogether.

Many artists have tried to capture this light in their art, and but few have succeeded.

IMAGE: Highway Sunset, by Jim Lesses

Song For The Open Road

~ Day two of my road trip to Sydney unfolded with a beautiful, cold dawn, and the sight of a lone fox loping across an open field as it presumably headed home to its lair.

Breakfast in Ouyen consisted of coffee and bacon and eggs on toast, followed by a delicious vanilla slice from the local bakery. And why not? After all, Ouyen hosts an annual Vanilla Slice Festival, that attracts bakers from far and wide competing to see who can take the prize for making the best slice! Hey, in a tight tourist market, any angle will do if it helps get the visitors in.

Apparently, the former Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett stopped in at the local bakery about ten years ago for a coffee and piece of this delightful delicacy. He was so taken with the cake, that he quickly conceived of the idea for the Vanilla Slice Festival, which now takes place every September in this small rural Victorian country town.

And yes, I can thoroughly recommend the local delight.

This is my song for the open road,

The blue sky, and the lighter load.

The heart filled with a joyful song;

The summer breeze pushing us along.

© 2009. Jim Lesses. All Rights Reserved.

Observations
Dry. Everything is so dry.

Murphy’s Swamp? Dry. It probably hasn’t been a ‘swamp’ for years.

Creeks and rivers? Dry. Who knows when they last ran with flowing water? Or for how long. All along the highway, signs just before isolated country towns tell the tale: Stage 3 water restrictions in force. Sometimes the luckier towns, those with a more regular supply of the precious liquid only face Stage 2 or even Stage 1 water restrictions. But it seems that virtually all towns face some level of water restrictions.

Meet The Press
One of my rituals whenever I take a road trip is to purchase local papers in the towns I stop in. I do this to get a snapshot of what issues and concerns are foremost in the minds of the local communities.

Many of these local papers are quite small, often no more than 8-16 pages. The North West Express, at eight pages, is no exception. It even contained an extra two page agricultural supplement, the Mallee Ag. News.

The main front page story (which spilled over to consume the whole of page two), concerned the Mallee Track Health & Community Service 2009 Debutante Ball, at which nine “beautifully dressed young ladies and their partners were presented…”

Another front page story presented a progress report on the forthcoming Wild Dog Mail Trek, which appears to be one of those events designed to test participants to the limit. This event apparently covers a distance of 68 kms, and according to the organizer, Terry Gibson “Walkers… have to be super fit (and a little mad) as there is no vehicle access to rescue them when they get out in the Wyperfeld Wilderness Zone.”

Meanwhile, the Mallee Ag. News supplement offered 'Top Tips To Be Water Savvy', which, given the parlous state of the water situation in the region – already noted above – seemed to be very timely.

Distance from Ouyen to Sydney – 1100 Kms.

Make a Note of That: The lovely new public convenience behind the old court house in the main street, also includes free showers. Just the thing for the weary (and smelly) road warrior looking to freshen up after a long day on the road.

IMAGE: Here Comes The Sun, by Jim Lesses