Unrealized

I've been thinking of deleting my MySpace account. I never get on there to check up on people anymore, I use Facebook for that. But there was a time when the only blog I kept was on MySpace. So the other day, I was exploring my MySpace page and came across an old blog I posted. It was a lot like that "25 Random Things About Me" thing that invaded Facebook notes last month, except that when I did it back then, it was only 10 things.

At the bottom of that list, I said that before I turn 30, I want to go on a cross country road trip. Tomorrow, I turn 29. That tells me that I really need to get moving on this cross country road trip.

Thus, I started the planning process. I figure the first thing that should be done is to plot out the route to take. Now, there are two things that I want to see above all else on this trip: Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. Okay, three things... Hoover Dam also. So here's what I've got so far...

-Of course I begin in Wake Forest, since that's where I live right now. Day One would consist of driving for the better portion of the day, then coming to the first stop in Metropolis, Illinois. There's a huge Superman festival there every year, maybe I could coordinate the trip to hit that at the same time, but it's not essential. I would spend the night there, then spend a few hours getting pictures in town before moving on to the second leg of the trip.
-Day Two would take me north, to Wheaton, Illinois, where I would (if they let me) stay with my cousin Lindsay and her husband John. I know it would be a short visit. But the way I figure, I could get there in time for dinner on Day Two, then head out after breakfast the next day.
-Day Three would be spent only driving. The destination from here is Mt. Rushmore National Park in South Dakota, but that's too far to go in one day. I figure that, soon after crossing the South Dakota border, I could stay a night in Sioux Falls.
-Day Four would take me the rest of the way to Mt. Rushmore, where I could get some photos and then spend one more night.
-Day Five would have me heading back south toward Colorado Springs, Colorado to visit my college friend Brandy. She's the one who shoved me into a twelve foot snow drift freshman year. Shut up, that's how I remember it! Anyway, I'd hang out there for awhile and maybe see some snow in the summer time. Probably not, but you never know.
-Day Six, I'll drive toward Salt Lake City. Not so much for a big tourist stop, but as a pit stop between Colorado and San Francisco.
-Day Seven, of course, will be the day I arrive in the city by the bay. Not sure if I'll really do anything like drive across the Golden Gate Bridge or visit Candlestick Park, but I will stay there for an evening.
-On Day Eight, I'll head to Southern California to say hey to Jen.
-Day Nine will be a pretty full day. I'll drive over to Vegas to get a look at the Hoover Dam (they shot Transformers there). Then I'll head to the Grand Canyon. That night I'll stay somewhere close to the Canyon. I'm sure I can find something.
-Day Ten, I'll drive toward Oklahoma City, but will wind up stopping somewhere along the way.
-Day Eleven, I'll finally arrive in Oklahoma and stay a night.
-Day Twelve, I'll head toward Savannah, Georgia, but again, I'll wind up stopping somewhere along the way.
-Day Thirteen, I'll stay a night in Savannah. You may be asking, why would I go down to Savannah? Isn't that out of my way? Why yes, it is. But his way I could say that I saw both oceans on this trip, and I've never been to Savannah. Two birds, my friend. Two birds.
-On Day Fourteen, I would finally head back home to Wake Forest. Ending a very long, two week road trip. And if I've planned it correctly, I'd still have the weekend to recover.

That's the plan. It's a grand total of 7084.94 miles and over 106 hours of total drive time.

But you know what I haven't planned yet? The budget.

Okay, I have a certain amount of faith in my car. But I just don't think Jade would be up for that kind of trip. While yes, she still runs pretty good, she's not as young as she used to be. So I'm thinking I would need to rent a car for this trip.

So I did some checking with my good friends at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. For a two week period of time, the rate for renting a car is over $400. Also, Enterprise has a mileage cap of 3000. That leaves me with nearly 4085 miles that would go over the cap. You know how much it costs per mile after that 3000? 30 cents. That doesn't sound like a lot right? Well, multiply that by 4000. That's an extra $1200. Suddenly driving the Escort doesn't sound so bad.

Since we've established I can't afford to rent a car, let's think about putting gas in the car I already have. On the highway, the Escort gets roughly 30 miles to the gallon, which is pretty good considering her age. That being the case, I estimate roughly 25 fill-ups throughout the two week trip. It's hard to say what gas prices will be like in the summertime, but it can be assumed that they'll be back up to 2.50 or higher. But let's go with 2.50 a gallon. That would probably run me over $650 in gasoline.

And then there's the cost of approximately eleven hotel stays. I haven't stayed in a hotel in a very long time. I have no idea the average cost of a decent hotel room. Am I incorrect in guessing those eleven stays would probably total more than another $650?

So, it turns out this is gonna be a really expensive trip if I go alone. So I'm gonna put it out there. Anyone wanna go with? I should probably take that off my "before 30" list and add it to my "bucket list."

I'll probably need to save some money for a very long time. Or sell that ever elusive novel.