How We Decide Where to Go

First, we each have a bucket list of places we really want to go. We have whittled down on those lists, but we still have places left. Next we decide on when we need to be there. Some places are best in the spring and some in the fall. As Texas women, we know we want to head to cooler spots in the summer. A few places are best in the winter. Deciding when to go is almost as important as deciding where to go.

On our trips, we use paper maps. If we don't have cell service, we've still got a map. Also, if we look at a paper map, we can see other things nearby that we may want to visit. A couple of examples from our trip to the Mighty 5 in Utah come to mind. Sharon was planning our route and saw on the map that we were going by Natural Bridges National Monument. Since we were going to be close to it anyway, we planned a stop there. Also, when Sharon was looking at camping options, she found a wonderful place to disperse. We've stopped there on at least one other trip.

Another example from our trip to the Mighty 5 is going to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We have a cousin who has told us for years to go to the north rim. She's said it's gorgeous and lots less crowded. Since Sharon was using a paper map, she saw that from Zion National Park, we were very close to the north rim. Another stop that we hadn't thought about making on that trip was the Petrified Forest National Park. We were close to it on the way home, and we knew that because of paper maps.

On the West Coast trip, seeing friends and relatives in Phoenix, set the time for the trip. We didn't want to be in Phoenix any later than mid April. We still had to run the AC, but it wasn't nearly as hot as it would have been during the summer months. Also on that trip, Sharon had wanted to see Alabama Hills. Because we also wanted to see relatives in the Fresno area, going to Alabama Hills was going to add a ton of miles to the trip. Sharon passed on the hills for this trip.

Again from the West Coast trip, Sharon had wanted to go to Crater Lake. As she was planning, she saw a video from the National Park Service in which a ranger said that most years they trip to have the road around the lake plowed by the end of June. That left of our. We did, however, get a bonus stop. Some people we met in Yosemite were talking about going to Olympic National Park. We asked where exactly that was, and they told us it was in Washington. We wanted to drive up the Oregon coast, and we decided we might as well visit Olympic. What a bonus! When we got to the visitor center someone asked about Hurricane Ridge, and the ranger told the people they had just finished plowing it. We got to drive Hurricane Ridge with the plowed snow 7 to 10' high in places at the side of the road. As native Texans, we had never seen snow like that, and it was wonderful!

Also, on the West Coast trip, Sharon had watched videos of a number of people who had been to Idaho. NOTE: We try to put a month and a year on our videos, so you have a clue what the weather was like in a specific month For 2024, we have put the season and the year. Okay, Idaho videos, showed beautiful weather. We decided to go to the Sawtooth Mountains. National Forest Campgrounds were everywhere. What an addition to the trip!

We get to Idaho and start on the scenic drive. It's lovely with the snowcapped mountains in the distance, a stream running by the road, bright sunshine. It was perfect. What we didn't realize is we were gaining elevation. When we got to the first national forest campground, we saw that it was closed, but we thought nothing about it, There were lots more ahead. There weren't places to turn around, so we took the entire scenic drive. It was dark in the mountains, but it was a deep dusk when we found a place to stay at a national fish and wildlife area. Never have we been so glad to find a place to stay,

When we took a fall trip to the Ozarks, we heard someone talking about Santa Claus, Indiana, and we decided that was where we needed to be.

The bottom land is to find a place where you and any travel companions want to go, get maps and see what's near where you're going, have some flexibility if possible, and make your trips something to remember.