The Day Before

 

Let's see. We drove from New York to Palo Alto in August of 1982 in David's 1970s Ford Galaxie 500. Then we drove from Palo Alto back to my home in NY before our wedding in December of 1984 in David's Toyota pickup. David drove back alone in January. We drove a U-Haul from NY to CA when I finally moved out there in August of '84. That was fun. There was still a Federal speed limit of 55 mph and the U-Haul had a governor that kept us to 55 on the flat - and 35 going up any kind of grade. There are a few grades between Rye Brook and Palo Alto. Also it didn't have air conditioning. Did I mention it was August?

We drove the pickup from CA to CO in September of 1990 and then drove my Honda Civic from CO to NY and back for Christmas that year. By that time we had two large dogs in the back seat. And finally we drove the Civic from CA to PA when we moved here in 1992. I didn't mention the drives from the Bay Area to Reno or Austin, NV, when David was doing his PhD field work, or my solo drive from CO back to CA, or David's trip from CA to Ohio for a semester of work at Kent State. Anyway, we landed in PA in June of 1992 and I thought we'd gotten the cross-country drives out of our system. Once we both had full-time work, the balance flipped and we had more disposable income than extra time; when we went to California, we got airline tickets like normal people. 

The Levy-Smith trail, 1982-1992

30 years later, here we go again. We're retired, we have plenty of time, and David has finally recovered from his years of enforced camping during grad school and is ready to think about pitching a tent again. So when we started talking about a trip to Bryce and Zion with at least some camping, we decided to pack up our own camping gear and hit the road. It won't be exactly the same - we did get older and (maybe) wiser. Instead of trying to make the trip in four or five days, we're taking nearly three weeks. We're only camping in a couple of National Parks and the rest of the time we're staying with friends or in hotels or in AirBnBs. Come along for the ride! I won't promise daily updates - the first few and the last few days will not be that interesting and I doubt we'll have Internet when we're camping. There will be pretty pictures, if nothing else. And it's possible someone may log on and write about the geology of the Western US. Could happen.

The plan for this trip

We are not traveling light. 

Camping gear piled in the garage

The bare necessities

Yes, I can lift it

Not shown: computer, iPad, power supply, chargers, cables, suitcases, box of wine and other spirits, box of kitchen gear, folding chairs, and duffel bag with pillows, towels, and toiletries. 

Tomorrow we're off!