Background

After much planning, or more correctly thinking a talking but little research or action, I started my big road trip out west on September 11th. There was no special significance to the date. Originally it was supposed to be September 4th but I decided I needed more than 4 days to recover from my trip to Ireland (aka the old country). I had nothing booked but vaguely thought about leaving on Monday the 10th. Then I thought Monday is not such a good day to leave and I still had much work to do on my patio. So it became Tuesday which just happened to be September 11th.

My friend Eileen was fabulous – she went to the AAA (like the AA from those reading from Ireland/UK) which not only provides roadside assistance but the most fantastic planning. They have these marvelous books called triptik which detail out travel itinerates, points of interest, scenic routes and possible delays/congestion. Anyway Eileen got me one covering my trip. I was so impressed I went to the AAA store to book my accommodation – they were brilliant. I thought them where I was going and they suggested accommodation based on how far I wanted to drive each day and then they booked it. There was also a plethora of information - guide books, maps, brochures; I’ve rarely been so well informed.

Before the blog proper starts I will explain why I wanted to do the road trip. First of all I’ve wanted to see Yellowstone for many years. Secondly even though I like driving, have a car and its easy to drive long distances in America, I’ve rarely driven more than 40 miles in my car (that’s about the distance from Chicago (where I live) to IKEA in Schaumberg (where I spent a significant amount of money and time J)). Part of my rationale when I bought my car in 2004 was that before I left Americas I would take a road trip. So now its 2007 and I’ve decided to leave America, so I’m taking the roundtrip. Originally I planned to do route 66 but as I’ve already been to California many times, the north west seemed far more attractive.

For a while it seemed that my good friend Kathy would accompany me on the trip. She has already driven from Chicago to Maine so is well experienced in roadtrips. However, unfortunately she couldn’t make it so I am travelling alone. But not so alone as each day I call my mother, my friend Edward and my friend Imelda. It’s not that they don’t trust me or don’t think I can take care of myself but they worry. For my other friends who are interested, hopefully this blog performs a similar function.