Advil Anyone?

"My head hurts." That was all I could think this evening as I looked up from the table, where I had spent most of my day. I had finally finished my itinerary.

I'm pretty sure I have spent no less (and most likely more) than 10 hours, poring over my atlas, searching websites and adding numbers. Holy cow! Is it because I'm taking such a long trip, or is normal trip planning like this? How have I never experienced this... this.... I can't even think of a word for it. No wonder my mom gets so annoyed when I tell her we can do "whatever" or "anything she wants to do will be fine with me." Then again, I'm not exactly sure how the two of us would have come away agreeing on an itinerary if we had tried sitting down together to plan one. Wow.

So, here it is. Well, almost. I have to share what it was, before I share what it became.

Here goes:
Begin in Colorado Springs. (Duh. Would have been a cool trick if I could have started somewhere else though, you have to admit.) First stop, I'm going to prison for a little visit. I went back and forth over if I should actually head to Las Animas first. But, in the end family prevailed. Let me just say, it makes for a very long day though.

Anyway, Colorado Springs to Las Animas for a bit of a visit.
From Las Animas, continue on Hwy 50 to Newton, KS, then head up Salina, KS, picking up I-70. From Salina, KS head to Manhattan, KS for a nostalgic stop-over. (I went to college there... well, a semester of college there, but I have fond memories.) From Manhattan, into Topeka, KS and Kansas City, MO. Next, jump on I-35 into Des Moines, IA, continuing up into Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN, landing in Stillwater, MN. (My favorite Uncle and Aunt live there.) Spend a couple of days in Stillwater, MN before heading to Duluth, MN for a brief stop-over and on to Hibbing, MN (where my grandparents are buried.) From there I toyed with making a brief stop into Canada, to get a stamp in my passport. It would be my first. Then I would head back across MN, stopping in Bemidji (I just love that name!) and Moorhead on into Fargo, ND. Next, I was planning on going straight across ND (literally) and all the way across MT (wanted to say I had been there. I don't know why.) Across the pan handle of ID and across WA, to Seattle. Another Canadian stop-over opportunity... From there, head diagonally back across WA and the thicker portion of ID. Continue, down, down, down I-84 into UT, picking up I-15 through Salt Lake City. Keep going down I-15 and picking up I-70, with a stop in Arches National Park (right, like I wouldn't be completely toast by then!) After that, continue on I-70 before picking up Hwy 50 again and for the finale back to Colorado Springs. (Oh, I just noticed I would have had to go back through Pueblo first. Huh. That means a short jaunt on I-25 that I wasn't planning on.)

Now, the good news is that I actually have 2 weeks off to complete this (which somehow works out to 15 days). The bad news, of course, is that by the time I got back, my butt would have been glued to my car seat. Forget making any actual stops along the way, or sleeping for the night. On an upside, not sleeping in hotels/motels while I'm gone would really cut costs considerably. Maybe I should re-think this... Okay, I'm done.

And now for the itinerary I actually ended up with. (There is a part of me that is amazed that it took so long to come up with this. I mean seriously.)
Day 1:
First stop is still Las Animas. Again, I did go back and forth... but I figured I could take a couple of hours and see my brother. From Las Animas, CO, I'll take Hwy 50 to Granada, CO. Then I'll take Hwy 385 North to Burlington, CO. I'll pick up I-70 in Burlington, CO and head East on into Hays, KS, where I'll stop for the night. It does make for a LONG day, with the prison stop. Baring any unforeseen road construction, I'll pull into Hays at about 10:00pm, with the time change. Darn time zones. :)
Day 2:
From Hays, KS, I'll take a side trip into Victoria, KS to see the Cathedral of the Plains. It's beautiful. If you ever get the chance, you should stop. I'll then hop back on I-70 to Manhattan, KS. Still planning on the nostalgic stop. From Manhattan, I'll take some back hwys to avoid the toll-road and end up in Des Moines, IA for the evening.
Day 3 & 4:
Just a hop, skip and a jump through the Twin Cities and into Stillwater, MN. Fingers crossed, I'll spend 2ish days with my relatives. Fortunately for me, this is the one week in July when they're not travelling themselves, nor do they have other company coming. Score!
Day 5:
I'll jump back on I-35 heading north into Duluth, MN. Some great memories there. It's where we took a "last trip" with my grandma before she died. Again with the nostalgia, I'll continue on to Hibbing, MN. I'm hoping for a bit of a shorter driving day, so I can re-visit some of the sights. Hibbing is where my grandma literally spent her whole life. (With the exception of a couple of side trips; obviously she went to Duluth at least once.) Did you know that back in the day, Hibbing actually moved. No kidding. They figured out that some pretty good iron ore was located under the town, so they moved it. Also, Greyhound (the bus company) began in Hibbing. Such a great little town. I'll spend the night there too.
Day 6:
Lots of driving. Yeah, basically just driving. I'll be heading South and West back across MN, ending up in Pipestone, MN. Never heard of Pipestone before today. But, it's near Sioux City, SD (where I originally planned to end up.) Pipestone had cheaper rates on their motels, and it's an hour closer to Hibbing. Works for me.
Day 7:
Again with the driving. This time heading most of the way across SD, stopping in Wall, which just happens to be near SD's Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore. Cool.
Day 8 & 9:
Staying in Wall, to do some more leisurely sight-seeing.
Day 10:
Moving on to Douglas, WY, which is another little town I've never heard of, but had better rates than both Casper and Cheyenne. (Yeah, I'm really hoping that it's not a bad decision to go to these little towns...) At this point, I could probably just go all the way home, since Douglas is within 5 hours of Colorado Springs. But, again, I have two whole weeks. I'm already getting back early... why make it too early?
Day 11:
Finish up the trip and head home. Then I have 4 whole days before I have to go back to work. Weird.

I realized after typing this out that I probably gave my die-hard readers (aka, my one follower- Thanks Larry!) a headache. Isn't it great to bear each other's burdens? Thanks for hanging in there! :)