A Pleasing Road Through Nowhere - Day 135

I had to go deep in my list for todays route.

Besides Road Tripping and blogging, the thing that takes the next most amount of my time is planning. The whole process is one of going from the big picture to the small picture. At the end of the Jersey Shore family visit, the next big picture was Cape May to Phoenix.

For a trip as immense as that, I started by referring only to two resources and only had a three step process.

How to choose an immense route:

1. First I analyse the map of the entire US. I know where I have never been, so I focus on those areas and look for big adventures. In the case of this trip, I haven't done the south east of the country, so I figured I should get down there and see what's interesting.
2. I check the National Geographic National Park's book to see if there are any biggies along the way.
3. I also see if there are any friends or family along the way.

That's how I ended up in the Smokies and Hot Springs. There aren't many NP's accessible in the SE U.S without going far out of the path to Phoenix. It also helped determine that I should head down the coast first. And lately it helped guide me from Hot Springs to here. The Great Sand Dunes NP is not far from here in south central CO, and it was a big picture kind of area. AuntieR was in Arlington, and the Ingles were in NC, so I kept the options open. But bad timing (too close) and driving the coast overrode Arlington. And food and new states overrode Asheville.

After the big picture, I do a cursory scan of the medium picture (the next 2 or 3 days of travel). I do a bit of this every night of the trip. It usually includes any must sees that can be fit in (Mount Rushmore or Corn Palace), plus any cities (like Oklahoma City) or side lights (like Chapel Hill). Otherwise, I play it day to day...which leaves us with:

How to choose a single days route:

1. The first thing I do is check the National Parks that are within striking distance. If I can get to an NP with enough time to find a camp site, set up camp, and acquire ice, beer, and bear repellent then take any route that will allow for that. I've come to the definitive conclusion that National Parks are AWESOME. If I get a chance to spend any time in a National Park, I must do so. You might have another fetish to substitute for this, but from what I've seen, National Parks are the way to go.

2. After NP's, I take a look at the Road Food book and see if there are any restaurants appropriately spaced for lunch or dinner. If there is something interesting, I then pull out both the Scenic Highways and Byways as well as the National Parks books to confirm if the place is worth shooting for. This would be combining multiple textures to the day and it usually can't be found. But when it plots out well, a great day is virtually guaranteed.

3. I next zero in on the scenic drives that are between me and my final destination (which in this case is Phoenix). I go as deep as reading the summary for each drive that can possibly be en route. I determine whether it must be included and fold the corner of the page if I must make sure to include it (I unfold once I drive it or skip it). Because I have driven in and out of Phoenix 8 times, 8 different ways during this trip so far, I've exhausted most everything the book has to offer. There's some interesting stuff in Utah, so I'm keeping that in mind for later options, but there was nothing remotely worth doing for this leg.

4. I then might go back to the Food Book and see if there is at least a meal anywhere nearby worth going for even if it means taking some interstates for a while. I still found nothing. I had steak for dinner last night at Cattlemans Steak House from the book. Every place in my current path was another steak house and couldn't repeat so soon...this is moo cow country. (Sorry url, I didn't go to "Eat At Joe's" Joe's Restaurant while in OKC...the Cattleman's entry sounded too good, but it didn't live up to the billing. I should have taken your advice.)

5. I reluctantly check out the pamphlets that I pick up in the hotel lobby with all the touristy things to do in the expanded region. I could find caves to spelunk , horseback riding, glider rides, and if something fits with my day well enough I set a route to it. Unfortunately, no luck for today.

6. At last I am down to: Find a place that is within striking distance of Route Option 1 above and isn't too boring. This is when I start looking for any green dots on the map. And this is the option that I had to choose for today's travels.

I spent the entire day on small two lane highways winding through OK, KA and here south central CO, a town called Walsenburg. The drive was quite pleasant, and offered a pretty good variety of scenery, history, negligible traffic and high speeds. And with the Rocky Mountains encroaching on the horizon, there was a beautiful sunset here at the Best Western.

This leaves me within striking distance of the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which I may be able to get a good taste of and still get back on the road to Phoenix before tomorrow runs out. TP - it's looking like a late Wednesday or early Thursday arrival...have my bed turned down either way.

Option 6 only barely beat out the final item on the list:

7. Take an interstate as fast as possible through the area because there is absolutely nothing redeeming.