{"id":2953,"date":"2009-12-08T19:52:19","date_gmt":"2009-12-09T00:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=2953"},"modified":"2024-10-04T13:36:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T18:36:53","slug":"my-longest-road-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/my-longest-road-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"My Longest Road Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve been going through an old shoebox this week, looking at dusty photographs I took way back in the Summer of 1992 using a cheap Kodak Instamatic camera on low quality 110 film. I’d recorded an epic circular tour of the United States undertaken by a bunch of scruffy guys in their 20’s, most of us out of school but fairly new to the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Big
Big Bend National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’d been working for awhile but I was still at the bottom of the job hierarchy. Thus, my employer didn’t mind me taking a month off to join this expedition. We journeyed to many of the famous national parks in the western United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Big Circle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Road<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This map approximates route. I’m doing this quickly from memory so it may not be absolutely correct but it’s very close. Google Maps won’t let me embed the image here because it’s too complicated so this is a screenshot. Don’t bother clicking it. That won’t work.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carlsbad
Carlsbad Caverns National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Google calculates this route at 7,276 miles. However, the odometer on the RV broke 8,000 because we took a lot of short side-trips. We stayed on the road for 28 days altogether and passed through more than 250 counties. Generally we’d drive one extremely long day, then hike through a national park for an entire day, then hit the road again the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the Road<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was lots of male-oriented food and beverage involved too. We subsisted on whatever red meat we threw on the grill. Then we washed it all down with lots of cheap beer. I don’t think I have the stamina to maintain a schedule like that today. The driving and hiking would be a bit ambitious, and I’d rather avoid cheap<\/i> beer<\/a>. Nonetheless, we handled this just fine a couple decades younger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chaco
Chaco Canyon National Historical Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I remember thinking even at the time that this would be a memorable trip I’d appreciate forever. I got that right! Big Bend, Carlsbad Caverns, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Four Corners, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Dinosaur National Monument; Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Devils Tower, the Badlands, and Mt. Rushmore all in quick succession. Plus odds-and-ends like Bourbon Street, Las Vegas, Wall Drug and the Corn Palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Devils
Devils Tower National Monument<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been meaning to create a set of webpages to better record this amazing trip but I’ve never gotten around to it. Each winter, however, I undertake a project to keep myself busy while I’m stuck indoors. Last year I painstakingly developed a page devoted to the Ferries of the British Islands and the Republic of Ireland<\/a>. This winter I’m going to warm up my scanner and focus on that 1992 trip. I won’t be posting the results here on the Twelve Mile Circle unless it involves a geo-oddity, though. Most of it will go onto my permanent Travel Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mount
Mount Rushmore National Memorial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Have you undertaken an epic trek you’ll remember forever? Please feel free to share your memories in the comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Update<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I finished many of the pages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n