Plotting a Journey

A lot has happened since the last post in terms of preparation for leaving. Last night we finalized the journey plan. It will take three nights to get to Eugene.

We'll leave Arlington at midnight on Thursday (or Friday depending on how you look at it) the 29th, and head to Flagstaff, AZ. That will be 14 hours (maybe 16 according to my mom) and 956 miles. So we'll drive until 8 am, stop and eat breakfast, take Luna for a little walk, and then continue on until about 6 pm when we hopefully arrive in Flagstaff. I'm sure we'll be consumed with exhaustion and pass out.

Then we will depart from Flagstaff and head to Bishop, California. This is my first time to ever go anywhere in California, and for some reason I'm pretty excited. We'll also be going through the Mojave Desert, which should be interesting. Estimated travel time for this day is 8.5 hours, traveling 564 miles.

Then we'll criss-cross into Nevada on some smaller highways to head to Bishop, CA. We'll pass through Lake Tahoe, Carson City and Reno. This is supposed to take 7 hours, traveling 398 miles.

The final leg of the trip is from Redding, CA to Eugene, OR. This is supposed to take 5 hours (313 miles). We'll bypass Crater Lake, but maybe if we have time and aren't too tired we can go the long way and see it. We should arrive in Eugene on Monday, and then it's time to explore a bit. I will take Mom to the airport on Wednesday morning in Portland for her flight back to Texas, for what will probably be a somewhat tearful good bye, as she bids farewell to Luna.

We've found hotels along the way that take pets (yay!), and are relatively inexpensive. The first weekend I'm there is the wedding in Vancouver for Kim and Liz. This will be a great way to soften the shock of being relatively alone in a strange city. I'm picking Jess up at the airport in Portland on Thursday. Then on Friday morning we'll take Luna to the pet boarding place and head up to Vancouver! It is sure to be a great wedding. Then I come back Sunday night or Monday morning, and it's time to hit the ground running searching for jobs. That is, of course, if I don't have one by that time.