Yellowstone Hot Springs - photo by Tim

(Continued from Part One.)

Once my husband and I finally decided on Yellowstone National Park as our destination, we began to try to figure out how long of a road trip – in distance and in days – we wanted to commit ourselves to. One week seemed too short, and two weeks was too long due to limited vacation time. Finally we decided on ten days total for our entire vacation, encompassing two full weekends so that we only had to use seven total days of available vacation time. That would be enough time to get there, see the area fully, and mosey on back home via a different route than we took to get there.

That last part – the whole different route thing – spurred ANOTHER round of debate. Do we go clockwise – Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona? Or do we go counter-clockwise – Arizona/Utah/Wyoming/Idaho/Nevada/Arizona? Since we’re going to be so far north into Wyoming, do we want to check out any of Southern Montana? Since we’re going to be so far west into Wyoming, do we want to check out any of Eastern Idaho?

The whole vacation planning thing, fun as it all is to me, was by this point starting to drive me a little crazy.

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The Rand McNally Road Atlas

My husband and I started discussing in February what we wanted to do for our summer vacation this year. With limited vacation time, funds not to exceed $3500, and varying tastes in what each of us considered to be vacation-worthy destinations and activities, we HAD to start the negotiations early in order to settle on something in time to, you know, actually PLAN the vacation.

Both of us are big fans of road trips – short jaunts to Flagstaff and Sedona earlier this year just whet our appetites for some serious road time. That narrowed down our options and expectations – no airfare, and no destination that was TOO far away. Then, because we live in Arizona, we figured we’ve done the six-hour drive to the San Diego area, like, a hundred times – so we decided not to go in that direction again. Next, we determined that neither of us were interested in going to Mexico, swine flu notwithstanding. So, we didn’t need to get passports either (something that’s been on my to-do list for, oh, about ten years). That took care of South, and West. I started casting my attention toward North, and East.

It was during a Sunday afternoon watching The Discovery Channel that we got the notion to visit Yellowstone National Park. Really, it was a, “Well, duh!” realization of the destination we were looking for. My husband has visited the park once, way back in his youth. I’ve never been there, myself, and I’ve always wanted to go. In the end, it was an easy decision to make, with immediate agreement on both sides. Enthusiasm started to build now that we finally had a direction in mind.

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