Prologue

2012 is the twentieth anniversary of an incredible family vacation I took with my mother and maternal grandmother. The three of us spent nearly seven weeks on the road in my mother's red 1992 Dodge Shadow, and during that time we visited thirty-three US states and three Canadian provinces. We left Mercer Island, Washington on 25 May 1992, and finally returned on 11 July 1992.

The initial idea for a road trip was far less ambitious. As a genealogist, I had recently traced some cousins living in Missouri and made contact with them. They invited their Washington State cousins to pay them a visit.

So the plan was to drive to Missouri, spend a week with our cousins on their cattle ranch, and then drive home. My mother is an Elvis fan, so she wondered if we could add Memphis, Tennessee. We could.

After the plan had been formulated, my mother left her job at a state hospital and took an early lump sum payout of her retirement benefits. I convinced her that we could make it a once in a lifetime road trip instead. I wanted to visit as many places my ancestors had lived as I could and conduct further research.

Prior to this, my out of state travel experience was limited to two brief trips to Oregon, the state bordering Washington State to the south. My mother's travel experience was only slightly better, adding some trips to British Columbia, Canada to the north. A grand road trip didn't turn out to be a hard sell.

She told me to create an itinerary and a budget, just to see what I had in mind. After I provided her with the finished results, she considered the budget very carefully and decided it was within her means. From that point, it was a matter of talking my grandmother into coming, making reservations for lodging along the way, and making arrangements for three cats to be cared for.

The road trip was a fantastic experience. The United States is a vast nation, and its people diverse. There's no better way to experience a country or its people than to get out on the road. I never dreamed it would be possible to take such a trip, but it enriched my life and opened my eyes to the joy of discovering what's over the next horizon.

Based on my original travel diary, I will reconstruct the journey in my own words, providing additional commentary from twenty years later, and it will include photos I took (although some of the photos from the trip seem to have been lost over the years). Each entry will be posted under the original date in 1992, so you can click on the Blog Archive to the right to read each day's entry. A new entry will be added each day.

Here is the actual driving itinerary from 1992:

May 25: Mercer Island, Washington to Florence, Oregon
May 26: Florence, Oregon to Arcata, California
May 27: Arcata, California to Palo Alto, California
May 28: Palo Alto, California to Los Angeles, California
May 30: Los Angeles, California to Flagstaff, Arizona
May 31: Flagstaff, Arizona to Albuquerque, New Mexico
June 1: Albuquerque, New Mexico to Amarillo, Texas
June 2: Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June 3: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Memphis, Tennessee
June 4: Memphis, Tennessee to Knoxville, Tennessee
June 5: Knoxville, Tennessee to Sanford, North Carolina
June 6: Sanford, North Carolina to Washington DC
June 10: Washington DC to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 12: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Hartford, Connecticut
June 13: Hartford, Connecticut to Providence, Rhode Island
June 14: Providence, Rhode Island to Boston, Massachusetts
June 16: Boston, Massachusetts to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
June 17: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
June 20: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Bangor, Maine
June 21: Bangor, Maine to Burlington, Vermont
June 22: Burlington, Vermont to Auburn, New York
June 23: Auburn, New York to Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada
June 24: Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada to Windsor, Ontario, Canada
June 25: Windsor, Ontario, Canada to Upper Sandusky, Ohio
June 26: Upper Sandusky, Ohio to Greensburg, Pennsylvania
June 27: Greensburg, Pennsylvania to Indianapolis, Indiana
June 28: Indianapolis, Indiana to Springfield, Illinois
June 29: Springfield, Illinois to Milan, Missouri
July 7: Milan, Missouri to Sioux Falls, South Dakota
July 8: Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Rapid City, South Dakota
July 9: Rapid City, South Dakota to Bozeman, Montana
July 10: Bozeman, Montana to Helena, Montana
July 11: Helena, Montana to Mercer Island, Washington

Dramatis Personae

I (Danielle) was twenty-two years old, still living at home, and wanted to see more of the world.

My mother (Polly) was forty-five years old and recently left her position in a state hospital to take early retirement, intending to pursue some other opportunities.

My maternal grandmother (Gladys) was sixty-nine years old and retired.