My sister and brother-in-law are coming into town this summer, and Father, enjoying his retirement, thought it'd be a great idea for us to take a road trip through Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. It is a good idea; after all, even though they're in great health, my parents aren't getting younger, and you know what they say about one day all of a sudden they're taken away from you, blah-blah-blah. But there are many complications involved with taking a vacation. And for all my ranting and raving I've historically done about this blog, me being afraid I won't be able to stand Father, Mother and my sister in a car for a week to the point of choking the life out of them isn't in the forefront of my mind.
First is the driving. I hate roadtrips because I rely on the statistics that you are much more likely to die travelling by car then by plane, which is the mode I've always traveled and vastly prefer. Now, I like to drive around, or at least I did until the price of gas made that too prohibitive. But that would be in places where I know where to go. Traveling for miles and miles, and not coming back home? That's kind of daunting.
Add to that the fact that I'm going to places I've never been to. I'm going because Father wants to do this, but I do share his interest in hitting these places, at least Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone. It's the planning and logistics that's driving me insane. When do we go? We haven't settled that yet, although we want to go very soon. Is Mt. Rushmore only several hours, or do we stay for a whole day? What about Yellowstone when I don't think any of us have been to a national park? Do we even stop for an hour in Salt Lake City? Father only wants to see the Mormon temple downtown, and as far as I know, there is no other reason to go. We think we have driving times down, but that of course can be altered because of the weather. And once (if?) we settle on an itinerary, I have to tell my boss when I'm taking off. I gave her a heads-up last week, and she was cool with that, but I gave her a specific time when I'll be gone and there's a chance that has changed. I don't know if she'll be cool with me telling her different dates.
The problem currently consuming my mind is transportation. Neither of our cars have the endurance to survive the road trip. Besides, Father's plan was to drive to Vegas and then fly back. But research has revealed to me that one-way car rentals are obscenely expensive. Father insists on a minivan (don't know why), and the cheapest we have seen for a rental for between six and eight days has been $1,500 (the most expensive has been $1,800). They say the price is for getting the van back to Minneapolis-St. Paul. Now, I've been calling around (no help from anyone) and I have already signed up for some membership clubs that could offer a discount. I could also try Priceline and try and dangle a bid for something much cheaper, even though that may not be possible since we want to go soon. But Father said Saturday morning that he's willing to bite the bullet and pay. He shouldn't do that. Unfortunately, I don't know if I have an alternative.
If there's anyone out there that reads my blog, I could use some help on this. Any advice or tips on how to roadtrip? Any ways to save money on rentals? How about things to do in our places to go, particularly where to go in Yellowstone and, just as important, how long we should stay? 'Cause I have barely a clue.
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