Planning has begun

That's right. We are in the preliminary stages of planning The Mother of All Road Trips: 2012 Edition (TMOART:2012).

Right now, it is in the very preliminary stages. I have a class reunion to go to on June 23, and a family reunion on June 30, both of which are in Pennsylvania. We have a few days to kill in between those two mandatory dates, so we're tossing around a few ideas to see what all we can fit in with the limited funds that we'll have.

The nice thing is that The Dude has offered to go along this time - which means that he's either even more wonderful than I thought, or he's totally insane. I'm actually leaning towards a little bit of both. He has no idea what he is getting himself into, between my high school friends AND my family (not to mention an insane road trip with 5 kids)....but, since he's going to go along, it means that I have a driving buddy - and we can drive straight through instead of stopping along the way. That's definitely a good thing.

For just the basic trip, we're looking at 2461 miles. But I know that there will be a few more stops that we haven't planned yet. We may try to hit Virginia again, and The Dude has some friends in various places back in that general direction, so we'll be working and reworking the itinerary as the time gets closer.

All I know is that it will be fun, but yet I will get totally stressed out again between now and then trying to work out all of the details and the finances, and will probably go on another pre-vacation cleaning binge (also a good thing) and will sell anything that I don't need to get some extra cash (possibly including some children if they don't straighten up)....

And of course, you all can look forward to amusing stories while we're on the road - and since he'll be driving for part of it, I'll be able to blog along the way! This could get interesting....

Stay tuned for more details....