Planning, will it even end!

                                   This planning thing can take on a life of its own.

Seemed like such a simple trip, get in the car, head south, then west, hook up to Route 66, follow ones hood ornament (only my car doesn't have one) and the GPS.  Then, bingo, before you know it the famous Hollywood sign, is in the beams of your head lights.

Well, now hold on a moment, it's not quite that cut and dry.  Minor matters such as lodging, food, fuel, exploring and photography somehow have all edged into the equation.  Not to mention what to try and see and what to bypass. 

Bypassing can be a huge error.  Sometimes the real gems to explore and see are not what's in the travel guides or on the web but rather those innocuous people, places and things, that we tend to overlook in our pursuit of grander sights.

Also, miles.  Yup, those elusive little numbers that keep popping up over and over again on your car's odometer.  Funny, but according to "Google Maps" the distance across the Texan Panhandle seems small, (about three inches) only 178 miles or 2 hours and 34 minutes, as the crow flies.  But since I'm not a crow (most are too smart I'm told to be crossing in July) and this is not a zip-zip trip. In reality, I'm probably looking at something closer to a 5-hour crossing.

Realizing why I'm taking the trip in the first place, I created an Excel spreadsheet and armed with Google Maps information I've been able to get a better idea as to my actual travel times from one day to another.  Still, to quote a one Robert Burns, "the best-laid plans of mice and men.....", so bearing this in mind I'm prepared to make changes to my plans on an hour by hour basis.

Now, this hour-by-hour thing is all fine and good, however, at some point, within a reasonable window of time, I want to arrive on the West coast.   The trick will be not to race past the best of life and yet not get bogged down hunting for those elusive butterflies of life.

Though the web is a great place to find planning information,  I found that such sources as the maps from the CAA (AAA in the states), Drew Knowles "Route 66 Adventure Handbook" and CCCmaps.com Road Atlas, all supplied a wealth of information.

The fine-tuning and re-visiting my destinations continues...