The Plan

As mentioned in the title page, Linda will be traveling around North America gathering research for her dissertation. I will be driving her about the Navajo Nation for the first two weeks of her travels as my annual vacation from work, and when it’s time for me to return to Corvallis, she will embark on her two-month Greyhound bus pass portion on her own, some of which will be tent-camping, some of her stops will be (a continuance) of inexpensive motels, and some will be in a home-share she found in DC via AirBnB (a great way find lodging – check it out).

One of the first items of business to make the trip possible was to acquire a camper shell for our little pickup truck, as there is no easy way to keep our stuff out of the rain. I really don’t like driving with one attached to the bed, because of the limited visibility, but living in Oregon (raining 149 days a year) and being in New Mexico during the summer where there’s thunderstorms most every afternoon, we decided it was a must.

I started looking for one at Christmastime, and while there were a few offerings on Craigslist for my desired price of $100 or less, they never worked out, until just about the last minute where I found one right in Corvallis, in my most desired configuration of white/fiberglass/taller than the cab – perfect in every way for exactly $100. I had to invest $10 for a locking handle and some silicone window sealer, it has proved to be our able companion and a good choice.

Linda has worked hard to plot out her entire adventure – where she’ll be researching, where she’ll be staying and how she’ll get there. My portion was to plan the two weeks at Four Corners, based on her input of where she needed to be and when. I mapped out a route, reserved the cheap motels, the one-night campsite and the last three days at an AirBnB room in Albuquerque. Here’s my maps: