Week 321 - Planning vs Reality Results - 10-07-2012

Reality vs Planning

In last week's travelogue we planned our trip from Atascadero to St. George, Utah. We predicted our route, how far we would drive each day, where we might stay and what the weather would be like.

This week, you'll see what really happened. Our daily route predictions are shown in this map.

Monday: We left our home base, the Atascadero Elks leaving at 11:00am. We drove 178 miles following our predicted route to arrive at 2:30 and stay one night at the Fresno Elks. The weather was 100 degrees as predicted.

The Atascadero Elk's beautiful lodge was our starting point.

1) Monday's route. 2) Saying goodbye to our son, granddaughters and great-granddaughter. 3) We needed to break camp, load the scooter and return our rental car.
4) Atascadero Elks. 5) The turn off to the rental car return lot. However, we dropped off at Art's-Give-A-Car alternate location in Paso Robles. Thank you, dear brother. 6) Highway 198 is a beautiful country drive from Highway 101 to Coalinga.
7) In San Joaquin Valley are many crops; pictured are cotton, grapes and corn. 8) The flood control pond at the Fresno Elks was full! 9) Our site overlooking the pond.

According to "Craigs 2-2-2 Rule" we should 1) travel no more than 200 miles in one day, 2) get to our location by 2:00pm and 3) stay at least two days.

Monday Recap:
178 Miles:

2:30pm Arrival: close enough,

One Night Stay:

Location: Fresno Elks as planned.

Tuesday: Drive 170 miles, starting at Noon. Arrive in Lee Vining at Mono Vista RV Park at 5:00pm, stay two nights at 77 degrees, as predicted.

1) Entrance to Yosemite National park. 2) Yosemite Valley as seen from the Tunnel View overlook. 3) Ellen retrieves ~~a squirrel~~ Mandy from the Merced River.
4) Boulders randomly placed by God at Olmsted Point overlook. 5) Tuesday's Route. 6) The Mothership at Olmsted Point.
7) Tenaya Lake. 8) Tioga Pass. 9) Mono Lake.

This is the view of Half Dome as seen from the Olmsted Point overlook. It looks close but really is a major and dangerous hike from here.

Tuesday/Wednesday Recap:
170 Miles:

5:00pm Arrival:

Two Night Stay:

Location: Mono Vista RV Park as planned.

Thursday: Drive 132 miles, starting at 9:30, arriving by 1:00pm, stay one night at 79 degrees. The Ramada Inn had RV parking (in a parking lot) with 50amps, water and sewer for $18.50 (Good Sam).

1) Mono Lake South Tufa area. 2) Highway 120 has a nice variety of forests, rock and sagebrush. 3) Thursday's travel map.
4) and 5) Highway 120. 6) Antique buildings in Benton Hot Springs, California.
7) Benton Hot Springs established 1852. 8) Closing in on Tonopah. 9) The Mizpah Hotel and Casino in Tonopah, Nevada.

Thursday Recap:
132 Miles:

1:00pm Arrival:

One Night Stay:

Location: Ramada Inn RV Park, it was one of two choice, the other being the Elks which we did not check out.

Even in God's desert there is beautiful scenery.

Friday: Up at dawn, travel 299 miles to St. George Elks, arriving at 12:30pm, stay 6 nights at 84 degrees

One of a dozen great photos we got at sun up.

1) Friday's Path: Highway 6 to 375 to 93 to 319 and onto Utah's 56 and 18. Leaving Tonopah the next gas stop was 163 miles away. 2) Rachel is along the Exterrestrial Highway and amounted to a handful of buildings.
3) Lots of great views early in the morning. 4) Mostly desert but some forested areas. 5) The clean little town of Caliente.
6) Definitely a wide load. 7) Classic Utah rock landscape. 8) The St. George Elks.

Friday Recap:
299 Miles:

12:30pm Arrival:

Six Night Stay:

Location: St. George Elks as planned.

So overall we broke Craigs rule a few times. Mostly on the last day as there really was no place to stop; very few parking areas on the road and no services. The 756 mile path we took was far more interesting and beautiful than we thought it would be and we're glad we went that way. The weather was pleasant and we saw areas of California and Nevada that we never knew existed. While we doubt we would take these roads again, we were happy to do it once. Finally, Craig is right that you get a bit exhausted and lose your desire to jump right behind the wheel the next day. But since we are in this area for two weeks, we'll get plenty of rest.

Ellen and Mandy resting up after the long journey!

So how did Planning and Reality match up? Almost perfectly. This is a great disappointment to us. In 320 weeks of travel it has never been this close. Usually we deviate greatly after a day or two. Perhaps because we extensively researched the Planning travelogue and the fact that we could not find an alternate road, made us follow our plan exactly. Sorry about that, but stay tuned for a future Planning vs Reality Sequel. Until then,

Love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy.

Photos from Oct 2012