Driving to Fort Lauderdale!

I'm leaving about three hours later than I am intending, but I'm about to head out and drive to Florida.

I have actually never driven all the way across the country before (though I have made it from Stanford to Chicago in 44 hours and that was pretty nuts), so I am excited to be doing it.

For those of you who are Settlers of Catan fans, I am going for the longest route. My journey will take me up to Oregon and Montana, then down through the Dakotas, Wyoming, Colorado and across Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama and drop me in Florida. There will be a lot of driving and exploring. Click here to see the route.

Why am I doing it? Well, I’ve been car sitting for my friend, Deb and now she needs her car out in Fort Lauderdale. I offered to drive her car out to her and will now be doing it. I figured that if I’m going to do it, I might as well see a few states I’ve never seen before (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama).

I have set a few rules for myself:
1) Be willing to change your itinerary at any time
2) No major highways unless absolutely necessary (so no 80, 90, 50, 70, etc.)
3) No eating at chains unless they are local chains
4) Visit people I know on the way
5) Don’t drive when drowsy – Drowsiness is Red Alert. If I’m going to miss a destination because I’m too tired to drive, see Rule #1