Radio Free Akron: Distant Places at Distant Times

So, remember the last entry when I talked about how Amy and I needed a vacation and badly? Well, we sorta had one tonight, and we didn't spend a dime.

We spent the whole evening, from 4:00 pm (when I arrived home) until tonight around 11:00 pm when she went to bed, together just shooting the shit. Sure, we talked about being at each other's throats, and why were were. We talked about what we were going to do to fix things. And we buried the hatchet. We spent the rest of the night watching dumb television shows (like Dateline NBC's attempts to catch would-be internet child predators) laid around together on our new (dead animal) couch, and just were together.

It was nice.

And in all of that, we began to talk about what we were going to do for our summer vacation this year. Now, I would have a ton of time off of work (May 12ish to the last week of August) if I didn't desperately need to contribute to our economy to keep us afloat. Luckily, since I've taken on a class to take and two classes to teach, summer should (as a balance) be a fairly prosperous time, though some of it will be admitedly lean.

Here's the deal: we've got about $1700 set aside in our long-term budget (plus 10-12 days of pet-sitting fees). We've also got basically 10 days... I can leave after my class at Tuscarawas takes its final on Thursday, August 18 and we'll have to be back for school by the morning of Monday, August 27.

Now, vacation as a whole is an expensive venture, as we know. True, I didn't realize the kind of cash my parents set down for the (looking back, somewhat extravagent) trips we used to take until I started planning trips for us not that long ago, and we don't have that kind of cash. But, $1700 is a good bit of cash and can put us in a good way for a decent sized trip, and we can be gone most of the time.

The kicker... is if we can convince someone to come with us (maybe various parents or friends) then we get extra companionship and experiences, and lodging and gas costs are cut in half. But, as the great Winston Wolfe said, "let's not sucking each other's dicks just yet."

And with that, I have a strong urge to drink a Pepsi!

Moving on...

Here are the options we came up with. Each definitely has certain draws:

1. Cruise from New Orleans. Now, I know I said I'd never cruise again after the debacle that was the last cruise we took with my parents. The boat was overbooked with children and Texans, and it wasn't relaxing. Well, cruising is still a really attractive way to vacation. Five day cruises leaving N'awlins on August 20 are only $329 a person, which is hella-cheap. The bonuses? A 1,000 mile road trip to N'awlins through part of the Appalachians, a chance to visit two new states (numbers 40 and 41 for me), and the ability to visit a hurricane damaged city that's considered an American cultural treasure for a couple days before we leave on the boat. The cruise travels to a couple ports in the Yucatan, which means a chance at Chichen Itza. Downsides? It's a cruise, which is a travelling way I'm pretty much over. Oh, that and it's right in the middle of hurricane season, which may be no biggie, but....

2. Acadia National Park. Acadia is in Maine, and it's supposed to be wonderful. It's our official destination in this option, but it's really just one of many stops. We'd head east to New York and stop briefly, continue through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts to Boston, then up to Acadia. After Acadia, it'd be a jolt over to Montreal, down through Vermont (maybe going up Mount Washington) along Lake Champlain to the Adirondacks, back though Buffalo to Akron. Good things about this is that we'd see a hell of a lot of New England, the last frontier for me in the continental US. I'd add states 40 through 46 to my lifetime list (NJ, CT, RI, ME, NH, VT) and my fourth Canadian province (Quebec). It'd be a mostly camping trip to keep costs down, and I think that would simply rule. Downsides: a lot of time in the car, though total mileage is only around 1948... so less than going to New Orleans.

3. Yellowstone National Park. It's 2,000 miles each way to Yellowstone from Akron, so high gas costs would be a consideration. But it's one hell of a drive, and it's one hell of a destination. You see shit in Yellowstone that's nowhere else, and it's one of my favorite places in the world. Bonus considerations of seeing Devil's Tower and the natural prairie dog town there, Mount Rushmore/Crazy Horse, and Wall Drug (and maybe Wisconsin Dells) on the way home. Downside: a whole lot of time in the car, and distance is enough that it may be out of reach timewise.

4. Tennessee. A trip down to Great Smoky Mountain National Park for camping, rafting, hiking mini-golf and go-karting. Yes, Pigeon Forge is probably the world capital of go-karting, and second (ironically to Wisconsin Dells) in terms of mini-golf. Natural beauty, and only eight hours away. Downsides: it's Tennessee in August.

There are other possibilities, such as other cruises or an American History trip to Washington and Philadelphia (and state 40, Delaware!), San Diego for the zoo (but what else, really), Vegas, or even cheesy Orlando and Disney (total escape from reality). But... these are really my top four.

Comment at will. I'm going to listen to Death Cab for Cutie's Plans, which is today's album of obsession.

I listen to more music than most people. I think I need to branch out. My downsized 3000 song iTunes library is getting old after listening to music 8+ hours per day at work.

Got any leads?

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