The Plan

Even though the trip is only 3 weeks away (crap!) I don't have any solid plans other than this:

1. Leave on the 28th
2. ???
3. Arrive in Nashville on the 8th in time to get keys.

Places I would like to photograph along the way include Death Valley, Manzanar, King's Canyon/Sequoia, Devil's Postpile, Valley of Fire (Nevada State Park), The Grand Canyon, The Petrified Forest, Petroglyph National Monument, El Malpais, Carlsbad Caverns, Gila Cliff Dwellings, Zion National Park, Rainbow Bridge, Arches, The Golden Spike, Washita Battlefield (Custer's massacre of Black Kettle), Fort Donelson (in 1862, the first real victory by the Union), and Shiloh (Civil War Battlefield where in the first 20 minutes more Americans died than in all previous American wars combined).

I could spend a week or more at each of these sites, and I only have 10 Days to get across the country. Fortunately, some of these decisions are made for me: Devil's Postpile is closed for the season, The Golden Spike, Carlsbad, Gila and most Utah sites are too far out the way to make a go, and Sequoia will be covered in snow (beautiful, but impractical). On the flip side, Shiloh and Donelson are close enough to Nashville to go another time.

It's overwhelming to try and plan something like this, with only a handful of hours to photograph some of the most beautiful and important places in North America. My defense mechanism, of course, is to chuck the whole thing and just drive; it's too painful to be in these places and not take advantage of the opportunity.

But these 10 short days will be more than some people see in a lifetime.