Preparations:

I don’t know if it’s because he’s a Leo, but Cody is a worrier and because of this I have to be a mega planner.  I never in my life considered myself a Type “A” person but after planning our trips over the past eight years, I have to admit I totally am. I’m not a hard A though… the things I plot are more guidelines and suggestions rather than concrete rules.  I had to horn in all my organization skills for a Roadtrip that’s less than a week away.  We’re driving from Cypress {Houston}, TX to Venice Beach {Los Angeles}, California.  I’ve done hours of research, using multiple resources, and of course, using my two favorite Microsoft programs: Power point & Excel.  Since we’re driving and traveling with our dogs, I used spread sheets & Google Maps to route our stops.  Our plan is to stop every 300 miles {3.5-5 hours} so we can give our booties & puppies’ mini breaks; we’re calling them Booty Breaks.  This is a link to our route there if you want to check it out:

{To see our route for the way home click here: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=216583424838974774130.0004c11398e6b4351bd42&msa=0&ll=31.203405,-106.479492&spn=18.47594,40.693359}



Here are my estimated stops:

I’m the most excited about watching the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, which is something on our bucket list.  I was ecstatic to learn that dogs ARE allowed on all the trails and that you’re allowed to drive your own vehicle on certain trails as well.

I’ll be posting every night {or while Cody is driving} to let you know if we stayed on schedule, if we stopped at our suggested locations, & review the places we did visit.  I couldn’t find any websites or blogs that actually listed their step by step stops so I hope this is helpful to someone one day. 

Here is a list of the websites and apps I used to plan this trip:

House rentals {that are Diesel friendly}:

·VRBO ·Home Away ·Flip Key ·Vacation Rentals ·Google

Cheapest gas:

·Gas Buddy {app}

Restaurants:

·Travel Network ·Food Network ·Yelp ·Bringfido.com · Urbanspoon.com

Roadtrip Stops:

·Google Maps ·Yelp ·Bringfido.com · Lots of our friends recommendations ·Travel Network ·Food Network