Countdown to America!

In May 2012, Alistair and I will be heading off to the land of the free (and the home of cheap car hire) on a three-month journey across 18 states, 12 cities and many, many towns.

We’ve been saving for this trip for years. We’d be going today if it wasn’t for work commitments, but it’s all turned out for the best – now we’ll have more money to spend on top restaurants, cool hotels and, of course, Disneyland.

We’ll also be visiting the States in March for SXSW and we’re going to extend our stay there by a week to see Austin and San Antonio, which will give us more time on our three-month sojourn.

We start in Atlanta and Savannah and move in a clockwise direction. One of the things I’m really excited about is driving from Flagstaff, Arizona, all the way to Seattle – that’s nearly 5 000 km – taking in the mesas of Monument Valley, the lights of Los Angeles and the cool beauty of Crater Lake.

Here’s the first draft of our itinerary:

Atlanta, Georgia – 1 night

Savannah, Georgia – 3 nights

Nashville, Tennessee – 3 nights

New Orleans, Louisiana – 6 nights

Flagstaff, Arizona – 2 nights

Grand Canyon (South Rim), Arizona – 2 nights

Monument Valley, Arizona – 2 nights

Lake Powell & Glen Canyon, Utah – 2 nights

Zion National Park, Utah – 2 nights

Las Vegas, Nevada – 2 nights

Los Angeles, California – 8 nights

Pismo Beach, California – 1 night

Carmel, California – 3 nights

San Francisco, California – 9 nights

Yosemite, California – 3 nights

Sacramento, California – 1 night

Eureka, California – 1 night

Redwood National Park, California – 1 night

Crater Lake, Oregon – 2 nights

Portland, Oregon – 1 night

Seattle, Washington – 3 nights

Yellowstone, Wyoming – 5 nights

Chicago – 4 nights

Washington, DC – 3 nights

Boston, Massachusetts – 3 nights

Cape Cod, Massachusetts – 1 night

Hartford, Connecticut – 1 night

New York, New York – 14 nights