Planning a trip, especially one with many miles, is a marathon requiring a back up array of books, maps, iPhone apps, internet accumulation of pdfs, maps, images. I am the planner/navigator and DH is the driver/mechanic. Maps include Benchmark Road and Recreation Atlas of each state plus their fold out maps of each state, NFS maps of forest land, National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps of national parks, monuments, recreation areas, AAA maps of the US West and Indian Country for an overview and to put our distances in perspective, etc. Books specific to our interests are the excellent series by Laurent Martres on photographing the US West, rockhounding guides for individual states, backroad guides for regions of different western states, Moon guides for camping and some books on specific areas like the Eastern Sierras, Eastern Oregon, ghost towns, etc. I bring the books/maps where we plan to go plus the iPhone, Garmin GPS and my 13" Mac laptop. Quite an arsenal. We also stop at Visitor centers, USFS/BLM offices for more specific info on road conditions. I also call up before we go to ask the rangers where they enjoy hiking, photo/rocks sites, any other special places. We make no reservations and I check out places to boon dock.
That said, we aren't averse to following a road that wasn't planned. Or, exploring a place longer than planned. Be aware that mechanical issues can alter your plans significantly. We left our home on September 11. Part of of the way into our trip enroute to the major destination of Yellowstone/Tetons, the motor on our pop up mechanism failed. We had to scoot over to north of Denver from south of Burns, OR as it was under warranty. We missed the fall color in the Tetons so headed over to the Eastern Sierras where the aspens were golden and the weather and lakes were gorgeous. It was also during the shutdown so we did lots of boon docking. Our detour brought us to some amazing places that we would not have gone to otherwise. Just be open to the possibilities and be cool with what come syour way. Happy trails.
