The lightweight blogging plan

In an attempt to not get too bogged down with technology on our trip and save money on mobile broadband fees, I figured out how to manage our blog on our 3G-equipped iPad. We don't have a smartphone, and don't anticipate getting one anytime soon. The cumulative cost seems prohibitive and unnecessary.

We'll be taking photos with both our Panasonic Lumix camera and on occasion the iPad as well. The handy iPad camera connection kit allows us to import photos to iPad, and we'll be using the Blogger app to write blog posts. The app is somewhat primitive, but it should do the trick. It's an iPhone app, but I also have an app called BlogPress that I'll experiment with. Maybe it will give us more formatting options, but either way we have all the tools necessary.

(11/25/12 Note: Ultimately we chose instead to buy a Verizon hot spot, which allowed us to have wireless Internet access all devices, including a laptop, the iPads and the boys' iPods. This was an excellent solution, even though there were lots of locations in National Parks where 3G access was spotty at best. Blogging is so much faster and easier on a laptop than an iPad.)

iPod touch

I am posting this using my iPod touch!

Cant wait!

I am really happy about our trip! No Primitive Pursuits though.

We have an itinerary!

This summer can't come soon enough! After several years of scheming and planning, we are closing in on our great summer western camping and hiking adventure. The boys are old enough to really appreciate the experience, and they are capable and strong hikers. Gail and I have been are fortunate enough to be educators, so we have the entire summer to explore some of the great destinations in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. We leave on July 3rd and return on August 11th if all goes according to plan.

We have been puzzling over our possible destinations for weeks now, and we have made some tough choices that I think were for the best. Rather than take on too much, we decided to spend more days at fewer locations. It's shocking, yes, but we will not be visiting the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, or any of California for that matter. Instead, we will be exploring the Rockies almost exclusively, though we will also be visiting such spectacular places as Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park and Zion. Here's our itinerary, subject to change:

1. Joliet, IL (long drive and motel)
2. middle Nebraska (another long drive and motel stay)
3. Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
4. Arches National Park, UT
5. Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
6. Day trips to Zion National Park, UT
7. Wasatch State Park, UT
8. Tetons National Park, UT
9. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
10. Helena, MT
11. Glacier National Park, MT
12. Billings, MT
13. Rapid City, SD
14. Badlands National Park, SD
15. Rochester, MN
16. South Bend, IN
17. Home

It's unlikely that we will change the route too much or add on more destinations, but we appreciate all suggestions!

This trip will be a great learning opportunity for us all, and we will be blogging along the way. 

(11/25/12 Note: This itinerary changed substantially. Most notably we added the Black Hills and skipped Zion and Wasatch State Park in Utah. We cut our trip short by about one week and learned that spending more time at fewer parks was a better option for us.)