“In the cold of winter, head south.”

This was Beth’s advice to me when I first talked to her about a trip in January. Why I didn’t think of it I don’t know but perhaps after so many years of being married to this smart woman I’ve ceded part of my brain to her. It was excellent advice and it became the primary trajectory of this road trip. South it would be!

National Parks and their variants would again be my priority as I headed west. Next I needed a turn-around point and what could be better than San Francisco? Coming back would be a mixed bag where again Route 66 would loom large. Along the way I’d mix in a few special detours like visiting my brother, checking out Lake Tahoe for the first time, and stopping to visit a college roommate. It was a packed agenda but traveling solo I knew I could push myself and still have fun.

My trip started on January 2, 2008 and I was back home by January 23. You can read about and see pictures of my trip at the links at the top of the page. The blog is a diary of the trip and the pictures are grouped by category. I had plans to regularly produce video podcasts but I quickly found it was too ambitious and they petered-out early in the trip. 0:-)

To read my blog in chronological order start here and click “Next” at bottom.

Thanks for visiting the site of my Desert Southwest adventure!