We successfully avoided winter by hunkering down in California. It has been an interesting six months but it is time to think about making the trek back east. Our tenants have decided to not renew their lease, so we need to decide what to do with the house. I need to check in with the office and see how they feel about letting me continue to work remotely. And we need to renew ties with those friends and relatives who weren’t lucky enough to visit us in our sunny lair.
But the trip east is going to look nothing like the trip west. I am not asking for a 3-month leave of absence and in fact am going to keep working while we travel. That means we will travel only on weekends; during the week I need to find a good internet connection and try to be as productive as I would be if I were in my office in Temecula. The strategy I am going to try is this: rent cheap hotel rooms that provide good (and free) internet service. This is possible because in most of the country – unlike Massachusetts – it is possible to rent a room for under $50 per night. In fact I will rent a room just four days in the week, which will give me internet access from noon Monday to noon Friday, more or less. The rest of the time I will rely on my trusty Verizon JetPack – a 4G hotspot. If Verizon cell service is good in the RV park, then I can use that for a few hours. The problem with the JetPack is that it is on a data plan, so I have to be careful how much I use it and what I use it for.
I will also try to book RV parks that have good free WiFi, which gives me a third option. One way or another, I think I can get my job done.
But we can’t dawdle. We need to make it from coast-to-coast as quickly as possible, given that we are towing a 15,000-pound trailer. In my estimation, this means that we are limited to about 300 miles per day. As the trip is nearly 3,600 miles, that means 12 travel days. Six weekends for the QTE (compared to 13 weeks for the GTW). We will leave on June 8 and will arrive in MA on July 14. This is, for a large RV, a quick trip.
Here is the route I have chosen:
QTE route
The places where we will stop for the week:
- Williams, AZ
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Branson, MO
- Lexington, KY
- Alexandria, VA
I will rent hotel rooms in Oklahoma City, Branson and Lexington. I will work out of Jett’s son’s house in Alexandria. I will try to make do with the JetPack in Williams. Rooms are relatively expensive in Williams, but if the JetPack doesn’t cut it, I will get one.
There won’t be much time for sightseeing on the QTE, so don’t expect as many photos or even frequent posts during the QTE. I will probably be pretty tired most of the time.
But the thought of seeing you all will energize me.
Maybe I will get to play some softball, too.