Yup. I’m feeling really nervous about driving hundreds of miles for hours a day through bear-infested wilderness with two dogs that hardly know me.

People usually plan these sorts of trips months in advance, and here I am, just agreeing to this crazy idea without any kind of planning or forethought whatsoever, other than, “I wonder how far I can drive in one day before falling asleep and being eaten by a moose”.

And talking to people that have already driven it, or something very similar, doesn’t really help at all. For example:

“Some of the roads are just loose gravel, so watch out for your windshield and don’t slide off the road”.

“Watch out for animals, like bison, crossing the road. You’re going to need to be able stop quickly if one jumps out in front of you”.

“Always fill up at every gas station, because sometimes the next gas station might be closed if the owner has decided to go fishing for the day instead”.

I think we need to make a proper plan and figure out what we need to take, how far we can realistically drive each day (and still have a little time left over to stop and smell the roses), and at least organize some rest stops for the nights.

That said, just booking hotels and whatnot is going to be challenging enough, given that we need to find vacant (dog friendly) rooms in the middle of summer with about a weeks notice, and not so far apart or too close together that we end up with a 20 hour drive to the next one. Oh, and a vegan-friendly restaurant in the middle of all this would be great.

I’m going to start with this list of essentials I found and then book some hotels and hopefully that should alleviate some worry…