I find it hard to believe it has been over a year since we have taken a vacation. My husband and I both travel a lot for work which sort of seems like we have gotten away a good bit however no matter how fun or exciting our trips have been they are all still work trips. This year we struggled with what type of vacation we should take… original plans included Greece but we decided to put that off for a year or two. Our traditional vacations have been the all inclusive type where we just lay on the beach and RELAX! We have been to Riviera Maya, Punta Cana and Jamaica. This year we finally decided to try something a little different….ROADTRIP!!!! I have to admit when we chose this adventure I did not anticipate how much work and cost would go into a trip like this. When you book an all inclusive it is so easy…everything, and I mean everything, is included and paid for up front… flights, transfers, hotel, meals, drinks…DRINKS!!! Now we are booking our own flights (luckily we have some points), hotels… (looking for hotels that offer complimentary breakfasts to help save money on meals so we can have nice dinners), a rental car… ouch! (this one is going to be expensive!), gas, road snacks, activities, park fees, parking….and lets not forget… which I’m so afraid to ask but a shopping budget.
All that being said, we have done a pretty good job setting a reasonable budget and planning to utilize resources like travel points, flight vouchers, credit card points and hotels with extra benefits (gym, pool and breakfast included). Road trip means hours on the road which means road tunes are totally necessary!!!! Aging ourselves a bit here, but we have hundreds of CD’s between the two of us and plan to narrow our selection to 70 CD’s that we will download for our trip. In addition to all the new preparations for a road trip there is the packing! This trip is an adventure trip and we are going to be extremely active with hiking, climbing, canoeing/kayaking, hopefully fishing and possibly horseback riding. I need to make sure I have plenty of athletic wear, sunscreen and bug spray! We also need to have backpack full of all the hiking essentials…first aid kit, flash light, whistle/loud noise maker, snacks, water, rope, knife and a few other things just in case. Packing will be drastically different than others with a few swimsuits, flips flops, cover-ups and sundresses!
So here it is! Our plan… multiple adventure filled days together just the two of us enjoying some of the most magnificent sights in the United States. We are leaving our schedules open which is not normal for me… I AM A PLANNER… but we want the freedom and flexibilty to explore as we like but looking to definitely see Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone.
I have slowly been working on accumulating my athletic wear for this trip. Side note about me: I do own athletic wear because I run everyday BUT none of my workout clothes match! So I of course I am using our trip as an excuse to add of few new pieces to my collection. I just did a little damage at underarmour.com
While searching for gear on Under Armour’s website I came across some Americana items which I knew would be perfect for Mount Rushmore!!! Turns out that all the Americana products are part of a collection called UA Freedom which supports First Responders. I chose the EAGLE TANK and SHIRT for my husband and I to wear when we visit Mount Rushmore…I know my husband will love it (insert devilish smile).
When I say we are hiking we are most likely looking at hiking 10-20 miles a day!!!!! I need to make sure of two things 1) of course that the workout wear is cute but also that 2) I am cool and comfortable. I read a lot of the reviews and ordered the below.
