idea: a Great Loop in 2021-2022

Here I borrow the term Great Loop from sailing; it describes a circuit up the eastern seabord and back down the Mississippi River.

I prefer the desert Southwest and my budget precludes driving much, but there are things I want to see on the eastern side of the US. My plan is to make a “One and Done” loop to hit as many bucket list items as possible in one year.

I actually had planned to do it this year but The Plague intervened. I judged the museums I wanted to visit might be closed, and that assessment was largely borne out .

There are two factors:

1. the geographical arrangement of the places/things I want to see
2. average climate patterns

working draft

This is my first draft of the Great Loop by month with bucket list items in bold.
I used a map and historical climate data to come up with the general route. Obviously weather patterns and Life will intervene to push the schedule around.

• Aug 2021 - Leadville and other high-elevation camping in CO
• Sep 2021 - Albuquerque area. Boondockin @ Santa Fe and stealthing in ABQ.
• Oct 2021 - stealthing in El Paso, package pickup at forwarder. Trinity site visit on Oct 2?
• Nov 2021 - NE Texas to visit family, welding van floor pan
• Dec 2021 - transit across gulf coast
• Jan 2022 - FL, Florida Keys
• Feb 2022 - Sparta NC Dr. Grabow factory, DC Smithsonian, Monticello, Greenbrier bunker
• Mar 2022 - PA for fallingwater, Muetter Museum. NY for Niagara Falls?
• Apr 2022 - OH for Air Force museum
• May 2022 - WS, MN for museum of questionable medical devices
• Jun 2022 - Dakotas?
• Jul 2022 - Dakotas?
• Aug 2022 - Montana?
• Sep 2022 - yellowstone

At this point we are back to the usual snowbirding pattern

• Oct 2022 - Salt Lake City area, stealthing and Tabernacle visit.
• Nov 2022 - boondocking southern UT, st George, hurricane
• Dec 2022 - Lake Havasu AZ area
• Jan 2023 - q, yuma

remembrance

As I wrote this I realized it’s been two years to the day since a white nationalist extremist drove to El Paso and started shooting in that friendliest of cities. He murdered 23 and injured another 23.

The Star on the Mountain in ELP will be flashed tonight 23 times for the dead.

Note to the State of Texas: I am a peaceful man, but I will make myself available to push the plunger if you ever convict him.

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