Who’s ready for a map session?

That’s the typical conversation starter when we begin our process for trip planning, and not everyone on the team gets fired up about poring over the atlas. (We’re looking at you, LK!)

Leslie’s take: I own my aversion to paper maps, which Johnny loves. It probably has something to do with my readers not functioning very well… since I sat on them. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the research that goes into figuring out where we’re going to go, how long we’re going to stay, what we’ll do while we’re there.

We’ve learned a lot in five-plus years on the road. We try to stay in destinations longer, with only a few one-and-done stays on the way.

We’ve also learned the value of being flexible. Pivot power, baby! Keeps the adrenaline rushing. For instance, we had planned on starting our fall journey with a trip north of the border, hitting up beautiful Banff National Park. But a horrible fire season has changed that plan, and we’re heading south instead.

Something old, something new: We love returning to old faves – Taos, Sedona and San Elijo State Park in Encinitas, Calif. – are among the true blue destinations we’re going back to this year. But we also like to mix it up and explore new territory. That means we’re beginning our road trip by going way out of our way to check out Great Basin National Park, Nevada’s lone NP.

So, what route should we take to kick off the sixth season of Going Mobile? Let’s let John explain the sound reasoning behind the first leg of the journey:  

John’s take: When in doubt, head to a national park. That’s my motto.

So we’re heading to Crater Lake National Park in late September, someplace Leslie has never seen. From there, we book it through northern Nevada to Great Basin National Park, a new one for both of us, and then onto Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, a spot we first hit in 2021 that we’d like to see again.

After that, it’s a mixture of something old, something new.

We will check out two national monuments we’ve never seen in southern Utah: Natural Bridges and Bears Ears. We’ll return to southern Colorado and explore the Cortez area, hang out in the San Juan Mountains for a while, and then travel south to re-acquaint ourselves with some favorite locations in New Mexico and Arizona.

Along the way, we’ve left enough wiggle room in the schedule to explore new-to-us places, change our route, or settle down and stay if we want to.

By the time December rolls around, we’ll be in Southern California, enjoying the desert and coast. From experience, we know that the holiday season is particularly important to have dialed in, so we’ve already booked our time in Encinitas.

The first of the year will bring us to Palm Springs, a go-to hangout of a certain pink-haired member of the Going Mobile team. Heck, she’s already dreaming about another Palm Springs International Film Festival.

With our mix of national parks, state parks, and a few commercial parks, we’ve got a solid plan. Let the journey begin!

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