A new road trip plan (attn Jeff, Jenn, LarryK)

[sylvar]

(crossposted from email)

Jodi's faculty mentor suggested some other schools for us to see, and by dumb luck, they all fit into the same time slot we'd already planned for.

We're going to be staying with friends and CouchSurfing hosts as often as possible. If you have any suggestions about people who could let us sleep in their spare room, living room, garage, or even driveway, PLEASE tell me (reply to this post; if you want to reach me by email, vaxer@hotmail.com is best, as I can see that account from my phone).

Our itinerary:

Sat Sep 23: Chattanooga TN (we have a place to stay)
Sun Sep 24: Aurora IL (we'd planned to arrive the following day and have asked if we can arrive a day early)
Mon Sep 25: Madison WI (we don't have a place to stay)
Tue Sep 26: Kalamazoo MI (we'd planned to arrive the following day and have asked if we can arrive a day early)
Wed Sep 27: Ann Arbor MI (LarryK, can we stay with you?)
Thu Sep 28: Columbus OH (we don't have a place to stay)
Fri Sep 29 through Sat Oct 7: Pittsburgh PA (we have a place to stay, and I'll be in Salt Lake City for part of that)
Sun Oct 8: College Park, MD (we don't have a place to stay)
Mon Oct 9 and Tue Oct 10: Raleigh-Durham, NC (Jeff and Jenn, can we stay with you?)
Wed Oct 11 and Thu Oct 12: Atlanta, GA (Atlanta vaxers, can any of you put us up for two nights?)
Fri Oct 13: we finally come home.

There's more detail involved; we will visit, but not sleep in, East Lansing (Michigan State University) and Bowling Green, Ohio (BGSU).

Let me hear from you all! Any suggestions are great. Restaurants, areas of town to see, places where we can safely sleep, anything we should know, just reply to this post.

Thanks!
Ben

Comments

[sylvar.livejournal.com]

I'm figuring three or four hours, and the important part is going to the campus, seeing how accessible it is, and speaking with a professor and a few grad students -- all of which can definitely be done in two hours or so.

I know Ann Arbor as the home of Superpatron Ed Vielmetti and super-elected-official and Political Graveyard curator/programmer Larry Kestenbaum, which makes it a happy place for me. Why is it a happy place for you?

[loucheroo.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid you're overplanning. Maybe she can figure out which schools she'd be willing to cut from her schedule... JUST IN CASE it turns out to be too much.

I know that I'd have a nervous breakdown at even the thought of the trip you're planning

[sylvar.livejournal.com]

Well, if you feel like it, call Jodi's cell phone now and then to say hi and find out how we're doing. It would be nice to hear from friends!