Lessons

We've enjoyed all three of our long road trips, but we realized that one of the pleasant things about the first one, to Santa Fe, was that we took a full two weeks and were able to stay in one place -- Jamie Morris's lovely casita -- for nearly a full week. That was a bit further, of course, so the respite was perhaps more necessary. We would gladly have spent another day or two at the Speckled Hen and in Madison -- especially since the weather cooled off for a couple of days -- and definitely would have liked to stay at our pretty resort hotel in Door County for a longer period.

In general, while dual line highways are great for making time and getting from place to place, a trip is more enjoyable if you can spend more time on smaller roads. The operative phrase is "more time."

We got very little use from the large cooler we lugged around. We only needed to keep the two cans for feeding Ziggy, some limes for our gin and tonics, and the little bit of cheese and sausage we carried along. Our gray cooler bag, which we also had in the car, would have been amply sufficient for the purpose. So that's what we'll try next time.

Otherwise, everything functioned pretty well. Our system for packing and unpacking the car was quite efficient, and the luggage racks available most everywhere made it a breeze. There may be a way to pack so that we can take just one or two bags in on a quick overnight stop, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Can't wait for the next one!