The Plan

Randy: Our Plan is to go around the country in a counter-clockwise direction. The map shows our general path. To figure out our path, we as a family each picked two places that we wanted to see and then we worked out a path that connected the dots. I'll let each of the family members explain what their choices were in their own posts.

My first place is Philadelphia -- To see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I've always been intrigued by early American History and while I've been to Boston and the Washington DC area on business and have seen all I want to see there, Philadelphia has never really been on the list of places I travel to, or am likely to travel to for work. So Philadelphia seemed like an obvious choice for me. As an added bonus, while we are in Philadelphia at the Franklin Institute one of Galileo's telescopes will be on display. (Here is a link to info on the exhibit). The reason that I see that as a bonus is that I'm a mathematician by training who works a scientific generalist as opposed to the specialists that most scientists are. So combining my love of history (especially origins of things) with my love of science and Galileo's telescope is a must see. (Thanks to Joanie for pointing out this exhibit to me.)

My second choice is Mount Rushmore. I'm intrigued by the idea of carving a mountain into a sculpture. It's not a place I'm likely to get to except by driving there, so it seemed like a good choice. We also like to visit National Parks as a family so this seemed like a good choice for the family too.