We left McLean, Va., with a stop in Manassas, Va., on January 8, aiming to get to Sedona, Ariz. by January 24.

Stops along the way were: Chattanooga, Tenn.; New Orleans, La.; Houston, Texas; Big Bend National Park, Texas; Terlingua, Texas; El Paso, Texas; White Sands National Park, N.M.; Tucson, Ariz.; Tombstone, Ariz.; and finally, Sedona, Ariz.

After that, we took seven vacation days and, combined with weekends, spent 11 days on this route: Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz.; Mojave National Preserve, Calif.; Joshua Tree National Park, Calif.; Palm Springs, Calif.; Malibu, Calif.; Death Valley National Park, Calif.; Tonopah, Nev.; Rachel, Nev.; and Moab, Utah. We stopped in Durango, Colo. for our next workweek.

By April we had two destinations in mind with dates attached to them: the Kentucky Derby on May 1 and meeting up with my family at the beach later in May. There was a little bit of a wrinkle in our planning when the car developed an issue. We found the nearest dealership in Sante Fe, N.M., and stopped there for our work week. Next up was Carlsbad, N.M., a quick stop in Dallas, Texas, then Hot Springs, Ark., Memphis, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., and Louisville, Ky. for Derby. Our final leg was Lexington, Ky., Oak Ridge, Tenn., Asheville N.C., Sugar Mountain, N.C., and finally, the family beach trip in Corolla, N.C. We arrived to Corolla on May 15.