What’s it take to make a good trip plan? There are a lot of different answers to that question. Some people say that “no plan” is the right answer. I’ve spent one too many nights scrambling to find a place to sleep to be comfortable with the “no plan” approach. I thought I would spend a few paragraphs sharing how we go about planning an adventure. If you happen to be a “no plan” (NP) person, you probably should quit reading now.

Step 1 is to choose a destination. That was an easy choice this time. The Flight 93 Memorial is something I’ve wanted to experience for quite some time. Mrs. Henry wanted a motorcycle trip. See how easily a plan starts – a motorcycle trip to Pennsylvania is needed.

Find out if our son and daughter in law are going – that was quickly answered. They are ready and willing. Unfortunately some circumstances exist that prevent them from riding. So the plan is for us to ride and for them to drive a vehicle (might be theirs or ours). Now the actual planning process can begin. My son is a great planner so the first thing I need to do is to schedule a breakfast with him for some deep discussion (pancakes? bacon? biscuits?). That was accomplished in short order – the local Cracker Barrel put us on the right path.

The brain-trust at the planning meeting.

There are some tools that are needed based on the way we do things. We use MyRouteApp to plan the actual turn-by-turn. Add to that a website called RoadSideAmerica.com. (It’s a list of unusual attractions.) Add AtlasObscura.com and you have all the software you need. Add a fun-loving son and a spirit of adventure and the plan just falls into place.

We put pins or “waypoints” on the map then just connect the pins. If you hook them together in sequence, you get a nice smooth route to follow. If the pins are out of order or not perfectly placed on the software highway, the results are not good. Nobody wants to drive a path that looks like a bowl of spaghetti.

The first day plan looked like this. Somehow, we missed putting a pin on the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio. OK – the plan isn’t perfect. Speaking of not perfect, rain is forecast for the entire week so I ended up packing all of our stuff into the pickup truck. At least I won’t have to worry about putting on the rubber suit that would be required on a two wheeled excursion.

I might have missed the putting the pin on the Air Force Museum but we made it there. If you love aircraft or just anything that represents the best brains of the United States, plan to visit this place. I’m just going to put some pictures in this blog but you really need to see this place (and it’s free).

We ended up spending 3 and a half hours in awe of some fine aircraft and pieces of history. By the end of that time, this old man was worn out and it was time to find the hotel.

How did our actual route compare to the plan? I’ll let you decide. For me it was a success on so many levels including the fact that Applebee’s was right next door to the hotel plus the hotel had cookies at the front desk. The best part – making memories with my family.

The actual path for today.