ArmyofOne

Man, that sucks. So sorry to hear man. If you need anything, dont hesitate to ask.

We use JAC trucks here in afghanistan, biggest piles of *BLEEP* EVER. The army buys them cause its cheaper to buy them in bulk than it is to rent them. Awful excuse for a truck.

This, Josh, is why you will be very successful in your career, and in life. You've clealy got your eye on the prize, and willing to make changes to keep going up that ladder. It's a real characteristic of success, especially in this ever-shrinking world. Some folks would look at these pending orders as another hassle to be in the military. Moving is tough business, right up there with the loss of a job, death in the family. You see it for the opportunity it can provide you. That, my friend, is huge! Thanks guys, I love change, I eat it for breakfast . Kidding, but I dont mind it if its for the better, I look at everything as an opportunity to better myself, and learn. I want to be in the 5%, not the 95%. We had to make some adjustments for our trip, it sucks, but such is life. The grand canyon, being so far out of the way is out of the question, will had 500+miles to the trip and thats just not kosher at 20mpg. We also had to reverse the route, because my sister-in-law's kids have to start school at the end of august so heres the proposed route: Fort Lewis (Tacoma) WA Yellowstone National Park (Stay overnight, then drive through park in the morning) Jackson WY (Grand Teton National Park) Lander WY (no stopping just a route guide on mapquest LOL) Denver CO (overnight stop) Clarksville TN (visit with friends for 2 days) Gatlinburg, TN (visit with wife's grandparents and possibly parents if they can come down from NY-I am NOT driving there too-for 3 days) Here is where it gets iffy, and planning is key which is why we are starting now. If meghan's sister can come to TN to visit us with her kids, then that saves us another 500 or so miles. If not, well...we are continuing to: Orlando, FL (for 6 days) Mobile AL (overnight to see my great grandfather, WWII vet, Landed on Omaha Beach) Lake Charles, LA (lunch stop with my great aunt) Fort Worth TX (9 days with my folks) Amarillo, TX (route guide) Grand Junction, CO Salt Lake City UT Fort Lewis (tacoma) WA

Yeah, well I called the rental company...they want $250 deposit (refundable) to take the car out of state, on top of the $600 cost for the rental, that means the total up-front costs come to 3/4 of the cost to drive my own, very comfortable road tripper. After talking it over with the wife, we decided to camp on the way down, ($10 a night beats $75), because campsites are ALWAYS pet friendly, and use the tax return or savings to buy new tires in spring of 2013. I know it might seem like tires are a relatively inexpensive proposition, as $700 or so is not alot of money nowadays, but when you are on a military salary, taking a 7500 mile trip at 20mpg and $75 a fill up requires careful financial planning every step of the way. And we may be scrapping the idea entirely, as it looks very much like I may be coming down on orders to move again VERY soon. Need prayers for that one as I am stagnant in the position I am in. There is nowhere to go but down unless I get a transfer.

I am going to end up circling the US very soon, by far (potentially) the longest road trip I have ever taken. I have an Uncle dying of liver cancer in Fort Worth TX, and my folks live there anyway. In August, I will have 30 days of leave. What kills the idea of just flying to Fort Worth is my wife's stepfather is also fighting cancer, in Tennessee, and her older sister and her kids live in Florida. Wife wants to see the grand canyon on the way down and Yellowstone on the way back if possible. Proposed driving route is: Seattle WA>Grand Canyon>Dallas/Fort Worth>Lake Charles LA (overnight stop to see extended fam)>Mobile AL (2-3 day stop to see my Great-Grandfather)>Orlando FL>Gaitlinburg TN>Clarksville TN>Yellowstone National Park>Seattle WA. I have to start saving now, if I dont want to dip into the retirement fund. I have only ever dipped into it once, to buy my ram...I dont want to start a trend. The soonest I can get to Texas (if we drive) is August 8th, due to leave constraints (I cant just leave whenever unless it is immediate family). August 4th if we fly. They gave my uncle a year to 18 months. Wife's stepfather is (thus far) not terminal. I have several choices for transportation, but I dont know which one to choose...wanna help me pick? In a roundabout way, all 4 choices are going to cost about the same...so here it is... Option 1: -Fly to Fort Worth TX, rent car for a week, then Fly to Orlando FL, Rent car for a week, then fly to Nashville TN, rent car for a week. Then back to Seattle. Total cost, Roughly $2000 US-We dont pay for hotels en route (stay with family at destinations), but we dont get to see sights on the way. We also dont see extended family, potentially making some people butt-hurt. Option 2: -Fly to Fort Worth, rent a car for 29 days, drive a big circle to see everyone and end up back in Fort Worth. Still costs about $2,000, we wont get to see any of the sights between WA and TX, but we wont put the miles on the truck. Option 3: -Drive the Ram the whole way. 7500 miles on it in one go (its already at 63,000). Gas and hotels/food/sightseeing comes to about $2,000. If you count the oil change right before I leave, and right when I get back its about $2100, plus any unforseen expenses. and finally, Option 4: -Rent a sub-compact car on the base in Tacoma for $500/unlimited mileage for 1 month. Put the 7500 miles on someone elses car, pay about $800 in fuel, and about $500 in food and hotels/sightseeing. Rounding out to about $1800. I am leaning towards option 4 because in my current situation (trying to pay off the last of CC debt before I get out of the military in the next year or 2), every penny counts. The only thing that is keeping me from pulling the trigger is...I absolutely LOVE driving my Ram on road trips...actually all the time. I dont know if its worth the $200 to suffer through driving 7500+ miles in a Chevy Aveo. My Ram is big, comfortable and has more than enough power to get out of its own way...but it doesnt get 40mpg either. Thoughts?

Sorry there are so many pix of my truck, but this is cross posted on RamforumZ.com and it took 5 hrs to upload and post...NOT doing it 2x lol...copy and paste FTW!

201 202 ^That is a black swan, a very rare bird from what I gather. 203 204 205 206 207 And lastly, when we left Joe's Crab Shack in Portland last night around 930pm, I looked down and saw this: Almost caught the rollover...damn. LOL.

191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200

181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 ^Heh, Its a Ram. :P 190

171 172 On the way home, we stopped at a place in Winston Oregon, called Wildlife Safari. It was pretty incredible. I will let the pix tell the story, but its basically a drive-thru exotic zoo. 173 174 175 These stupid Emu's were horrible. There was one that would not stop harassing people in their cars 176 177 178 ^He's comin for us... 179 180

The Journey Home-Southcentral Oregon: 169 170

161 162 163 164 ^The view of the Klamath Valley from 6,400 feet. 165 166 167 ^Fuel Economy on the way down the mountain :D 168 ^The view at the bottom :) 169 ^The ACTUAL average MPG of the truck on the hwy. :D 168

151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160

141 142 143 144 145 146 147 ^They had to clear 4 feet of overnight fresh snow and 6 avalanche's from the road to the summit. 148 149 150

131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 Crater Lake gets ALOT of snow every year...its early in the snow season yet and they already have 12+feet at the summit (~6500ft).

121 122 123 124 125 126 127 Crater Lake National Park-Oregon: 128 129 130 ^These 3 pix were taken on the way to Crater Lake from Klamath Falls, Oregon.

111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 ^That is an ACTUAL volcano's insides....creepy huh? 119 120

101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110

91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

81 82 83 84 85 The Lava Beds National Park, Tulelake, CA: 86 87 88 89 90

Klamath National Wildlife Refuge--Klamath Falls, OR 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

61 62 63 This next set of pix were taken at a small tourist trap called "Tour Thru Tree. You pay $5 and drive your vehicle through a redwood tree. Its very harrowing in a vehicle the size of the Ram. Of course, I had to have a go :D : 64 65 66 67 68 69 ^What? I was good...I had a half an inch on each side :D . 70 ^Mt. Shasta

51 52 53 54 Scenery between Fortuna, CA and Redding, CA: 55 56 57 58 59 60 ^Marv wanted some Dr. Pepper from Subway.

41 42 43 44 45 46 ^Your's Truly...Even though I dont drive a Hybrid, I can still be a tree hugger. LOL. 47 48 49 ^Me and the mutt. Marv picked up 3 ticks in the woods that day. Luckily I found and extracted them before they bit. 50

31 32 33 34 The Redwood Forest 35 36 37 38 39 40