"Not All Who Wander Are Lost"

My daughter gave me a t-shirt for Father's day with this saying on the front. Think it's an appropriate title for a discussion about the route. Choosing a walking route across the continent involves several considerations: time of year, preference in starting / ending locations, availability of resources, objective of the walk (sightseeing, etc.), participant's available time, cost, walking roads or off-road, etc.

About this walk: it'll start in Sept, and continue thru the winter months, so a more southernly route to avoid extreme cold would seem the better choice. There are no places and/or things that are "must sees" along the way. The walk will be on roads, not trails, so they have to be available and "walkable." In the far western states, this is a major consideration. Not many roads out there, not lots of supplies on the ones that are there, and walkers are prohibited from interstate highways in some states. Although time isn't a major consideration, 7 months is the goal for completing the walk (gotta get back and do the taxes! Is this deductable?) And, cost isn't a major consideration....I think the walk will cost about the same as living a more "normal" existance for 7 months.

My brother once told me that when choosing a route (before GPS and such as that), truck drivers would draw a straight line between the starting and ending points, and work from that. So, that's what I did......although the starting point has changed several times. Most likely the route will be a work in progress but, given the above considerations, the following route appears a reasonable "version 1.0." Total distance is approx. 2800 miles. Some (but not all) cities/towns along the route are (town / miles from starting point):

California: Dana Point/0, San Juan Capistrano/6, Lake Elsinore/38, Perris/50, Beaumont/74, Banning/80, Twentynine Palms/138

Arizona: Parker/248, Salome/304, Tonopah/357, Phoenix/415, Globe/500, Safford/578, Duncan/617

New Mexico: Lordsburg/653, Demming/713, Las Cruces/773, Alamogordo/841, Artesia/951, Hobbs/1029

Texas: Seminole/1059, Lamesa/1100, Snyder/1163, Anson/1224, Breckenridge/1285, Mineral Wells/1335, Ft Worth/1383, Dallas/1415, Longview/1550

Louisiana: Shreveport/1613, Monroe/1717

Mississippi: Vicksburg/1794, Jackson/1838, Meridian/1930

Alabama: Selma/2034, Montgomery/2084

Georgia: Columbus/2168, Macon/2261, Augusta/2376

South Carolina: Aiken/2396, Charleston/2520, Georgetown/2581

North Carolina: Emerald Isle/2777

The goal of walking across the continent is reached around Charleston, SC, a couple of weeks before the final destination. Assuming 400 miles per months, the calendar months will look like this:

Sept: Dana Point, CA to Phoenix, AZ

Oct: Phoenix, AZ to Alamogordo, NM

Nov: Alamogordo, NM to Anson, TX

Dec: Anson, TX to Shreveport, LA

Jan: Shreveport, LA to Selma, AL

Feb: Selma, AL to Aiken, SC

Mar: Aiken, SC to Emerald isle, NC