We were actually planning to get a GoPro camera & do kind of a documentary of our journey. Not the whole trip (come watch my home videos... for 3-4 days), just interesting parts. This is the longest road trip we have ever done so it is going to a grand adventure & the maiden voyage of our new-to-us M35A2. I'm planning to bring my laptop or at least my phone for uploading images to the site as we go.
The trip is from Bloomington, Indiana, passing through Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, & Flagstaff, AZ. I had planned a more backwoods route (save about 40-miles), but most people on here said the main roads were a smarter choice (just in case).
Travel time allotted is pickup 9 May & arrive NLT (with The Lord's help) 13 May. I was hoping to make the trip in 3-days, but members here suggest that may be too aggressive a timeline. However, I always try to over plan so hopefully I'll be back home in time to not get fired from work.
The GOPRO camera is a great idea. It will record everything which could come in handy in case you are involved in a 'road incident' and I'm not saying you will but it's always better to be safe than sorry. Plus you can make a copy from it's SD memory card every night onto your laptop, giving you more space for the trip OR you can use multiple memory cards for the trip. Hard memory is cheap.
Plus my memory has taken on the consistency of swiss chesse when I try to replay said memories in my mind sometimes.
Your cell phone (smart phone?) is ok for a short recording of a given planned video. But taking your laptop along for the ride means you can write it all down each night and copy the videos every night onto the laptop. That means you can recall specifics ten year down the road.
I own the Road Master 2005 LARGE PRINT ROAD ATLAS - it cost me $20 - 11 years ago when I made my trip in my M1028A2 dually all those years ago. From Scranton, PA to Denver, Co. It was made for truckers with ALL the stops for big rigs.
And I too considered the 'back woods' roads, mainly because you CAN go slower. BUT with all the 'help' in the form of repair shops and big rig shops along the main interstate systems, it just made more sense to use the interstates.
PLUS you have an opportunity to see other people (ARMY for instance) that will use the interstate to transport people, vehicles, etc that you won't see on the back roads. One fuel stop I pulled into a fuel station and low and behold, there were three or four Humvees and several larger trucks (M1079's and a couple of the Hemmets).
So not a negative in my book.
Plan your trip so it either starts on a Saturday or ends on a Sunday, that ADDS two days to your possible trip, padding your time by 48 hours, just in case.