Did you hear the one about my Vegas trip?

I had all of these Aloha miles to use, so I said to Brad, "Let's go to Vegas." But not thinking ahead (which I'd like to think is uncommon for me), I requested a really long vacation and ordered tickets returning here 3 weeks and 3 days after we leave.

Holy crap! I can't afford to stay in Vegas for 3 weeks! What was I thinking?

I thought to myself, "Well, maybe we'll do a revised version of the big road trip that was planned last summer." But starting from Vegas ... that was going to be a lot of driving.

Brad and I discussed it. What did we want to do? Where would we go for 3 weeks? Brad's only request was Chicago — to see Wrigley Field. That's fair. The boy loves baseball. And whether he admits it or not, he's on a mission to visit every major league baseball stadium in North America.

So the problem becomes: 1. How do we get to Chicago? Amtrak? No that'll take like 3 days. Drive? Ugh, I don't want to drive that far. 2. What are we going to do on the Mainland for 3 weeks?

Last night it occurred to me — we're not paying for the tickets from here to Vegas, we could afford to fly to Chicago ... and maybe somewhere else. I asked Brad, "If you could spend a week anywhere in the continental U.S., where would it be?" I was really surprised (but probably shouldn't have been, considering we share a brain) when his answer was exactly what I'd been thinking — Wilmington, N.C. That's where we went on our honeymoon.

So I've spent most of today trying to figure out the logistics of the whole thing, and think I've got it. The trip will involve planes, trains and automobiles; 3 time zones; six different cities; 2 baseball stadiums (maybe 3); one rockin' car show; the fam and the sister (assuming they'll have us).