Join Gerry Barnes and his merry band of intrepid, budget- conscious travelers as they visit the great outdoors (and some great indoors) within driving distance of Los Angeles, California.

Part One. Planning the Great Western Trek of 2008

- by Gerry Barnes

Like many travel writers, I’m a strong believer in vacation itineraries. Detailed ones. Ask anyone who has ever sat in a damp log cabin in some woodsy resort, swatting mosquitoes, scratching poison oak, and gazing out at the umpteenth beautiful sunset over Lake Monotony whilst counting the minutes before he/she can go the hell home – and you will understand the need for a well thought-out game plan.

Generally, my vacation itineraries run five or six pages in length. They include flight plans; tips on what to pack; general travel suggestions; a listing of all accommodations with phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, check-in and check-out times, and (always) the name of a reliable contact person; a list of interesting places to see, good places to avoid, and inexpensive places to eat; bus, train and ferry schedules; up-to-date currency exchange rates and the address and phone number of the nearest Forex Office.

Of course, it can be a time-consuming pain-in-the-bum to compile such an itinerary. But the consequences of not having such a document can be quite disastrous, especially when traveling overseas.

And yet … I do keep in mind that an itinerary is a map, not a journey. It can be deviated from at will (and, ideally, by mutual consent) whenever there are good reasons to do so.

This year, there were several good reasons to do so.

For one thing, I was traveling with close companions (photographer Mark May, counselor Miles Bonner, and their 14-year-old sons, Nathan and Miles IV). Having known each other for nearly three decades now, we are all quite accustomed to various faults and foibles and well able to survive being thrown together for a week of activities that are only loosely structured.

In addition, we were traveling to places that most of us had previously visited – Angeles National Forest, Yosemite National Park, and Lake Tahoe. Tired to death of the endless driving of years past, wary of current gasoline prices, and anxious to keep vacation costs to a minimum, we settled on destinations that were only hours – not days – away from Los Angeles.

And it all turned out beautifully. Even when gettingoutside.com editor Don Neske added a final destination to my writing assignment, it ended up the best part of our 7-day sojourn.

Because so much was accomplished and so much fun was compacted into our too-short idyll, it seems a bit prosaic to merely list who did what when and where. Instead, I have opted to list – in ascending order - the Top 10 Highlights of the Great Western Trek of 2008.