The day has finally arrived! We’re flying off to Seattle this afternoon to begin our seven-state, two-and-a-half-week journey back to Chicago by car. We first imagined this trip about a year and a half ago and first posted a proposed map in April 2012. It’s hard to imagine how long we’ve actually been planning this, so I’ve put together a little timeline of when we booked our major items like lodging, flight and rental car. We’ve even been able to make some other reservations along the route, like dinner at a James Beard-nominated restaurant in Fargo, North Dakota (thanks Opentable). Our best road trip advice is to always plan ahead and I think we’ve got that covered. Now we just need to watch out for grizzly bears.

Timeline of our trip planning. Click for larger view.