Epic Summer Road Trip 2019: Stage 3 - Planning (Where the heck are we going?!)

Ah, the route.  By far the hardest part of planning for me as the options are almost limitless.  I tried to put parameters around the route.
1.  We were going as far east as Boston to visit my childhood friend Ben Otis and his family.  We had the pleasure of hosting Ben and Kristen last summer on their road trip and they generously offered to "host us at any time!"  Also, by swinging through New England I could entice Wendy to fly out to meet us since she spent a few years living in New Hampshire as a kid.  Fun Fact:  I actually visited Wendy's childhood home as kid!  For those of you who don't know, Wendy's mom (Carol) and my mom (Ann) were sorority sisters at Grove City College in western Pennsylvania.  A group of the sisters used to get together with their families on an annual basis and go camping or visit each other's houses.  The get-togethers started to dwindle when the kids (Wendy and I included) were teenagers, but the sisters picked up their reunions again after kids had moved out and retirement became a regular thing.
2. I wanted to expose the kids to the deep south as I feel like there are some truly different cultures, dialects, and customs down there that the kids have never been exposed to except for TV.  It's a fascinating part of the country with a rich history.  I spent a brief time down there in 1999 on my way to Seattle from NY.  Yes, it was about a 2 month detour trip, but totally worth it.  I remember buying a Canon AE1 (old-school film camera) from a pawn shop in Biloxi, MS; staying in a hostel in New Orleans and staying up to see an amazing show at the House of Blues; and driving through rural Texas where the courtesy for passing someone on a two lane highway is for person being passed to drive on the shoulder.
3. Washington DC was a must.  Olivia took an honors Social Studies class this year and learned about state and federal government.  I want to show her some of the landmarks as well as explain some of the deficiencies in today's federal government.
4.  We would try and keep along the I-90 route heading westbound.  My parents have traveled that route quite a bit and know of some interesting places to see and stay.  I wanted to hit up friends along the way, but I knew that the way back would be a longer haul and we would start to get road-weary.

Ultimately here is the route that we're going to take.

How I Planned the Route:
I set a few ground rules for myself before opening Google Maps such as:

• Try not to drive more than 5 hours in one day.  If there was going to be a long day of driving, make sure we spent at least two nights in the next location to get out of the truck and rest. 
• Reserve camping locations as much as possible.  I know that I'm potentially putting myself at risk if something goes wrong and I get off schedule, but finding camping spots last minute now-a-days is getting harder and harder.  The last thing I want to do is get to the late afternoon after driving all day and jumping from campground to campground looking for an open site.  Even the RV parks fill up and if there isn't anyone managing the office at an RV park, that means you can't get access to the bathrooms since they typically have a pass code on the bathroom doors.  
• Find camp grounds that have a pool or close to a body of water.  The kids love to go swimming and nothing feels better after a long day of driving than having a dip in a pool.  I have historically poo-pooed KOA's since they're more expensive and a glorified RV park, but they typically have a pool, electric & water hook-ups, and laundry services.  When we're driving in the hotter states, I'm looking forward to cranking up the AC in the camper for cool sleeping.
• I let Google Maps be my guide.  There were plenty of times where I looked at the map and thought, "Where the hell do I go from here?!"  If I started thinking about the general direction that I wanted to take, I would find a location roughly 4-5 hours away and then ask Google what camping was in the area.  Google would pop up a bunch of different campgrounds and I would do the research from there.  So, how did I ultimately find my route?  A little bit of fate, a little bit of decision making based on scenarios for that day, and a little bit of saying, "Huh, that might be cool."
• The next step will be to fill in the blanks between sleeping locations.  I don't want to plan too much during the day due to time constraints, but I also want fate to determine what we see and do in any given day.  Not sure if that will work out, but it's worth a try.