Proposed Route

Here's a strawman schedule and route. The schedule is pretty rigid as laid out, but it's really just intended as a framework. En route, we can decide to switch things up. I've built some buffer times in here and there, if you look carefully. Most notably, a couple of mornings have generous allowances for sleeping in.

The main downside is that I can't seem to shake the one drive-through-the-night to start things off. The issue is that the distances between Mountain View, The Dalles and Yellowstone tend to be about 24h (when you count driving, sleeping and dinner). So it's pretty hard to keep things during business hours in Mountain View, The Dalles and Yellowstone ... unless we left super early on Wednesday.

• Leave Google Mountain View Campus at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday with the intention of driving through the night. We pick up the rentals just before close, and then come back to Mountain View to load up and have dinner.
• Arrive The Dalles at about 10 a.m. on Thursday. (12h18m driving) We'll take three hours for a tour. On the road by 1 p.m.
• Arrive Yellowstone at about 1 p.m. on Friday. (12h15m driving, 10h stopped for the night, 1h45 for a sit down dinner). We can spent a couple of hours here, and then on the road by 3 p.m.
• We'll sleep at Devil's Tower National Monument (or close to it), and stay long enough in the morning for a climb or two for those that are interested. It takes 7h35m to get from Yellowstone to Devil's Tower. On the road around 11 a.m. on Saturday.
• Pick up Jinnah at the airport in Rapid City, South Dakota. We'll be there a little after 1 p.m.
• Drive to Mount Rushmore. We'll get there around 3 p.m. Spend a couple of hours chilling out. On the road by 5 p.m.
• Arrive at the Corn Palace and sleep around there. Maybe grab dinner in downtown Mitchell. (ha!) Check it out in the morning. Buy the requisite keychain. On the road by 11 a.m. or so.
• Arrive at Nathan Naze's parents' place for dinner. About 7 p.m. or so. This is now Sunday. We can either pick them and take them somewhere, or make it a potluck. :) On the road again by around 9 p.m. This is possible Will Robinson Pick Up Spot #1.
• Drive (11h33m) and sleep (10h) on the way, and arrive at Annie's Place in Ann Arbor around 6:30 p.m. or so. Take her out to dinner if she's willing. This is Monday night. On the road by 8:30 p.m. This is possible Will Robinson Pick Up Spot #2.
• Drive on to Linden, NJ (this is El Monte's nearest location (assuming we go with them again)). This is about 11h of driving, plus maybe another 10h to crash out. Arrive at RV drop off place around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
• We need some kind of pick up from here to Manhattan. The drive is about 40 minutes.