On Tuesday in the BBlog I posted an idea for a "random road trip" and asked people for their suggestions. First my post reprinted...
And here are some of the suggestions I've received...
From: Michael
Date: Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Subject: Random road trip
To: briggsb@bbspot.com
We do this too. We try to find a weekend in October when it’s nice and warm (Indian summer to you, a fellow upper Midwesterner). We load the dog in the convertible and just take off. We hit farm stands and craft fairs for whatever we can find – apples, honey, a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, squash, crafts and just drive at random.
It’s fun to be driving along and see a hand lettered sign that says “Honey, 2 miles on the right” and some guy has his own local stuff. A welcome change from the mass produced stuff we get so often. Usually we pick a general direction like North or West but it’s just a guide. We have a gps so eventually we just tell it to take us home so we never worry about getting lost. We almost always find some cool little country place for lunch and have a good day. You may be looking for something longer but if you have a free day, I highly recommend this.
And...
From: Vasha
Date: Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Subject: Random road trip
To: briggsb@bbspot.com
Sir! I believe your random road trip to be an excellent idea. If Mrs. BBSpot is not on board with the total randomness, perhaps 'randoming ahead' and planning the trip via the die roll would work better. Like your idea, start with the d4 (or d8 if necessary) and just have it pick the direction, and then use another die for miles, until another intersection when you bring out the d4/d8 for another directional choice, and then mileage. Repeat as necessary, and plugin to your favorite mapping software er something. Sounds pretty complicated.
However, follow your original plan but for extra (?) geekiness, you should have directional and/or mileage modifiers or perhaps even 'saves'. I'm not sure how that would work, as I just came up with that idea just now. Or perhaps add a little game-showiness to it and have some free spin or 'chance' cards, that like say 'subtract 40 miles' 'go in opposite direction rolled' er something.
Of course, you could just always come to Des Moines. Next week is the National Balloon Classic (about 20ish miles to the south of us) plus lots of other stuff here in town. Visit the hotel where Tiny Tim lived for a while, visit Iowa State University where the digital computer was invented, come see Shawn Johnson in some random event her parents pushed her in to, or if you are lucky, chase down a tornado. Did I just ruin it? Thanks be to you Geekfather.
And...
From: Jennifer
Date: Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Subject: your mystery tour idea
To: briggsb@bbspot.com
That sounds like a fun vacation...only issues may be no place to turn off when your mileage is up according to the dice, though, you can always turn as soon as possible after the given mileage, I suppose. If you're up for a long haul type of vacation, maybe determine the direction from your dice, but then just go that direction until food/bathroom/leg-stretching calls. Then change directions with another roll. Or for a non-dice way, maybe every, say, 5th different out-of-state plate you see, you make a turn ASAP and head in a direction that would be toward that state. If you cross state lines, what's "out of state" would change too. I was thinking of your license plate spotting comments from your last family trip entry.
And...
From: Jeff
Date: Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Subject: Random Road Trip ideas
To: briggsb@bbspot.com
Brian, It sounds like you've got a pretty good start to your random road trip idea. I'd add some rules and points to make it more fun.
There are some further parameters to add. This is a weekend trip beginning in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There'll probably be about 4-5 hours of driving time one way. Mrs. BBspot is smart, but not a total geek like me, so making it too complicated probably won't fly.
I've done a couple practice "trips" using an atlas and d4, but they didn't turn out that well. Further modifications will be needed.
