Due to my current unemployed state, and a yearning to get my ass out of the couch divot, I've decided I'm hitting the road, in a couple of days, for about 3 weeks.

I went on a buying spree to prepare, and got myself a Garmin Quest for navigating, a Thule Cascade 1500 roof cargo box for my stuff, and a Shasta 15+ Sleeping Bag for sleeping wherever. I'm also trying to install a fan in the empeg before I take off to make sure I don't get any overheating when driving 11 hour days.

Here's the route so far:
SF to Salt Lake City where I'll meet up with the Ozone folks for some snowkiteboarding. I'll hang out there for a day and then probably ride their coat-tails to a SKB event in Vail, Colorado for a day or so. From there on to Boulder where I'll hang out with one of my high school buddies for a few days and do some snowboarding.

Then it's sort of nebulous but I'll make my way back home to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a while, at least through Thanksgiving. Any ideas what I should do/see/visit on the way from Boulder to Baton Rouge? Where to stop and sleep?

While I'm in LA I plan on doing some exploring of the Atchafalaya basin with my step-father who works for the Nature Conservancy, and looking for some tattoo inspiration in the form of a cypress tree. I'll also spend some time in New Orleans with another good buddy of mine.

Then my younger brother and I will make our way back to San Francisco via the Southern route, stopping at every major skatepark we can find along the way, and he'll fly back home a week after we get back here.

SO!... Any tips? Stuff I should make sure I bring on a long road trip? Places I absolutely have to stop and see? Any and all suggestions are welcome! Matt (ithoughti), I was hoping you could chime in since you just did a long trip in your WRX =].