we'll be couchsurfing in the cities and camping in the national parks, might even extend it out to 18 days so we can do more hiking in yellowstone/glacier/banff/jasper

I think stopping of in Burning Man is, of course, a great idea. But tickets are $300 a piece. And you need good camping gear (that can hold up to desert sand and wind), and food that can be easily prepared/stored + water + anything else you might want to consume. The best bet at this point, like I was hinting at before, is to find a good theme camp and get acquainted w/ everyone. A lot of them are extremely organized, with kitchens, communal food supplies you can pitch into, communal dome tents for hanging out & recreation, etc. The better the camp, the less you have to bring yourself, but the more you'll need to contribute financially beforehand.

I guess my point is, it's not really something designed for just stopping by. Although building it into a cross-country trip into Vancouver would be EPIC. See this from their site:

Q. We would like to visit Burning Man, but can only spend part of the day there. Are you selling 1-day or 2-day passes at the gate?
A. Burning Man is an experiment in temporary community. Relationships are created, neighbors meet one another, and our collective survival is challenged. This is not a spectator event. It is difficult for you to take a role in the community if you are in Black Rock City for less than 24 hours. In order to experience the true essence of Burning Man, you will want to become part of the community. Therefore, there are no day passes sold, and no discounts given based on your length of stay. Of course, it is not necessary that you come for the entire week. You are welcome to arrive early in the week and stay for just a portion of the event.

http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/faq_what_is.html#Tickets

Something to consider: do you really want to tow a Uhaul trailer out into the desert with all your belongings to a 40,000 person 24/7 hippie party? :-)

Excellent points. Burning Man would likely be something to do next summer but working it into a trip like this is pushing it just over the top. Plus the $300 would be out of my budget at this point.

However, after some discussion I'm probably not doing a UHaul trailer. I'm planning to pack everything in freight, it can be as cheap as $350 to move across country. Besides, who wants to deal with a big trailer when driving along narrow mountain roads?

and on that note i am srsly considering maybe coming. we need to get matt on board + find some awesome couchsurfers + get synced up w/ potential tweetups in Chicago, Boulder, Nashville

Those all look like good ideas, only thing I'd add so far is a stop in Nashville, TN.

I'm working on my own road trip currently, but depending on when I actually do get hired for a job in Portland I might be able to make the trip out with you guys. My job search continues...

<abbr>Erby’s last blog post..Yin and Yang</abbr>

But my version would be a little shorter than yours. If I were planning it, I would spend:

2 nights in Chicago
1 night in Omaha
1 night in Denver
1 night in Boulder
2 nights in SLC area
2 nights at Yellowstone
2 nights at Glaicer National Park
1 night at Calgary
2 nights at Banff National Park
14 nights total

They way I would go would include stops in Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City and the Bonneville Salt Flats, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and Glacier National Park in Montana, and Calgary. Clocks in at just over 4,100 miles.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Charlotte,+NC&daddr=US-41+N+to:I-25+S+to:I-80+W+to:Grand+Loop+Rd%2FUS-191%2FUS-20%2FUS-287%2FUS-89+to:US-89+to:51.344339,-114.257812+to:vancouver,+bc&hl=en&geocode=%3BFWzGfwIdFtjG-g%3BFQxAXAId0oi_-Q%3BFQKObQIdxB5C-Q%3BFdC-pQIdfKlo-Q%3BFYBy5wIdcG09-Q%3B%3B&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=6&sz=4&via=1,2,3,4,5,6&sll=40.480381,-99.18457&sspn=34.929909,79.101563&ie=UTF8&z=4