It'll dry in a day if you don't put it on too thick. I'd recommend 3 coats total, no more than a week apart (you can also do wet on wet). Then do a topper coat each year to maintain it.

I originally did 2 coats wet on wet, a few boards needed a touch up the following year, and everything needed redoing after 2 years. If I had done a full coat after a year, then it would have lasted longer without needing to sand down and start over.

Your response came just in time. We started staining today. Thanks for the great advice from your experience. That is the best kind. Do you think if you had done a full staining the following year instead of touching up a few boards, you might have avoided sanding down and starting again? I'd like to avoid that, of course, but am just wondering if 2 coats now and another full one next year might work.
Lois

Yes, 2 coats year 1 and 1 coat per year thereafter would probably have done the trick. I'd just do 3 to be safe. Actually, coincidentally, DH just sanded ours down today and I'm going to coat it this weekend.