Every year around January, the Southerner and I sit down and discuss what we want to do with our lives for the coming year.  Things we want to change or goals we want to accomplish.  This year, we decided that we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we don’t have kids yet, and start traveling around again. While we’d still like to have a permanent house in St. Pete one day, there’s no reason we can’t spend the next two years or so exploring other places.  In other words, our wanderlust crabs still itch and we’re looking for the antidote.

The first place we both knew we wanted to spend a few months living was, of course, Montana.  So, the Southerner quit his job in St. Pete and found locum tenens work in Montana for the summer, and I’m going to continue working remotely for a research company. (I just made both of these things sound much easier to accomplish than they actually were in the interest of not boring you guys to death.)  The Southerner’s job wasn’t scheduled to start until June 2nd, so we decided to leave our house in St. Pete 13 days early and set off on an epic road-trip that I will not forget for as long as I live.

Leaving Florida

After much discussion, the Southerner meticulously created and mapped out the following itinerary:

Days 1- 2: Destin, FL visiting the Southerner’s mom and deep-sea fishing.
Day 3: Gulfport, MS visiting the Southerner’s dad and siblings for a family craw-fish boil.
Day 4: New Orleans, LA visiting old friends, tacos at the Rum House, pool at Dos Jefes.
Day 5: Austin, TX visiting old friends and a new baby!                                                           Day 6 – 7: Santa Fe, NM exploring the historic district, and eating our faces off.
Day 8: Taos, NM, the Earthship Biotecture, & Joyful Journey hot springs in Moffatt,CO.
Day 9: Lunch in Aspen, stay at the Red Canyon Lodge in Utah.
Day 10: Guided fishing trip on the Green River in Utah.
Days 11 – 12: Jackson Hole, WY. One night by the downtown square & one cabin night.
Day 13: Missoula, MT yay!

As you can tell, the Southerner is a very good planner.  Had the planning been left to me we would have ended up sleeping in the car most nights and would probably be in North Dakota by now.  Maps, schmaps.  I erroneously believed that the GPS on my phone would alert me to where we were at all times, failing to realize that my phone would barely work for most of the trip.  Starting in New Mexico, our route was almost entirely off-highway, breathtakingly beautiful, and nowhere in the vicinity of a cell-phone tower.  Since the Southerner tends to get upset when I’m looking down at my phone instead of up at the scenery, the lack of cell-phone coverage became an immense source of pleasure and commentary for him.

More to come!