18 more days!

Hello again! This time in three weeks we'll be on our way to South Dakota. Awesome! Its starting to become a reality because we are actually making purchases for our road trip, so far we have our St. Louis Cardinals tickets, will buy cub tickets tomorrow, and Matt just bought us a power converter for the car so we can plug in our cell phones and laptop. I will update with a list of things we are bringing with us, because like I said, this is going to be as frugal as hell. But I'm updating with our plans so far...this is our list we made from the book, 1000 places to see before you die.

Road Trip Stops

1. Mount Rushmore (South Dakota)
2. St. Louis Arch (Missouri)
3. Chicago (Illinois)
4. Craters of the Moon (Idaho)
5. Salmon River Scenic Byway (Idaho)
6. Beartooth Scenic Bway (Montana)
7. Museum of the Rockies (Montana)
8. Little Bighorn Battlefield (Montana)
9. Glacier National Park (Montana)
10. Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota)
11. Badlands National Park (South Dakota)
12. Devils Tower (Wyoming)
13. Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
14. Yeloowstone National Park (Wyoming)
15. Arches National Park (Utah)
16. Redwood National Park (California)
17. Cannon Beach (Oregon)
18. Columbia River Gorge (Oregon)
19. Mount Hood (Oregon)
20. Mount Rainier National Park (Washington)
21. Olympic National Park (Washington)
22. Port Townsend (Washington)
23. Pike Place Market (Washington)
24. Seattle Coffee & Seafood (Washington)
25. Museum of Glass (Washington)
26. Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
27. Sioux Falls
28. Grand Canyon!

And all those stops are plotted on the United States map!

So now we just have to work on purchasing a National Parks pass for 80 bucks...and start grocery shopping. I want to buy some road trip clothes too. I am also currently working on my physical stamina for bike riding since we will be doing a lot more than I anticipated. Matt and I also talked about doing some exploring on our own too since we will be together for a solid three weeks so we both can experience what we want and even give us something to talk about lol. I know I'll be searching for Starbucks ;] What do people talk about in the car for three weeks?

How this idea started

Yay this is the first post! A lot of people have asked me why the trip out west...why Portland, Oregon and how we came up with this idea. I wanna say its been about 9 months since we decided we were going to do take this trip. August worked out for us because of summer classes (boo). My last class is August 16th and we're peacing out August 17th. But going back to the planning of the trip, we got our inspiration from the book 1000 places to see before you die. Then came the lists of things we wanted to do, then created a map, then a rough idea of a route we will take. Even though I am totally stoked to check out this great land of ours...I am excited for the personal growth and experiences. I will be pushed to the limit, and I will be pushed far outside my comfort zone. We will be road tripping the entire trip and mostly camping. And I mean camping with a tent and an air mattress than Matt's mother bought for us :] and using Matt's backpacking stove to cook most of our meals. Frugality is the keyword here. I'm looking forward to the challenges.

On this trip I also want to find some ideal places to move to when I graduate college. I'll be finished in a year and a half and Matt will be finished a short time after. Since the Michigan economy holds no promises in teaching (for me) and any type of environmental jobs (for matt) so we are outta here. Hopefully Oregon will love us and accept us.

There are a few BIG reasons why Oregon is the place for us:

1. Portland, Oregon has a mass transit system.

2. MICROBREWERY CAPITOL OF THE WORLD!

3. Very local and independent...all restaurants and shops are locally owned and operated.

4. Liberal

5. Eco-friendly

6. My personal favorite...you can't pump your own gas, its illegal! I despise pumping gas personally.

I'm hoping that this blog will show growth and gain support from our friends and family! I'm excited to share all our experiences on the trip with you. I hope this blog will document many memories. I even hope that this blog will inspire others to go out and look for whatever it is you are looking for. Life is too short.