Here we go! Having three trips to go on this summer is both exciting and nerve wracking. There’s so much to do, but the fun part is talking about all of them at once. One day I can be talking about my travel study, and the next day I can be making plans for Louisiana or Montana. That’s kind of what happened this week. My mom and I sat down and made the first “set in stone” travel decisions for our Montana road trip. 
The date has been (tentatively) set, so now we can start making the travel plans. For the longest time, my mom and I have talked about flying out to Montana. The bride, my friend McKenzie from high school, and her husband are both in the army so they’re still a little reluctant to send out invitations, and we’re a little reluctant to book a flight. Montana has always been a dream destination for my mom, and I knew flying wouldn’t really give us the scenery views like we would have liked. So I said, “let’s drive”. It took a little convincing because of the distance and time (since Mom has WAY more vacation time than I do!), but it wasn’t that hard.
My favorite part of road tripping is getting to see all the scenery you miss when you fly. The route we have planned on the way out to Montana will take us through northern Minnesota, North Dakota and down into Montana. We have never seen North Dakota so that will give us new sights, but our main goal is to get to Swan Lake in 2 days while hopefully avoiding any mountain highways at night. The way home, though, will be a mix of new experiences and deja vu. This route will take us through a corner of Wyoming, South Dakota, and southern Minnesota. In 2006 we drove the same route for another road trip, but this time we want to see the Corn Palace, which we didn’t see back then. Another stop on the way home will honor my favorite book series when I was little. Little House on the Prairie. Although I have pretty much grown out of the series, I’m still a history nut so visiting the Laura Ingalls Wilder musuem in Minnesota will be a fun learning experience!
I’m excited to keep planning and keep writing! Til next time…
“If traveling was free, you’d never see me again”
