As our 20th anniversary approached my wife Jodi and I discussed what we wanted to do. We love to travel and had both saved up time off so this would be more than your typical week's vacation. Like most marriages there had been ups and downs over the twenty years but because we are neither one quitters and we obviously really do love each other we had stuck it out.

Our wedding had been the traditional church wedding with the traditional boring music, dress, suit and all. Not my style. Traditional is never my style. So, I told Jodi that if she would agree to do it our way, after 20 years our ways had melded quite well, without any tradition whatsoever I would agree to go back to Crossville, TN where we originally got married and have a renewing of our vows ceremony. She did agree.

Now keep in mind that at the time I agreed to this we were living in eastern Washington state so a trip back to Tennessee was not a few hour task. So we decided to really enjoy this anniversary and make a road trip of it. We love road trips but most aren't that long.

The next issue was our boys, both mid teens at this point. They were in school, working and of course had their own teenage lives with friends. We sat and talked about it and they neither one really cared about being in or at the ceremony they were just glad it was happening. So Jodi and I scheduled the time off work, got the car in tip-top shape and saved up money for the 2800 miles that the leg to Crossville would be.

Our oldest son Stephen was living in Spokane at the time so we made plans on the first night, after we had gotten off work on Friday, to stop there and see him. We then drove across the Idaho (count these states as they appear, 21 in all) panhandle into Haugan, Montana and spent the night at the 10,000 Silver Dollar Bar, Gift Shop, Restaurant, R.V. Park, Casino, Motel. Yes there are 10,000 silver dollars on the bar.

The next morning we got up to very cold with light snow. Oh, it might help to know that this is in October of 2002 and remember also we are in the mountains of Montana so snow was expected. We left before dawn with a lot of fog near the river. As dawn came we were welcomed with what I remember as the single most beautiful morning of my life. I love the desert southwest (more on this later) and I love tropical Hawaii and diving in Cozumel, but nothing, nothing anywhere, has compared to this morning in the mountains of Montana with the fog over the rivers and the autumn leaves!

But to keep this story from lasting 30 pages ... as soon as the sun came out and burned off the fog we opened the sunroof and the weather was so perfect the rest of the trip that we only closed it at night at the motels. We had to hurry to make it to Crossville and get what we needed ready. We crossed Montana (over 700 miles west to east) into North Dakota. This time of year ND along the interstate was nothing overly impressive. I can't remember where we spent the nights from here but since it was rushed and we didn't camp or anything it doesn't really matter.

We drove into Minnesota for a short distance just because Jodi had never been there. Back into ND and headed south to South Dakota. From there we skirted along the Iowa / Nebraska border just barely entering Nebraska. Near the corner of Nebraska and Kansas we took a quick side trip into Kansas because again Jodi had never been there. From there we shot across Missouri into Illinois.

Oh, I should also mention our method of covering so much distance (over 1100 miles on that first full day that started in Montana) was to have snacks in the car for breakfast, stop only for fuel and restroom (dual stop always) and one good stop for a good lunch to get out and stretch our legs. Then snacks for dinner or something small at the hotel.

From Illinois we crossed into Kentucky and down to Tennessee. We got into Crossville on Monday afternoon with the "wedding" planned for Tuesday. This time we did in fact do it our way. We had reserved a room at Cumberland Mountain State Park, a couple miles from where I grew up and where we lived until we moved to Washington. We invited the people we wanted and had the best man and bridesmaid we wanted. We played John Denver music, the instrumental "Late Winter, Early Spring, When Everybody Goes to Mexico" was the bridal song and everyone dressed comfortably. I was in khakis with a button up shirt and leather sandals, Jodi was in the dress she wanted to wear. Attendants were mostly in jeans or comfortable slacks. All went well and Jodi's dad performed the ceremony and all was good.

We stayed in Crossville three days so it has now been six days (not counting Friday evening when we left) of road trip. We left Crossville and headed west. As soon as we crossed into Arkansas I was in what I have always referred to as virgin territory.

Our trip was about what we loved, travel, natural beauty and having simple, inexpensive fun. We pitched a tent the first night of this leg of the journey in a pretty good rain at a KOA just outside Little Rock, AR. Next morning up early, again to light rain, pack the car and lay the tent out hoping it would dry. By the way, we're driving a 1996-1/2 Subaru Legacy wagon, the series just before the Outbacks came out so this thing was tricked out with power sunroof, leather seats, am/fm/cassette/cd. Great road-tripping car.

Across Arkansas to Oklahoma. We didn't stop along here except when we needed to because of a lot of construction slowing us down in Arkansas and constant rain in Oklahoma. Never stopped raining from east to west. We did stop here when we saw a tourist trap truck stop with jewelry, etc and found Jodi a Black Hills gold ring she wanted. We had not bought each other anniversary presents because we wanted to see what we found along the road. Jodi found hers in Oklahoma.

Next stop another KOA. This time in Amarillo, Texas and we decided since the tent was still damp and we got there late we would just rent a cabin. We actually drove into town for supper that night. Up the next morning to see just how flat Amarillo really was. We couldn't tell the night before because we got there after dark. Off to the west we go.

Well, to the south first. Out of Amarillo we headed south then southwest to Clovis, New Mexico (I knew when I saw New Mexico that I loved it and would someday return). I really wanted to make it to Carlsbad but the timing (I won't go into what Jodi and I each blame the other for that took us so long to get on the road that morning) just wasn't right. If we drove all the way down we would have to spend the night to see the caverns. That just didn't fit with our other plans, it was too early to get off the road. We decided just to see more of this beautiful state. We headed down Hwy 70 and made it as far south as Roswell. Now I am not a fan of UFO stories and had no real desire to stop here. But when we pulled up behind a few cars at a red light and I looked left and saw the UFO Museum and saw that it was free and saw that there was a parking place I could pull into without even waiting for the light to change we decided what the heck. Our youngest son Jonathan was into space and most things about it at the time so we knew he would get a kick out of any souvenirs we took him. But let me tell you, anyone who is convinced in the reality of extra-terrestrial life by what they see in this museum, were convinced before. It was totally hilarious. A few trinkets and off we go!

From Roswell we headed west on 70/380 until Hondo where we took off to the northwest up Hwy 380 so we could stop at Fort Stanton. Jodi had just finished a book that talked a lot about the fort so she really enjoyed seeing that. Somewhere along here is where I had gotten sleepy and let her drive and was awakened by a blood-curdling scream when she saw something in the road. The scream came when she got close enough to see that what she had seen from a half mile back was actually a spider. The first tarantula she had ever seen. I wanted to stop and pet it but I think that may have been one of the fastest accelerations I have ever seen by her.

We stayed on Hwy380 to San Antonio where we hit I-25 and headed north. We stopped in Albuquerque for dinner at an authentic NEW Mexican restaurant (who knew that 7 years later I would finally make it back, this time to live here!!!). Then west to Grants where we spent the night in a tent at another KOA.

The next morning is where the best part of the whole journey started, exploring more of and seeing the natural beauty and the very authentic, oldest culture of New Mexico. We started out at the Acoma Indian pueblo, the longest inhabited pueblo in New Mexico. Jodi was asked to participate in a mock wedding ceremony here. This is one of the places on this trip that I recommend everyone see. From there we headed west to the El Malpais National Monument, such a beautiful place.

Westbound we go from here into Arizona. We made it to the KOA at Williams, AZ and pitched the tent again. Yes, in the rain! But, that night, the single most memorable night in my life! We've fallen asleep to the wonderful sound of raindrops on the tent rain fly when all of a sudden about 1:00 a.m. we both sat bolt up, shivered and looked at each other. As soon as the cobwebs cleared for just a second I knew what it was then it happened again. I was in absolute total awe. I had always wanted to hear this in person but never been fortunate to. A bull elk in rut bugling to his intended mate. Oh how wonderful a sound in the middle of the night and he could not have been 150 meters from us. What a night!

In the a.m. we packed up the tent in a light drizzle and headed north. Now from Williams, AZ KOA there is only one good reason to head north. The South Rim of the Grand Canyon! October is an unpredictable time to visit the Canyon. By the time we got there through the traffic it had rained hard on us, the sun had shone and now it was snowing! Beautiful. We did the tourist thing around the shops, part of the east rim walk and though the weather was looking little better I had to do a short section of a hike. We headed down Bright Angel Trail, nah nothing touristy about us! Had we had more time I would have chosen differently but it was beautiful no matter how many people had and were at that moment hiking it. Then the snow turned to pretty heavy rain and we got soaked. Back to the car to warm up and head farther west.

At Kingman, AZ we headed northwest on Hwy 93 and crossed the Hoover Dam. This was just thirteen months after the planes had hit the towers in New York City so security was still very tight here. We were stopped, security officers of course checked id's and question our load and motives, used the mirrors to look under the car and had the bomb sniffing dogs walk around the car. Interesting experience and well appreciated all things considered. The dam was beyond words impressive.

From the dam we headed west and hit I-15 straight into Las Vegas, Nevada. Now there aren't a lot of road-trippers you'll read about or meet that go to Vegas and do not stop. Remember our goals, natural and cultural beauty. The bright lights are eye-catching though very irritating to a tree-hugger like myself who turns off the lights every time I leave a room. We blew through there as fast as interstate traffic would allow. I was really looking forward to another night in the tent but Jodi saw big dark clouds and lightening coming from the northwest and southeast both and had no problem at all informing me that she was not going to spend the night in that storm in a tent. So, where are we? We're near Vegas in casino country. So where do you stay? In a casino hotel because you can always stay cheap because they think you will spend tons of money in the casino. Good for us, not so good for them. We were tired and never left the room until we checked out the next morning.

I hope you're not tired of reading because it just gets better and better from here! We continue up I-15 and stop in St. George, Utah because of a wildlife museum we had seen a billboard for. The Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum. Very interesting. I really did not want to leave St. George, I had fallen totally in love with the redrock and everything in the desert here. This is where I wanted to live! But we kept going because just north of here was Zion National Park! Though crowded this was without a doubt up there with the mountains of Montana. We rode the bus into the park (I do not believe in individuals driving into a park when mass transit is offered), of course went to the visitor's center then took another bus farther in to where we did some hiking. Oh my gosh I have to spend a couple weeks here someday. After here we drove around looking for something we had seen on a tourist map we'd gotten, the Dinosaur torium as the brochure calls it.

But all wonderful things must end and it was time to go. We headed north and made it as far as the KOA at Fillmore, UT. I had not found what I wanted as my anniversary present until now. For many years I had looked for a hat that "fit" me, was comfortable and of course being the cheapskate that I am was not too expensive. I had tried to find one, without success, that looked like John Denver's hat on the cover of his Greatest Hits album, YES album! This was decently close and very comfortable.

The next morning brought more northward progress. All the way to the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island. You want to talk about different!!! A lot of bison roaming around and warmer times of the year they had more animals. From there into Pocatello, Idaho for a night in a hotel and pizza ordered in. We were tired this night.

The next morning our next adventure took a little bit of searching (this was before the days of Gypsy, my handheld Garmin GPS) but was worth the trouble. Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Talk about one extreme, seems-like-from-another-planet landscape!! But Jodi actually got down into a lava tube, something that really surprised me. We had a blast playing and just looking around this enormous (just doesn't seem like enormous sounds big enough) lava flow. Unfortunately this was the last real adventure of the trip so I'll cut it short.

From there we cut west to I-84 to Boise then on through the northeast corner of Oregon (if you've been counting, including WA that should be 21 !) and back into Washington state at the Tri-Cities, turning north there and back to Coulee City.

All my life I had heard people talk about doing cross-country road trips. And all my life all I could think of was how exorbitantly expensive that would have to be, preventing the "normal" guy from doing it. Please don't ever let this stop you from road-tripping!! Yes road-tripping is an expenditure of fuel and harmful to the environment. I try really hard to live on a daily basis in ways that way more than offset my road trip carbon footprint. Oh, 13 days from the time we left, 6,732 miles, 10 nights in hotels, KOA Kabins or our tent, food, anniversary presents and all, less than $1,200.00.

Just do it!! Advice my youngest son Jonathan certainly doesn't need!! He just spent labor day going to several states he had never been to! This trip along with our 25th anniversary, a story for another time, leaves me with only Alaska and I will have been to all 50 states.

Happy road-tripping!!!