It's finally time to answer the question of where we're going first and announce the decision of our Road Life Adventure travel plans! It's sure to be entertaining as we figure out everything.

While my original plan was to live the "Summer of Love" 2020 style, I suppose my speedo-wearing days by the pool will have to wait because Donetta convinced me to head to cooler weather.

The Decision to Head North

Donetta has been dreaming about seeing the great outdoors and visiting a few of the 50 states she hasn't visited yet, and because I love and cherish her so much, I thought, why not? Besides, I need some brownie points because I'm always depleting my love account. 😂

Why traveling north first makes sense.

I absolutely and unequivocally hate the cold. Frozen hands and feet for part of the year is no way to live. Now I understand and respect why so many older people move to warmer climates during the winter, so please forgive me for the years I made snap judgments.

Right now, the weather is great in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana, so it makes sense to get out there and enjoy it before it's too late. In a couple of months, it will all become a Fortress of Solitude and that's not something I want to experience.

Since these states also have an abundance of wildlife, incredible state parks, beautiful scenery, and so many hiking trails, we think it's gonna be epic. Perhaps I'll even get my picture with a Grizzly bear.

We're stoked about the opportunity to experience the wonders in front of us and the time to be outdoors. There will be planned hikes to frolicking in the woods.

A roadmap image of where we are going first.

The Proposed Travel Route

When deciding where to go first, my only request was to celebrate my 50th birthday in Las Vegas because we have great friends there. So Donetta worked her magic and mapped out the entire route for us. I love what she's done!

She used Rand McNally TripMaker, which is a very cool but clunky resource. The app gives us the miles to the destination, the approximate time of arrival, and the estimated fuel costs. It provides a great snapshot of our plans and allows us to let friends know in advance that we plan to crash on their couch. Of course, with a crazy pandemic all around us, things can change, and we might have to adapt.

Some of the many places we have for our travel plans include:

If you're along our travel route, we would love the chance to connect or hang out. One of the benefits of traveling full-time is being able to slow down and spend time with people.

Our Chevy Silverado 1500.

We're heading out soon.

Next week we will be doing a road trip to Odell, Nebraska, to see our friends Spencer and Kristie. Then we'll be back in Oklahoma for a few days to celebrate our son's birthday. On Sunday, August 9th, we'll head out.

We also have a new family member joining us on the road – a 2020 Chevy Silverado LTZ named Silver Belle.

We'll be writing a separate post about why we chose a Chevy Silverado for our travel vehicle of choice and the dealership experience, but for now, we're extremely happy to finally have a truck.

That's our travel plan for now. We hope to see you on the road.