Wherever shall we go? Whatever shall we do?

Okay, I never saw "Gone with the Wind" where that quote is from, but I always thought it was kind of funny, said with exaggerated southern drawl, back of hand dramatically pressed to forehead...

It sure is fun, trying to figure it out, though! I mean, we don't want to "figure it all out" ahead of time, because part of the idea of a long trip is to not have an agenda - be truly "On the Loose." But then again, there are certain things we'd like to experience, certain places we'd like to be sure to go... there are priorities, in other words. And millions of ideas.

Ideas to help shape our journey:

• Seeing parts of the country we either haven't seen or have only been to briefly
• Visit all the National and State Parks, Monuments, Forests, Preserves, etc, we can find
• Birding - go to places specifically to see elusive species, like Aransas Wildlife Refuge for the Whooping Cranes, Southern Arizona for Trogons,
• History - visit historical sites, museums, etc
• Watershed(s) - follow a river or two from birth to delta
• Baseball - visit all the famous ball parks and compare their cuisine - Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, etc.
• Kitsch - search for the odd, strange, truly weird, like the human hair socks from Scandinavia that are apparently languishing in a museum in Brookings, Oregon...
• Finding Places to Kayak
• City and Town tour - finding our next home!
• Regions - focusing on one or two regions to get to know them well
• Seasons - the most obvious is becoming "Leaf Peepers" in New England

But the biggest and best theme for our trip, I think, will be Learning, learning, learning! We will have our own version of the Road School, and our curriculum will include:

• Music (syllabus - learn to play / practice and get better at guitar, play harmonica, penny whistle, attend live music when possible, especially regional styles and festivals, invite musicians over to the campfire and jam and learn!)


• Art (syllabus - draw and sketch interesting things, wildlife, scenery, people, maybe try watercolor or oils, take a weekend seminar somewhere on plein air painting or something wonderful like that, take thousands of photographs, create albums, calendars, postcards, use in blog and books)


• Creative Writing (syllabus - Write! Write, write, write! Write some more! :) Write essays, articles, blogs, chapters in a book, poems, and letters. Try to get some of it published as we travel - articles for magazines and newsletters and newspapers on events, places, people, natural history, travelogues, stories, etc. Final Exam: Write a book.)


• Literature (syllabus - Read! Read, read, read!! :) Always have books to read - choose some great books of literature, some fiction and non-fiction, essays, whatever interests us at the time! Enjoy!


• History (syllabus - visit museums and landmarks and monuments and historical markers - follow in the footsteps of historical people - Lewis and Clark, Natchez Trace, Civil War Battles, Civil Rights Marches, etc. See famous icons of the country, such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Viet Nam Memorial, among others. Read books about the history of areas we travel through.)


• Science Always - being a science geek, I almost didn't put this on the syllabus, since it is like breathing for me. But there are some things we could do (syllabus - See the Space Shuttle launch, visit planetaria and observatories, visit museums and exhibits, and Parks)


• Natural History as a branch of science, and THE branch of science that I DO, this will be built into the trip everywhere we go. We'll do more of this than all the rest, because we can't help it! (Syllabus - watch birds, wildlife, keep a field journal, photograph, sketch and describe species and ecosystems, go on naturalist walks and talks, keep life lists of species, key out plants, visit preserves and parks and refuges - OBSERVE!)


• Technology This is Devin's "like breathing" subject, and is second nature in many ways to me as well. The effort to learn something new in it does not come as naturally to me, however - unless it is something I want to use immediately. First, I'd like to learn to use the software I already have more effectively, including my iLife apps, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, etc. I always just figure out enough to make them work, then don't get much further. (Syllabus - Web Design/development, Databases, SQL, PHP, CGI, e-commerce set ups, and for Devin, Linux, Sharepoint, Exchange, PHP, SQL, MOM, more Citrix, ITIL, MCSE stuff - work on becoming an MVP, Cisco (but probably not on the road), and more...)


• Hmmm... no Math. Well, considering I taught Algebra all last year, I think I'm good on that. We'll be keeping a budget, figuring out gas mileage, writing a business plan (maybe), and just generally using math the way everyone does all the time without realizing it. What else are we missing? Ah!


• PE and Health :) I think this will also come naturally - hopefully we'll be kayaking a lot, I'll be walking and hiking and Devin will be gliding along with me on the Segway. We may get a dog, but that's a whole other story!! The dog, of course, will take us for walks. And CURVES! I just joined Curves, and they are EVERYwhere, so I'll make Devin stop when we see one and I'll jump out for a 30 minute workout! Devin's bringing weights, bands, and maybe the ball... and I definitely want to get a good mask and snorkel and fins - I want to snorkel not only the ocean, but lakes and rivers! I love seeing the fish. I'm also bringing my Yoga and Pilates DVDs! I look forward to remembering how to cook on the road!! I like to cook, but just don't anymore. I've been looking at recipes and thinking about meals I could make, looking at maybe getting a slow cooker (so dinner's ready when we get there!) I'd like to visit Farmer's Markets where we travel for the best fresh produce - I think that will be fun.

So, however the trip ends up, it will be great. I guess I could go back to the starting quote for the answer, and summing up figuring out where to go comes to this:

Frankly, my dear, we don't give a damn!