Shelby:  I really liked skiing in the Colorado Rockies and doing a tour of the Tabasco Factory in Louisiana.

Spencer: The hike to Sacagawea Peak in Montana was my favorite. It was my first alpine hike in the West with views of the Rocky Mountains.

Shelby: Yes. It was great to see almost the whole country. It was a great experience. I loved seeing the different climates throughout the country and going on amazing hikes.

Spencer: Yeah, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. The highs far outweighed the lows.

Shelby: There’s not much I would have done differently. The string lights that are taped to the bed platform kept getting ripped off by us moving stuff around. A different method of attaching them to the platform could have been better. There are also some cosmetics that I never used and should have left behind since they were only taking up space.

Spencer: Well we bought a Habitent (a back hatch tent cover), but didn’t use it at all, so I would have left that behind.

Shelby: It was surprisingly cold in the deserts in the southwest in winter. I would have thought a desert in the south would have been warmer.

Spencer: I was surprised that we didn’t work out at Planet Fitness at all. Also, the northwest parts of Washington and Oregon were browner and drier than I had expected. A lot of people said that spending so much time together would test our relationship, and although we never really argued or fought, there was some relationship tension that I wasn’t expecting. Fortunately, we had some good discussions and I think we came out stronger than ever.

Shelby: I wish the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park had been open when we were there. We were there a little too early in the season.

Spencer: I regret not taking a picture of the car in Indiana. We got a car picture in every other state. I also regret not taking a small rock or buying a small souvenir from every state.

Shelby: Moving around in the car. It felt pretty cramped at times. Also, having to remember to close the nozzle of the spray bottle we use to wash dishes before driving to a different elevation. It would leak everywhere if we forgot to close it.

Spencer: Cooking food and washing dishes by far.

Shelby: Having a kitchen with running water, access to my own bathroom, and spending time with my family.

Spencer: My company’s office space for working. I missed my large monitor and visiting with coworkers.

Shelby: Only on a few hikes we did with steep drops nearby. Other than that, I can’t remember being scared at all.

Spencer: Maybe a little bit while sleeping in the car during severe thunderstorms.

Shelby: Christmas was pretty rough for us. We rented a room on Airbnb and had to share the kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen was very dirty and I felt awkward going through the owner’s cupboard. We also missed our families.

Spencer: The mouse that got in the car in Utah. We were in the middle of a big stretch of national parks with lots of driving and hiking and I got very little sleep those two nights.

Shelby: Surprisingly, I liked oysters. Despite the slimy texture, they’re pretty good with cocktail sauce. I also enjoyed cajun food in Louisiana.

Spencer: I really liked the southern comfort food that we had, the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. I liked how it was family-style with big portions.

Shelby: Savannah, Georgia and San Antonio, Texas. We were in Savannah in the late fall and the historic area was full of beautiful blooming flowers. The buildings were also beautiful and well-maintained. San Antonio had a really nice river walk area downtown. There were nice bridges, lights hanging from the trees, plenty of trees and plants, and it was nicely maintained. They also had amazing fireworks city-wide for New Year’s.

Spencer: My favorite large city was San Francisco. My favorite small city that we worked in was Olympia, Washington. 

Shelby: Mt. Rainier National Park. The snow-capped mountain top was beautiful and felt magical. The park was also big enough to not feel overly crowded like a lot of other national parks.

Spencer: Olympic National Park. It had a little bit of everything, beaches, lakes, forests, and mountains. It was also my first time on the Pacific Ocean on the west coast.

Shelby: Mount Rushmore. We had to pay for parking, despite our park pass, and it was very crowded. It was cool to see, but I wouldn’t go back.

Spencer: Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio. It seemed like it was in the middle of the city and it didn’t have the most amazing views.

Shelby: I liked Washington. Mt. Rainier was beautiful, along with Olympic National Park. We did some good hikes. The state was also very diverse. We stayed a few days in Yakima, which was in the desert. Just a couple hours away, we were in the mountains with pine trees. The coast was also very nice.

Spencer: California.

Shelby: Pasta with sauce. It was easy and pretty quick to make and it tasted good.

Spencer: Burrito bowls for dinner I guess. What I really enjoyed was all the trail mix I made with just three simple ingredients: almonds, raisins, and granola. It lasted forever and I would just use it to snack on whenever I was a little extra hungry.

Shelby: I liked driving the Loneliest Highway, U.S. Route 50, through Nevada. There was barely any traffic. We were able to stop in the middle of the road, get out, and take pictures with no worries of a car coming. It was very scenic, with the road passing through several mountain ranges.

Spencer: The Pacific Coast Highway. It was something I was really looking forward to and it was just as amazing as I had hoped.

Shelby: I loved learning about the unique landscapes of the U.S.

Spencer: I learned a lot about the geography and geology of how rock formations and mountain ranges formed throughout the continent.

Shelby: For the most part, I would keep the same route. One change I would make is when we were in Oregon, instead of going directly east into Idaho, we would go south into northern California. When we were in California later on, in winter, the north was too cold and snowy to go there. 

Spencer: I would do it all the same. I’d say maybe try to spend a little more time on the west coast, but I don’t know what I’d remove to make that possible.

Shelby: I wish we hadn’t missed North Cascades National Park in Washington. We hadn’t known it was there and skipped it. 

Spencer: I wanted to swim in the ocean in Florida or California, but didn’t because it was not quite warm enough.

Shelby: I would go back to most places, but I would love to go back to Montana to Glacier National Park and Washington state to visit Mt Rainier again and the national park we missed in northern Washington.

Spencer: Definitely Glacier, Yosemite, and Canyonlands National Parks. 

Shelby: Having the freedom to pack up and go wherever you want almost whenever you want.

Spencer: It was really nice working just three days a week. Also, it was great having everything in the car. I feel like normally when you go hiking or camping or on a trip, it is such a hassle to think of what you need and pack everything. We didn’t have to do any of that because it was all already in the car ready to go.

Shelby: Loud nights because of traffic and street sweepers, along with the worry of getting knocked on at 1 in the morning.

Spencer: All the time spent planning and worrying about plans working out.

Shelby: It was interesting going into Planet Fitness every morning and seeing people doing the same exact thing all over the country. Despite the extreme differences in climate, like desert vs. mountains, everyone still does the same basic things. People in Arkansas had the same conversations as people all the way over in Washington. Despite growing up in completely different environments, people have a lot in common with each other.

Spencer: Driving an hour or two to get someplace feels like nothing right now.

Shelby: I’ll be starting a new full-time job in Rochester. We’ll be getting married in July and we’ll be looking for a house in the Rochester area.

Spencer: Well eventually Alaska and Hawaii I guess.