Laurel and I packed up our lovely place in Hyde Park for good and pulled out of Chicago this past Wednesday, and set our compass due west in the direction of adventure. If you have been around us you have heard more than once (maybe too many times) about our plans, if you have not been around us, here’s the scoop:

About a year ago we took two fateful vacations to see our nation’s great western states. We’ve both had a long held interest in the outdoors and the beautiful places our country has to offer, but these trips reignited our interest in natural beauty and the outdoors. Visiting South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming (thanks for reminding me Sara – how could I forget), and Arizona, we were awestruck at the beauty of mountains and sandstone. Upon our return, we swore we would get back out there.

 We figured “now or never”! Over the past year I have finished another year teaching and Laurel has (finally) graduated. What better time than the present to pursue adventure and beauty. We have finished our jobs, sold up many of our possessions and plan to backpack, car camp, fish, hike, and explore New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Part of the goal of the trip is to explore potential new homes for us, and if we do a good job of exploring, we hope that we might be able to end our ~two months of travel in a beautiful TBD place we can call home for the near future…also with TBD jobs.

We welcome you to seek us out along our journey in person at any juncture below, or follow us on a blog that Laurel plans to update https://homebuffaloroam.wordpress.com . We may be contacting YOU if we’ll be in your area! We’re looking for jobs, a new place to live, and adventure, so if you have leads on any of those, give us a shout. We won’t have a set address for the foreseeable future, so if you send us anything forward that to our parents (thanks, Mom and Dad :). Otherwise, calling or texting or emailing would be your best bet to reach us. We would love to see you all, and you should expect some postcards (but you better send us your address)!

Here is our tentative schedule:

JUNE 17th Left Chicago

18th -19th Badlands, South Dakota

20th – 21st Ft. Collins, CO with Laurel’s Uncle Greg

21st – 22nd Taos/Sante Fe/Albuquerque

23rd – 26th Phoenix

27th – 28th Flagstaff

29th – July 1st Grand Canyon

JULY 2nd – 4th Canyons/Salt Lake City

5th -7th Boise, ID

8th-13th Washington/North Cascades

14th-16th Spokane area

17th-24th Glacier National Park

25th-27th Missoula, MT

28th – August 4th Yellowstone

AUGUST 5th-8th Grand Tetons

9th-10th Salt Lake City

11th -? Colorado/Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Mid-August Either move somewhere out west, continue the adventure, or go work on a farm in Michigan – TBD!!!

We both hope to see a bunch of you on our travels

xoxoxoxoxo

Ryan and Laurel