Many ask if we have a plan for where we will travel over the next two to three years and we certainly do. There’s an over-all plan developed through conversation, compromise, and common interests. There’s a logic to the plan based on typical weather and practical navigation. The plan is a guide that allows for responding to changes as needed. The near future is more fully planned in detail while the far future is a more general concept without specifics. So lets lay out the plan.

We will leave Michigan at the end of this week and head to Rockford, Illinois to visit with Jackie’s cousin and family. The next stops will be in central Illinois, southern Indiana, and Goodletsville, Tennessee. Exploring the Nashville area and enjoying the Grand Ole Opry are our intentions.

November will be spent in the Knoxville, Tennessee area with intentions to explore most of eastern Tennessee. December will include a jaunt to northern Georgia for a visit with friends and a couple of weeks in Michigan for Christmas gatherings.

January, February, and March are to be in central Florida in four different locations, including one near the house we had built when we lived in Florida from ’94 to ’96. We’ll also spend time with family and friends who will be in Florida when we are. Then the plan begins to become less defined.

We will probably drift out of Florida near the end of March and into Alabama and Mississippi by April. A slow trek to the north in line with weather trends will bring us back to Michigan by May. There’s a graduation to attend and relationships to relish and restore.

Sometime during June and July we desire to take a northern peninsula/northern Midwest trip returning to our hometown area for the month of August.

September 2016 should launch us into our long-awaited northeastern U.S. color tour through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. We shall then travel through the Atlantic states checking out the eastern seaboard and the Civil War era sites. Weather will determine pace and positioning at times. Uncertainty begins to surface in the plan about now.

As we reach the south Atlantic we may head west to consider wintering in Texas. In the spring of 2017 we would follow the weather north through the states west of the Mississippi River, visiting relatives along the way. The fuzzy future looks like we may flow up and down the rocky mountain states, winter in the southwest, then explore the west coast states in 2018.

Are we there yet?

Whether the plan of travel continues remains a subject for another day.

-LA