On the road again

Coypright 2006 Lydia Hinshaw

KALISPELL, MT --Tired of Central Florida traffic? Drive to Kansas City and turn right.
Just like that, you're on a wide open expressway with just a few other cars. Set the cruise control and leave stress behind.
Past Kansas City, there are interstates with so little traffic I wonder why they were ever built. Crossing Nebraska, the speed limit is 75 mph and you can drive out a whole tank of gas without having to cancel the cruise. Of course, if you're pushing a headwind at that speed, better keep an eye on the gas gauge. A whole tank of gas will not get you nearly as far as you think it should.
In Wyoming, it's not unusual to see an empty road ahead and another in the rearview, but there might be 25 antelope grazing off to the right or left. Keep an eye on those guys too. Every now and then an extremely unlucky one tries to cross the highway at just the wrong moment.
I've been rediscovering all this again in my second summer in the wind, which is how I think of my new and wonderful career-free life. Last year, I ditched my job as a journalist in Florida and ran away to Montana to work for four months in Glacier National Park.
I never knew working for minimum wage could be so much fun. I got to spend all my days off in Montana. When it rained, or when my college-age co-workers kept me awake all night, I took solace in the fact that on Sept. 18, the job would be over and I could go do something else.
September came, and Prince Charming flew to Montana and we drove back to Florida together. In February, we got jobs as tour guides in Skagway, Alaska. In March, he retired from his job. And on April 11 we set out to drive 4,500 miles of often desolate and occasionally snow-covered roads to a place neither of us has ever been before.
(Memo to Florida-based burglars: An outlaw-biker buddy of mine and his pit bulls are living in our house. Plus, I never was able to get that snake out of the garage before we left.)
And so we are in Montana again, with nearly 3,000 miles down and another 1,500 to go. Every night we find ourselves a motel with free wi-fi, and then we answer e-mails from folks back home who are interested in our adventures.
We decided this blog deal might be easier. It won't be updated on any regular schedule -- that would be too much like work. Some days, nothing interesting will happen.
In my previous life as a journalist, I often used the Prince for column fodder. He prefers to think of himself as my inspiration. On the other side of this motel room, on his matching laptop, he's creating his own blog. He's earned it. He says it's called espressovan.blogspot.com.