Introduction

Welcome to My Nomadic Summer!

College is over - should I be excited? This June's graduation brought that strange melancholy joy - happy to let the overpriced books collect dust, while sad to leave so many people and so much freedom.

When people heard I've graduated they ask, "So, do you have a job?" Even a park ranger at Glacier National Park asked this question! I typically divert the conversation to a more enthralling topic - the weather. Either that or my summer plans.

From mid June to late September I am a nomad. I'm traveling the contiguous United States with but a few goals in mind:

• Step foot in all lower 48 states (in this case worn, rubber wheels are equivalent to feet)
• Visit the 46 national parks contained within these states (parks which hold the official national park status)
• Obtain a park map from each national park (the branding of these maps is one of the few items that appears to be brand consistent from park-to-park; also, the way in which these maps fold make for an easily-stored collection)
• Obtain a shot glass from each park and from other significant landmarks or stops (by choice)

Photos
Sure, stories can be fun; but photographs are much more so. I've thought about the best way to share photos, and I've decided to use two sources - Facebook and Google's Picasa. In both cases, I'll organize the photos by significant stops on the trip. Feel free to "friend" me on Facebook. Otherwise, I'll include a link on each post to the individual albums. And I'll, of course, include two or three of the best photos in my posts.

New Posts
When I publish a new post, I'll link to it on Facebook. In the next week or so, I'll be rapidly adding posts to get up to date. After next week, expect about one post every 5-7 days with little-to-no consistency. You can also subscribe to new posts using the link at the bottom of this post.

Comments
Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments in the comments section of this blog. As I mention where I may be headed next, I'd love for input on some things to do in the area.

Thank you for reading!