The Amazing Adventure of Jalairean Proportions

• 27,937 Miles Driven

• 76 Places I’ve Stayed
• 37 Marriotts
• 26 Airbnbs
• 7 Random Hotels
• 4 Family Members
• 1 Boat
• 1 Train

• 57 New Things I’ve Seen
• 4 Revisited 

• 39 states

• 5 Family Reunions
• Hubbards
• Lindsey
• Gee
• Burton
• Dalton

• 4 New Tires

• 2 McElroys

• 1 Oral Surgery

• 1 Funeral

• 1 Busted Knee

Let's see where the 2020-2021 Travel Year takes me!

Family, Friends, and the Florida Line

With all my list items for this trip crossed off, I started the trek west.  I drove about 6 hours to Navarre, FL which is apparently a big beach destination.  I stayed there because it was close to Niceville and the Daltons.

Melissa was kind enough to invite me over for dinner and made delicious homemade alfredo pasta.  It was super tasty, and again, homemade.  But the two best parts were:

• Meeting her kids.  She said they were SUPER excited to meet me and that gave me all kinds of warm fuzzy feelings.  They ran out to meet me at my car, asked all kinds of questions, wanted to know everything I'd seen and done, and wanted to tell me all about themselves.  They even made me heart shaped cards and got me flowers.  Melissa said they had quite the debate about which flowers to get - which were the prettiest, etc.  I'm telling you warm, fuzzy feelings.  I'm hoping they end up back in Utah in June so I get to see them again (and even more hopefully that there is a new little one to squish)!

             

• Catching up with Melissa.  I've had so much fun reconnecting and meeting with cousins along my road, and it's especially fun when you realize your little cousin in all grown up with a family.  I really can't convey just how much fun I had and how much I needed a little family time.  

After Navarre, I took a quick detour north to Alabama.  I met Clara and Derwyn McElroy on my transatlantic cruise back from Europe and they are individually and collectively two of the best humans I've ever met.  

Originally, I had planned to spend a week in Montgomery, there are so many Civil Rights monuments and important places to visit and learn about in the area, but when I rejiggered my trip so I could be at Ferrin's funeral the Montgomery detour was going to fall by the wayside.  I've stayed in touch here and there through Facebook, but they were definitely a main event for this adventure - they may not be on the official 1000 Place to See List, but they are definitely on my People to See at Every Opportunity List so I made it an overnight trip to spend time with them.  

It was so good to catch up and chat and laugh. The McElroy's and I were randomly seated together at dinner one night on the cruise.  They were so delightful, that we made plans to eat together every night.  We'd eat and chat and they are so interesting and have such great stories, and love each other and their children dearly.  I remember one night, after dinner, we were sitting there chatting and Clara decided to go see the show, I'd seen it, and Derwyn wasn't up to it, so we stayed and chatted. 

He told me in a clear, convincing, and impassioned way how much he loved his wife, how much he loved his family, and how lucky he was.  Even at 80-ish, and even with failing health, he was the lucky one. That really stuck with me.  I've seen a photo from their wedding as they're leaving the church and he is looking at her with adoration and love, and that picture makes me know that if I ever had someone look at me the way he looks at her.....that would be forever, and I would be the lucky one.

2019 Year in Review

2019 was bananas!  I knew toward the end on 2018 that I didn't really want to stay where I was in Texas, but also, wasn't quite sure where I wanted to move.  When I mentioned this to my boss, she very casually said she literally didn't care at all where I was as long as I met me deadlines.

"Anywhere?" I asked. "In the U.S.," she quickly clarified.

Fantastic, but still where to go?  In a moment of inspiration I thought.... everywhere.  Why couldn't I travel around the country crossing things of The List?  I started some preliminary planning, and it looked feasible.  I started looking at the budget, and again, it looked totally doable.  So, I started planning in earnest, and when my lease ended on February 28, 2019, I was officially homeless in Texas.

To be clear, being homeless didn't start out great. It started out with a crazy and total breakdown where I basically cried for 24 hours straight.  Luckily, I was able to get in touch with the amazing Jenn Hough who set me up with a priesthood blessing and a basket of goodies and words of love and encouragement.  I can't adequately express how much that meant to me.  It set such a great tone for the rest of the year.

I can't tell you exactly how many miles I drove in 2019 (maybe I'll edit to add later) because I'm not with my car...it's currently in Florida and I'm currently in Reno, NV, but I will tell you I've driven around 25,000 miles in 2019.

Other milestones:

• 47 Places off the list (finishing the year on #200)
• 4 Places revisited
• 61 Places I spent the night (and unequivocally, Sam-e-cito has the most comfortable bed)
• 25 Marriotts (Thanks, Cort!!)
• 22 Airbnbs
• 7 Random Hotels
• 4  Family Guest Rooms (Thanks - Lindseys, Gees, T3 (2X), T4)
• 1  My Apartment
• 1  Boat
• 1  Train
• 37 States
• I'm only missing Alabama and Hawaii (and I'll be going to Alabama in 2020)
• 5 Number of Times I wasn't sure if I was in Illinois/Missouri/Iowa
• 1 Oral Surgery
• 4 Dental Professionals in 2 States Visited
• 1 Really Amazing Year with Uncountable Memories
• Oh, and I had purple hair for a little while

Now, does anyone know anything about Canadian temporary resident/work laws?  Because I would love to do this same thing in Canada soon.

James Madison's Montpelier

The first time I visited Montpelier, they had just opened the house for tours.  It was, quite literally empty. Nothing had been restored, there was no furniture, no carpets, just an empty house, stripped of its years of changes back to the original walls.

Wow what a difference less than a decade makes.  There were many pieces that were original to Madison's time at Montpelier including furniture and at least one original window.



Montpelier was also home to over 300 human beings held as property by the Madison family.  Montpelier has put together a fantastic program "The Mere Distinction of Colour", and it is so powerful.  I stifled sobs walking through the presentation and how it humanized the enslaved community that lived, worked, dreamed, loved, suffered, and died here.  At it's height, slavery was a Three billion, yes billion, dollar industry.  There was no way, no matter how much our Founding Fathers preached against slavery they weren't willing to go against that economic engine.


In fact, over and over during the tour of dead presidents I was reminded that while they said they right things about slavery they all (YES, ALL, EVEN OUR VERY FAVORITES) time and time again chose their personal and family wealth and well-being over the moral choice of freeing their human property, or passing laws against owning human beings. These men, who created an entire country out of big ideas couldn't come up with one big idea that ended slavery.  And I don't really think they even tried that hard.

At 8 years old, Madison was deeded an infant (named Billey) by his maternal grandmother. Billey was the only slave Madison freed, and in fact, he didn't actually free him.  He sold him into an apprenticeship from which he would be free in seven years.  And he only did that after considering bringing him to Virginia.  He said of Billey,

"I am persuaded his mind is too thoroughly tainted to be a fit companion for fellow slaves in Virga. [Yeah, Madison was afraid he'd talk the others into thinking freedom was attainable - WHAT AN ASSHOLE] The laws here do not admit of his being sold for more than 7 years.  I do not expect to get near the worth of him..."

Virginia is for Lovers (of Cider, History, and other Adventures)

I decided that on this trip to Charlottesville I'd do all the stuff I never seemed to have time for when I previously visited.  I love Charlottesville and the surrounding area of Virginia, and it's definitely on my short list of places to live.  

First up, Albermarle Ciderworks
I love a good cidery and this one wasn't too far from some of the other places I wanted to see. I stopped by and did the Classic tasting flight and bought a baguette for lunch.  



As I was finishing up one the employees came over and asked how everything is.  I told her that I ranked them, she took a quick look and declared I had a "softer palette".  I also mentioned that I was wondering if I should buy a bottle of something from the Premium tasting without actually tasting.  "No need," she declared and brought me a taste.  She also brought me another to taste that she thought I'd like based on how I ranked the others.  I ended up buying bottles of both of the extra tastings, and found out she was actually one of the owners.





Afterwards, I headed over to James Monroe's Highland. This is perhaps the least developed of the Charlottesville area presidential homes.  James Monroe was our 5th president and lived at Highland with his family from 1799 to 1823.  Fire destroyed the main house in the mid-1800s and that coupled with "enhancements" made by later owners meant that mystery and misunderstanding surrounded the site for years.  Historians and archaeologists are working hard to uncover the truth and restore the property to the age of the Monroe's. 

In 2016, archaeological work uncovered remains from the 1799 main house.  This meant the "house" they'd been showing for years was likely actually the guest house.

I also found out on this tour that Monroe died on July 4th, 1831. The simultaneous deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (2nd and 3rd presidents) were exactly 5 years previous.  


Even though he called for the abolition of slavery, Monroe also enslaved as many as 250 people in his lifetime, freeing only 1, Peter Marks.  He inherited legal human property at 16, when his father bequeathed to him an enslaved boy name Ralph as well as several unnamed farm hands. In 1810, Monroe was one of the county's largest slave owners with only 14 households owning more human beings (one of which was Thomas Jefferson).

In the late 1820s Monroe established Liberia as a place where freed US slaves could be resettled. It did not go well.  He was one of the few founding fathers not to die in debt - primarily because he sold off his property (including slaves) and then petitioned the federal government for reimbursement of tens of thousands of dollars for entertaining and protocol expenses incurred as a public servant.

Confounding Confirmed

When I started planning this trip across the country my intention was to start by heading east, then north, west, etc. basically counter-clockwise from Houston around the country.

I started the itinerary, version after version, and I would get to Montana-ish and everything would fall apart.  The dates and places wouldn't work, the timelines didn't fit, nothing about it made sense. I would hit a scheduling brick wall.  

Eventually I gave up and decided to go clockwise.  From Houston to New Mexico - west, then north, east, etc.  And, if you're following me here, on 1000 Places, or any of my social media you'll see that this itinerary has been amazing.  Not only have I had amazing weather, but the way the schedule came together means that I was able to add another 2 places from the List.  

Amazing, right?

And then today....this was the news.  Guess where I would've been if I'd gone through with the original plan?

'Historic' winter storm dumps 3 feet of snow, smashes records in West

Montana Governor Declares Emergency As Early Snowstorm Dumps Several Feet of Snow in Northern Rockies

A possibly historic snow storm in the West plus a heat wave in the East — what’s going on?

I know that people can discern the Holy Ghost in a million different ways, but for me it has always been a confounding, never a confirmation.  I never get a, "Hey J, that is definitely the right decision.  Good job!"

But I do, on occasion, experience a fog, a brick wall, a plan not working out no matter how much work I put in, or how many angles I approach it from... and I know.  I know that 

I better head around the country clockwise or get buried in record breaking snow in Montana.  

I Roam Around, Around, Around

6 MONTHS
• 16,675 miles
• 20 States
• 14 Airbnbs
• 17 Hotels
• 4 Family Guest Rooms
• 26 Places Crossed off THE LIST (plus 1 revisted)

Planned itinerary:


Actual Itinerary


States Visited in 2019