Starting off

For my parents, future self, and anybody else who wants to read, I'm putting some thoughts down on (virtual) paper about my road trip this summer.

For context, I decided to do a summer road trip for a few reasons:

• Starting grad school in the fall, so there was a natural break to finish up work early and take some time off.
• Rachel has been out in Yakima, WA for coming up on a year, so visiting her made sense.
• There are a number of national parks and other scenic sites that have been on my list for a while, most notably Glacier National Park and various spots in Northern California.
• Besides Rachel, other members of the Koller family are scattered in convenient locations for stopping by on this trip.

With Grandma and Grandpa's old VW Jetta Sportwagen loaded up, I'm headed westward, due back in New England the first week of August, which gives me about 6 weeks on the road. 

Enjoy!