Get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down

So right now, this is what we know.

Our tentative dates for travel are June 4-10 (ish ... I'll fly out June 2 or 3, and we'll leave shortly thereafter). We're driving from San Diego, Calif., to Birmingham, Ala. (Well, Alisa's not stopping in Birmingham. But I am.)

I'd like to pick up a state I haven't already visited, which means veering off the I-40 route we took last time. Whether we take a completely different route or we make a side trip is yet to be determined. (For the record, states I have already been to that are north of I-40 are Colorado and Kentucky.)

So ... we're open to suggestions. I might have to give up my goal of visiting 25 states before I turn 25, but I'm hoping we can come up with something to hold the dream together. The tricky part is we need to maximize our free places to stay and minimize hotels. Anyone have ideas? Must see stops between Cali and Bama? Other pointless things to add? Coffee shop recommendations?

I'm so not Type A.

I had to laugh when I read Alisa's first post. I just had to. I realize that she's the one making the big, dramatic, life-changing move -- but I'm the crazy half of the Tuscaloosa Twosome, and the notion of me keeping her calm is just a bit comical.

Oh, sure, I can do my best to encourage her as she moves from one coast to the other (or at least, rather near it). And I can discuss packing strategies and how to ship things until we're both blue in the face. But being laid-back is beyond me. It's just not the way I am.

You see, although the purpose of this trip is to move Alisa from Cali to Carolina, I'm already freaking out. I finally called her yesterday to establish (still tentative) dates for the drive, but that was only after plenty of worry about my job and where I'll be with that come June.

Now I've moved on to freaking out about planning the drive. We've talked about a couple different routes, and though I really don't want to believe it, I think taking a route similiar to our 2003 trek makes the most sense.

The problem here is that I set a goal of visiting 25 states before I turn 25. I'm at 24. My birthday is in July. I'm running out of time, and fast. I've already visited the southernmost states in the country ... so wouldn't it make more sense to drive from San Diego up the California coast into Oregon and Washington before turning for the south east?

You don't think so? Yeah, I don't think I could convince Alisa to go for it either. (But come on! It'd be fun. And think of all the coffee in Seattle.)