"Shopping" wasn't exactly an eloquent way to express my dislike of Charlottesville. In reality, it's probably something closer to what Black Putin wrote. I just don't like the vibe I get from it...if I didn't have friends there, I'd never go.

Anyway, it looks like the summer trip is going to be:

Memphis
New Orleans
Austin
Santa Fe/Albuquerque
Possibly somewhere in AZ...possibly not
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Portland
Seattle
Vancouver
Glacier National Park
Missoula
Boise
Salt Lake City
Badlands (???...it depends)
Minneapolis
Madison
back home

Obviously, I'm not going to be able to spend as much time everywhere as I'd like, just because we're going to be hitting so many places. I'm still going to try to get enough of a feel for everywhere that I can pick two or three places to revisit for a longer time and then make a decision on where to move.

I'd also like to make it to Portland, Maine one day, but not on this trip.

A couple stops (LA, in particular) are just to visit and not anywhere I'd want to live.

i don't have any idea if you're going to find what you're looking for, but that looks like a great trip. are you taking an RV, or staying in hostels or what? because the only thing I'd be worried about would be keeping it from turning into a string of one-strike-and-you're-out bar hopping.

Yeah totally. I did a cross-country, month long roadie when I was 22 and it was the one of the best things I've ever done.