Ace and I are heading home to Baltimore, starting tomorrow, and once again you're invited along for the ride -- this time a considerably longer ride than on the way to Montana.

We'll start off heading directly south from Missoula, with our first day of driving ending in Pocatello, Idaho. Why Pocatello? Because we like the name. From there, we're headed to Best Friends, the animal sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, where we'll visit for a day before heading on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

After that, we'll spend Christmas in the Phoenix area, home to a father and brother (of me, not Ace). After Christmas, we'll press on through Texas, bound for Alabama, home of my son. (If you're wondering why we're taking such a southerly route, well, that, as they say, is another blog entry. I'll explain later.)

After that, Ace and I will push on to North Carolina to visit a couple of days with my mother before one more day of driving to reach Baltimore somewhere around 2008.

All told, it will be 3,866 miles, and about 54 hours of driving -- or so Mapquest tells me. Please feel free to join us. The more the merrier. To make following along easier, here's a handy key to the map above. 

A:Missoula, Montana

B. Pocatello, Idaho

C. Kanab, Utah, home of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

D. Cameron, Arizona, after a trip to the Grand Canyon's North Rim

E. Phoenix

F. El Paso

G. Dallas

H. Florence, Alabama

I. Winston-Salem, N.C.

J. Baltimore

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