FEATURED BLOG
A 3,000 Mile Drive: WI to MT to AZ
With winter bearing down and the temperatures starting to drop faster than the leaves on the trees, Amity made the executive decision to skip winter this year and head south to chase the snowbirds and warmth in Tucson, Arizona. We timed this contract transition perfectly so we could spend some time in Whitefish, MT with friends and family for Thanksgiving. We were able to break our travels into two big drives, both around 1,500 miles of total driving. The first half was filled with several first-time experiences, the boredom that only comes with driving across North Dakota and Eastern Montana, and the excitement of being back in the mountains of Montana again. The second half of the move would take us southbound through some of the gnarliest winter driving, down through Utah for a pit stop at my aunt’s house with a side quest into Arches National Park, and finally into the desert for another “winter” in Arizona; this time in Tucson! Buckle up, because it’s going to be an adventure!
Mile: 76,832
Quote of the Blog: “Whitefish is always on the route to my next contract location.” - Amy Zurcher
Song of the Blog: “Slow Ride”
Leaving Fondy was bittersweet. We really enjoyed our time in Wisconsin, and it will be missed. I was able to put the finishing touches on getting the car packed and the house cleaned while Amity was at her last work shift. I snagged all the necessary Wisconsin products to get us by for the next week; aka curds! Our plan was to break this drive up into three segments. We aimed to get as far as we could into Minnesota on the first night. It was an easy and quick drive over to Alexandria, MN. The next two days of driving were through the part of the country I never thought I would go through: central North Dakota and eastern Montana. The first day we drove across North Dakota and into Montana. We ended up making the first day shorter because in eastern Montana there are several stretches where this is nothing for hours. We took some of this time to get turn the car into our office and get some work done while the other drove. We didn’t want to push past Glendive and end up in some tiny town looking for a hotel, so we made it our shorter day and stayed the night in Glendive. This gave us the evening to check out Glendive. This town has come up several times on Amity’s job board at great pay, but after an evening there we don’t know if we could actually do it. There are more casinos than coffee shops, and aside from the casinos, there isn’t much else to do. We had a couple of good laughs when Amity kept saying that we could easily “head over to Montana” on the train if we lived here. I had to keep reminding her that we were actually in Montana. She’s just been spoiled by her visions of what Montana should look like.
The third day of driving was long, but we made good time. Eastern Montana actually has a little more mountains and geography to look at than we expected. We didn’t see much wildlife other than a massive flock of snow geese; thousands of birds. I guess the world wanted to throw a snowbird metaphor at us during our own personal migration south for winter. As we passed the Cut Bank area, we began to see the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains. This sight gave us both the feeling that we had finally made it to “Montana”! One of the best parts of this drive is knowing that we’re looking at Glacier National Park as we get closer and closer to the mountains. As we came into the mountains and up Marias Pass, we entered one of the special regions of the greater Glacier National Park area: the Middle Fork of the Flathead River corridor. This is where we got married in Essex, and we’ve spent countless weekends hiking, rafting, and exploring there. One of our favorite spots is the Conerys’ cabin just outside Essex. We wondered if they would be up there as we drove by, and big win… THEY WERE! We surprised them by pulling up with no warning. As always, they welcomed us into their cabin with open arms. Being in Essex with some of our best friends, Michael and Maggie, was the perfect way to welcome us back to Montana after a long drive. It felt like we were already home by the time we got back in the car to finish the drive. Nothing says you’re home quite like shutting off the GPS and navigating the rest of the way on a lifetime of memory.
Once we pulled into Whitefish, we headed straight to my mom’s house. As always, she was so excited to see us. We spent a couple of hours chatting and catching up with her and Tori about our drive and our last couple of weeks in Wisconsin. Being back home is fantastic, and we’re always grateful for the warm welcome we get when we pull in. We had a final 10 minutes left in the car for the first leg of our journey to get the car up to Craig and Amy Moore’s house for the week. As we drove across Whitefish, we realized it had been nearly two years since our car was last in Montana and that it had driven in over 25 states. Pulling into the Moores’, we were welcomed by our favorite dog, Wally! He was so pumped to see us he couldn’t hold back his barking. We got ourselves situated for the week, as we planned on staying there while in Whitefish. The highlight of our first night in town was giving them their holiday PJs. This is becoming an annual tradition. Last winter we were in Whitefish for Christmas and got them and their pets matching PJs. This year we gave the dog and cat matching bandanas, while the Moores got new PJs so they could stop wearing the ones we gave them last year.
Over the next couple of days, we spent a lot of time connecting with friends. We watched football at the Northern, which is by far one of the best places to watch football in our travels due to all the transplants from everywhere. I swear at one point I was in a sea of Packers fans wondering if I had even left Wisconsin. For dinner, we headed out to Michael and Maggie’s house with the Seefeldts. Dinners like this make it feel like we never left. That night, we gifted Brian a 12-pack of Leinenkugel beer. We had been sending him photos of us treating the 12-pack like a member of the family on our trip over, so we all shared a good laugh. Being able to share some knowledge of the area he grew up in and bring him beer from home is what friendship is all about. The next day, winter finally showed up in the Flathead Valley. We decided to head up to the ski area and catch some snowflakes on our tongues. It wasn’t much longer than 10 minutes in the wind and snow before Amity broke down and admitted she couldn’t be happier to be moving to the desert for the winter. Last winter was tough on her, and she needs a break from it. The carousel of friends and activities continued that night with dinner at Wasabi with Mike and Danni Black. The last time we were in town was for their wedding, and the last time we saw them was at their reception. They are great, and marriage looks fantastic on them! We spent the evening trying to convince Mike that between all the cheese curds and Packers fans, Wisconsin is legit, and the ice fishing is insane. I would love to spend a week on the ice with him someday. Bonus to our dinner that night: Fio (Bobby’s wife) was our server. We all met up after dinner for a nightcap, which turned into a Whitefish friend reunion the moment the word got out that we were at the Remington. The marathon continued Tuesday night with some trivia. Bobby, Tori, and I were able to outmatch Amity, Craig, Amy, and friends. Wednesday was more of a chill day. I spent most of the day working, and Amity hiked snowy trails with friends. During the day, we took our nieces (Cadence and Evie) and nephew (Brady) bowling. Cassie and my mom came too, making it a whole family affair. Big shoutout to Brady for getting Baptized this week! Congratulations! That evening, I helped Cadence harvest snow to start the base for her sledding ramp in the yard before taking my mom to dinner for tacos at Jalisco’s. It was fun explaining to Cadence that we were essentially building a ski jump on flat ground. She loved that idea, as she is probably the most excited for skiing and winter out of all of us. It’s the Radness in her!
Thursday was our last day in Whitefish. We had a lot planned. Amity started the day with a the Whitefish Turkey trot, while I slept. We had to finish getting the car packed, say goodbye to as many friends as we could, and celebrating Thanksgiving with my family. With the car nearly ready to go, we whipped up a side dish for dinner and headed to my mom’s. Dinner was amazing! Big shoutout to everyone for bringing delicious food and making the night so enjoyable. We capped the night with some delicious chocolate-covered fry bread Cadence made and a fun board game. We don’t get enough time with everyone, so nights like this are really fulfilling for us. We wish we could be around more. As the night ended, we said our goodbyes and gave my mom extra-long hugs before heading over to the Moores’ for our last night in Whitefish. These weeks always seem like we have more time than we actually do. We weren’t able to see everyone, but we know we’ll be back soon to spend more time with everyone on the ski hill.
Early Friday morning, we packed the last bags into the car and set out for the second half of our drive. We had another 1,500 miles ahead of us, and we woke up to a fresh snowstorm and dicey roads. We knew we’d have some weather, but at no point did the forecast say we’d be driving on the front edge of a massive snowstorm for the entirety of Montana. We really hit the snow just south of Kalispell, and then I spent the next six hours nearly white-knuckled, driving on sketchy roads. It felt like we had one last final boss to conquer before we could leave Montana. At 45–50 mph, we slowly made our way south and into Idaho. It was nearly at the state border that the weather broke and the roads dried up. From there, we still had another six hours of driving to get to Park City. My Aunt Kelly and her husband Chu live there and were kind enough to take us in for the night and feed us. We spent the evening sharing stories and answering their many questions about our travels. Chu is from Wisconsin, and we had many overlapping stories. It was a great way to forget about the gnarly drive we had just done. The next morning, while we had breakfast, Kelly pulled out an atlas and we planned our route to Arches National Park and Moab before crossing out of Utah and into Arizona. The next day we executed the plan to perfection. Moab, Arches, and the Canyonlands area are unreal. The hype is definitely real. I had no idea how rugged and otherworldly this area is. We drove into Arches and did a quick hike around one of the many massive rock arches in the park. You could spend weeks in the Moab area, but we only had about an hour. After leaving the park, we had another six and a half hours to get to our next stop: Flagstaff, AZ. By the time we were pulling into the San Francisco Mountains, I started to feel a sense of home. I’ve driven that section of highway dozens of times going to and from Montana and Phoenix. It was a good feeling, because it was night and by that point we were zapped.
Waking up the next morning, we were greeted by one of our favorite breakfast spots from the last time we lived in Arizona: Filiberto’s! If you know, you know. If you don’t, you need to find out. One breakfast burrito turned into breakfast, lunch, and a road snack as we drove from the mountains around Flagstaff into the desert, past Phoenix, and on to our new home base in Tucson. There’s something about the ruggedness of the desert in this area that really fires me up. After the gnarly snow driving from a couple of days before, desert life and sunshine are hitting the spot. Flagstaff isn’t too far from Tucson, so we were able to pull into our new rental early in the afternoon. It was early enough that we could unload the car, unpack a bit, and walk down to an art festival a couple of blocks away. Our new rental is in a perfect spot. We’re a five-minute walk to the art and restaurant district of the city, a stone’s throw from the University of Arizona campus, and a 20-minute walk to Amity’s new clinic for the next 3–5 months. Amity has taken on the challenge of her first inpatient acute-care contract. With a hospital this size, she is nervous, excited, and ready to grow as a provider. After six days of driving, four days celebrating with family and friends in Montana, and crossing two new states over six total states, we celebrated with a cold beer and an early night in bed. It’s now time to reset life and embrace the desert, the cacti, and Living Rad in the desert! We like to call that MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
