Megan and Jonathan were married on September 8, 2013. About a month later, on October 11, 2013, they set out on their first adventure as a married couple. Below, they interview each other about why they have chosen this particular quest to mark their first months of marriage.

1. Why are you doing this? Megan: Last spring Jon and I were driving to the nearest town with an actual restaurant from where we lived in Eagle Butte. It was one of those beautiful big sky days in the SD plains and we were talking about our future. For some reason, I thought it would be a brilliant idea if we biked across the southern United States and made a movie about love. Since then, the trip morphed from bicycling to sailing the eastern seaboard to touring Italy to what we are doing now: bicycling from Black Hawk, SD to Los Angeles, CA.

I wanted to mark the beginning of our marriage with a challenge above and beyond just being a couple. He had a bike, I wanted a bike. He had some experience touring, and I wanted some experience. The phrase, "YOLO" (You Only Live Once) was widely used by the teens where we worked. We hope to be employed soon and maybe even starting a family in the next five years, so now seemed like the perfect time to do something crazy.

And crazy is exactly what it is. Biking in the fall/winter and calling it our honeymoon.

But on our 50th wedding anniversary, we can look at each other and smile thinking back to our first months of marriage on bicycles. Riding through rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine and doing it together.

Jonathan: I believe that if we complete this bike trip together, all of our wildest dreams will come true. Doing this trip is kind of like voting for Pedro. We don't exactly know what to expect, but I'm guessing it will be unusual and unusually awesome. Neither of us has been to the Southwest, started a bike tour in the fall, or watched snow forecasts to choose when and where to ride. It's an encouraging sign that lots of people think we're strange when they hear what we are doing! There are few things better than being strange together.

Couples get stronger when they work through challenges together, or so they say. We've been lucky enough to encounter relatively few challenges prior to this trip, so we are taking matters into our own hands. Our journey will force us to encourage and listen to one another, make decisions together, and put up with each other--24/7. We may be homeless at the moment, but as we ride we are building the foundation of our new family.

While bike touring may not be as hard work as backpacking or building a railroad, it is a reminder of all the comforts we take for granted these days. In a car, you may notice the hills in passing or the wind when you step outside; on a bicycle, you see hills and valleys from a distance, feel them in your legs as you traverse them, and begin to understand the shape of the land you are crossing. And you become acutely aware of the wind's speed and direction, the weather in general, when the sun will set, and the location of free electrical outlets. Both of us enjoy these experiences and are thankful for all that we normally have.

One other thing... when touring by bike, it seems that you always stumble upon new, random, and interesting experiences, connections, and friends. We've already run into several of these and I expect they will continue!

2. If you had to guess, how many days do you think it will take to complete the trip?

Jonathan: I really hope we'll be done by Christmas. Megan: 60 days

3. What is the name of your bicycle and why?

Megan: Excelsior. If you know me too well, you might be able to guess why. My favorite movie as of Christmas 2012 has been Silver Linings Playbook directed by David O. Russell. The lead character's personal motto is "Excelsior." It also happens to be the state of New York's motto. In Latin, excelsior is translated as "ever upwards."

Why excelsior? I like being positive and ambitious. Pat, the character from SLP, says, "This is what I learned at the hospital. You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, you have a shot at a silver lining." And I believe him.

Jonathan: It's called "The Hawk." It's a long story. In college a bunch of us had Razor scooters. But one friend got a knockoff brand scooter called "The Hawk." It was really heavy, so he had trouble keeping up as we raced down our sophomore hall and did sweet jumps. Later, when I was biking cross-country with friends in 2005, my bike was the slowest going down hills. Maybe because of its heavy frame and wind resistance--like that old scooter. So naturally it became known as "The Hawk."

4. What is your biggest fear?

Jonathan: Snakes and other desert creatures of the Southwest.

Megan: 1. Bears I was worried when we thought we were going to cross the Rockies that we might run into a grizzly and that I would die.

2. Menstruating in Nature I don't think I need to explain.

3. Psychopaths I am listening to an audiobook called The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. I listen to Ronson talk about psychopaths while I ride my bike without a gun or mace trying to come up with self-defense tactics in the off-chance that I am assaulted.

4. Ridiculously Strong Side Winds When riding from Custer to Edgemont, we experienced 4 hours of sleeting rain. Not only was it cold and wet (made slightly less miserable because I was listening to a book about psychopaths), but there were gusts of wind coming at me from the side at 30 miles per hour. I quickly became more fearful of wind than bears, menstruating, or psychopaths when I was blown into the traffic lane and fell over while still clipped into my pedals. So scared, I snapped at Jon saying, "I am not riding my bike anymore. I am going to walk." Edgemont was still another 8 miles, Jon's hands were numb, we were quarreling, and thank god, my Dad -- the sag wagon -- was only a phone call away. He came and picked me and my bike up and drove us into town.

5. What are you reading and/or listening to while you ride?

Megan: 1. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson 2. Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber 3. The Great Ideas of Psychology narrated by Jon Robinson (a variety of university lectures on the discipline) 4. David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell

Jonathan: So far, an audiobook of The Omnivore's Dilemma, appropriate for biking past cattle, cornfields, and other evidence of our industrial food system.

6. What is the single most important thing you've brought on this trip that you think will help you survive?

Megan: Peanut butter?

Jonathan: Money.