Eighteen months ago, Glenn and Ann Moore sold their souls to the highway. The couple hawked their five-acre Walhalla spread, bought a 28-foot RV and set out in search of America.

With both Ann and Glenn in their late-50s at the time, they figured it was now or never.

“If we waited until we were 75, we might not be able to do it, and gas may be so expensive then we couldn’t afford to travel like this,” Ann said.

To facilitate a gypsy lifestyle, Glenn and Ann parted ways with many of their possessions. Glenn enjoyed the subtraction.

“The only thing I really miss is the swing we had in our yard,” he said. “We’ve learned to lives with a lot less. If we can’t spend it, drink it or eat it, we don’t need it.”

According to Ann, that’s Glenn’s outlook distilled to its essence.

“The man has probably the most intense form of wanderlust of anyone I’ve ever met. I think I had it, too, but just didn’t know what it was. He told me he started to run away when he was 12 and has been running away ever since,” Ann said.

Both Glenn and Ann had earned the escape. After retiring from the Navy in 1985, Glenn worked in local factories, and later on, ran his own restaurant and screen door businesses. Ann was recently retired after 40 years as a hairdresser.

INTO THE WILD

Although the Moores travel light, their existence isn’t Spartan. Their RV is outfitted with satellite TV, Wi-Fi and a laptop. Glenn and Ann use e-mail to keep in touch with friends and share fresh snapshots from their travels.

The couple cuts a wiggly and righteous path across the country. They avoid interstates at all costs, instead rambling through small towns and the forgotten “in-between.” This strategy led them to downtown murals in North Dakota and funky art galleries in Wisconsin.

“You don’t see anything on the interstates; you just whiz past the world,” Ann said.

State after state disappeared into their rearview mirror, from Florida to Kansas to Wyoming. The Moores’ first jaunt included a three-month stay in the Grand Canyon National Park. But the grandeur there was just a prologue to grittier adventures.

In October 2007, the Moores arrived at the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Located on the Gulf Coast of Texas between Beaumont and Houston, the refuge contains 43,000 acres of marshes and prairies.

Glenn and Ann would spend the next five months amid the wilderness. As refuge volunteers, the Moores assisted staff; the endeavor provided the couple with rare, raw glimpses of nature. They helped band waterfowl for research and tracking purposes during nighttime excursions aboard airboats.

In addition, the Moores helped seed native prairie grasses and flowers. Flora plays an important role in the refuge, providing food and/or shelter for a panoramic cast of birds, including herons, spoonbills, hawks, orioles and sandpipers. The blooms also attract a blizzard of monarch butterflies.

Then there were the alligators.

The Anahuac Refuge is home to hundreds of the dangerous reptiles. Many of the gators are three- to five-feet long, but some are 12-feet or larger.

“After a while, we learned places there we could get within five feet (of the alligators),” Ann said. “It’s amazing to be able to get that close and see the size and color. The ones that have been in hibernation, they’re hungry. We were constantly cautioning visitors coming into the refuge to keep their dogs on a leash and not to come near the water. Alligators like dogs. They can take a dog in seconds.”

IT TAKES TWO

For Glenn, fishing was the peak of Anahuac’s charms. He took offshore trips, catching red fish, flounder, sea trout and even crabs and shrimp. Upon his return, Ann would grill the bounty over hot coals.

“We eat much healthier traveling,” Glenn said. “If we were at home, I’d have bacon, eggs and potatoes for breakfast. On the road, we’ll have some cereal and a piece of fruit. There are local farmers’ markets everywhere.”

A morning guy, Glenn would awake before sunrise to walk the couple’s Border Collie mix, Lizzie. Glenn also became enamored with river otters. Upon finding a den, he would keep nocturnal tabs on the mammals. He’d laugh at their furry antics and watch the young grow up before his eyes.

Of course, all the volunteer work wasn’t evocative. The Moores also mowed grass, maintained roads and worked in the refuge’s visitor information center.

“Whatever we could do to help (staff) do their jobs more easily,” Ann said.

Not every couple is cut out for RV life. Glenn and Ann believe two things help them handle the proximity: One, they are friends as well as husband and wife; two, they each have portable interests. Books provide commonality; the Moores’ favorite authors include Louis L'Amour and Pat Conroy.

When they felt the walls closing in, Glenn would go fishing or Ann would curl up with a book outside.

“We both have these small projects we can take along that don’t take up a lot of space,” Ann said. “I sew, do clay carvings and paint. Glenn collects coins and has a metal detector, so he does that.”

The Moores’ marriage exudes old-fashioned warmth, but they met in a most modern way: on the Internet. Glenn and Ann were married six years ago on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Eventually, they hope to visit every national park and as many state parks and refuges as they can.

After a recent return visit to Walhalla, the couple has returned to the road. On April 1, they set out to Pea Island for another three months of volunteering. In mid-July, the Moores will head up to the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Reserve in New Hampshire.

Come October, Glenn will once again steer the RV towards Anahuac. The alligators will be waiting.