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This is the first Memorial Day since the death of Captain Mark Garner last summer. He was serving in Afghanistan.

Today, family and friends will place flowers at his grave in Elkin, North Carolina. But Garner's wife Nickayla and a few of their close friends won't be there.

"We're gonna celebrate Memorial Day doing what he loved more than almost anything in the world and that's travelling and going to countries that most Americans have never even heard of," says Nickayla, by phone from Germany.

They're calling it the "Mark Garner Memorial Adventure."

"It's the trip of a life time," adds Nickayla.

She and Mark both grew up in Elkin, but the town wasn't big enough for them. During the six short years of their marriage, they travelled constantly.

On their honeymoon - between Mark's first two deployments to Iraq - they spent a month in Asia. And they were thrilled when the Army sent them to a base in Germany.

"Every single weekend - every moment possible - he and I were constantly gallivanting all over Europe," says Nickayla.

Then Mark deployed to Afghanistan. He couldn't travel, but he could plan. Nickayla says their last conversations consisted predominantly of Mark talking about the trip they would take of the Baltic States after his deployment.

On July 6, 2009, Mark's humvee was hit by a roadside bomb. He was 30 years old.

When Nickayla received Mark's personal items from Afghanistan, she found a surprise in his wallet: A piece of paper detailing each of the countries they would visit, the mileage from their home in Germany and how many tanks of diesel they would need.

Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga, Kiev and the other destinations are scrawled carefully in Mark's handwriting. Total kilometers: 5,219. He even translated the distance into miles: 3,236. His calculations show they'll need 93 gallons of fuel for the trip.

And at this very moment, Nickayla's on the road, following the path her husband charted, in painstaking detail, from the battlefield.

"Yes, we're doing the exact same itinerary that he had planned," says Nickayla. "This is his trip."

And she's taking a big photo of Mark to hold up in pictures along the way. She knows he's watching her with that "famous Mark Garner smile" and laughing.

"He's saying, 'That's my girl, enjoying life and doing everything I had asked her to do if something would happen to me,'" says Nickayla.

There were actually quite a few things Mark asked his wife to do if he died. Nickayla says he was a meticulous planner.

"We discussed every single detail of his funeral down to me wearing a black hat."

They also discussed what he wanted her to do with her life after him.

"He gave me his blessing to do what it is I thought was right to continue and live life," says Nickayla.

Mark told her to buy three burial plots. He wanted her to be able to remarry.

"Of course wanted me to be buried next to him, but he said he was fine if I also was buried next to my second husband," says Nickayla, choking up. "I think that's pretty selfless. Not many men can say something like that."

"He knew I would need to live life after him, so that's what I'm doing," says Nickayla. "I'm going to these countries, but it's just not as much fun without him and to share it with him. It's bittersweet."

Nickayla Myers-Garner is honoring the memory of her husband Captain Mark Garner this Memorial Day, taking the road trip he planned for them before he was killed in Afghanistan.

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How wonderful is your story! Bittersweet, yes, but a love like yours comes along so rarely that it is great to hear about how you are getting on with life, knowing he is smiling and watching. He lives on through you and through his precious little namesake nephew!

Your husband, and indeed you, make me proud to be an American. Thank you for your story of joy and memories. We Americans don't usually get to hear the stories of our soldiers who fight for our freedom back home. Thanks for sharing your love story.

Greetings Nickayla, I have heard much about you through my brother Kurt. You are a woman to be admired with all the other spouces that have faced the ultimate price for my family & our country to continue to be safe. This story I have shared with my children, they need to know life outside of their home & daily life activities. Bless you & be safe with your future travels. Quita

So sad it made an old man cry. Thanks so much for sharing this truely beautifal story. Mark thank you for enjoying life the way I do and also thank you from the heart for paying the ultimate price so we can enjoy what we do. Thank you nickayla for being stong enough to share your story and go on, no matter how hard it is at times, and do what Mark would like and continuing to live lfe to the fullest.

This is so sad but yet some dream is coming true. Bless Marks family

You guys are still in my prayers,Mark thank you again for paying the ultimate sacrifice for each and every one of us. God bless

Hi Nickayla - God Speed you on your journey... your memories of Mark are re-MARK-able... I know he is proud of you, as we are of him & the sacrifice he made.

Nickayla, thanks for sharing thiese memories. You have demonstrated a lot of courage and are to be admired for how well you have carried on and chronicled your life and memories with Mark. He will never be forgotten. You are remembered often by your Elkin "family". May your travels be safe. Bob

What a great couple. That is so sad.