The Long Road Trip

Sorry for the delay. I was too tired at the end of each day to do squat, and we've run into problems with both our cable and internet since our AZ arrival (not to be resolved until Thursday). I'm at the pool using the free wifi - not so bad.

So where were? Leaving! First we stocked up on the avocados that had finally started falling from the trees.

Then we packed the truck.
Moving is when you realize it sucks you don't have any friends (or any that live near you, anyway). I was quite amazed that we were able to get everything intact down the stairs, and across the street, including the king-sized mattress. If it hadn't been for the barbed wire next door tearing the damn thing, all would have been perfect. I did cry "uncle" at the couch, unable to lift the thing, so we had to take it apart. The rest - no problem.



Then we enjoyed a nearby B&B's unsecured internet connection while ensconced in our empty apartment and watched a missed episode of Dancing with the Stars. This is how we were hoping to watch it.

Here's where we ended up.

The signal was stronger there. The cats and I sat on the counter.

Tuesday it was up early and on the road. It took 12 hours just to get to Tallahassee, FL, and we couldn't believe we still had another 200 miles to go to get out of the state the following day. I will say that the cats were pretty good, for the most part. Zura loved to look out the window and was an equal opportunity lap sitter. Jack just stayed zonked most of the way.

Sunrise in rearview mirror.

They didn't like the time before the sun came up, thanks to weird shadows and light effects, but the rest was a piece of cake (until the last day when Zura started behaving like a caged, rabid animal). The cab of the truck was surprisingly comfortable, and Michael & I traded driving at each gas-tank refueling (and took a wee).

See ya Florida!

Wednesday we were up at 6 am to try to get to Houston, TX. We had really hoped to see a sign that said, "You are now leaving Florida," but had to settle for one that welcomed us to Alabama. We were in and out of that state in 45 miles (lots of dead armadillos on the roadside), through Mississippi in 75 miles, and then hunkered down for a long 3+ hours in Louisiana thanks to incredibly crappy roads and a lot of traffic. As soon as we crossed the Texas border, we started to get rained on. Worse, we saw a sign that informed us that we now had 877 miles to go to reach the west end of the state. Ugh! Groooaaan.

We made it to Houston and wanted to take advantage of the hour we'd just gained thanks to a time zone change, when we hit traffic. Lots and lots of traffic. It took us over 2 hours to get out of Houston. %$%^!



We got as far as Sealy and called it quits. There was a storm system we had to contend with, bringing heavy rains, high winds (not good for gas mileage), and thunder/lightning (not good for kitty Zura) just to make things interesting, so we stopped before that hit....and dealt with it in the morning.

It was a long 2 1/2 hours before we cleared the cruddy weather Thursday morning, and then we were on our way. Can you believe the speed limit was 80 mph? We only went 75 because with the cross winds, hills (!) and increased speed, our mileage went to complete crap (which is pretty bad when you have crappy mileage to begin with). Luckily, gas prices were falling just under $3/gallon, with the exception of Junction, TX who had the only station for miles around.

We were aiming for Las Cruces, New Mexico but gained another time-zone hour, so pushed to Deming. Where we had to turn the heat on in the hotel room and woke up to 36 degrees. At least the sunrise was pretty. It was so typical desert - pale lines of blues, purples, and oranges.



We were now a little over an hour outside of Arizona and about 7 hours from our final destination.



While the scenery was just as we remembered it, we were rather rusty on our highway/road knowledge.

We pulled up to the apartments at noon (after a final time change - yes we're 3 hours earlier than the east coast at the moment (2 hours starting Sunday). Wahoo! Incredibly, the truck, which had taken 3 1/2 hours to fill, took exactly 1 hour to empty, despite a steep set of stairs on this end too.

%$#*(!

The only casualties on the trip were a lamp, a couple of things on Michael's moped, and the pants we were wearing, which both got ripped somehow. Well, that was the only casualty until I was pulling into the UHaul place to return the truck. A woman ran into me from behind. Can you frickin' believe it? Four days and twenty-six hundred miles in traffic, rain, and other craziness, and I get walloped seconds from the trip's finale. Luckily, I'd paid the ultimate insurance on the thing, so didn't have to do/pay anything.

The apartment is so big compared to the one in Key West that we're undergoing the same shock and awe we did when we  moved off of Jacumba. (No more cubicle shower! An actual closet!) Although in some ways, it's also just like Jacumba in that most of the time we didn't use half the boat and won't use half this apartment either.

I'll give you more info on the place in the next (last?) installment, but let me end this one by saying that it was so quiet last night we almost couldn't fall asleep. And this was the sunrise Jack and I watched from bed this morning (Michael was there too, but his eyes were closed).

And then from the patio while I was in my bathrobe, slippers (thanks Tina!), and with Diet Dr. Pepper in hand.

Zura won't come out from under the bed because she's scared we're going to throw her into the truck for another 14 hours. I'd be hiding too if I thought we'd have a 5th day of that. But we don't! Wahoo!