Day 4 Cross Country. The south!

Today went very well. Went to breakfast with the one and only Matt Camp. Both Jake and I were in the Marine Corps with him. Haven't seen him in forever so that was awesome. The humidity in Houston can suck it! I know, I know, it won't be much different in Pensacola. Shut up! lol. Even the dogs started panting the second they hit the humid air. We hit the road around 11AM and headed into Louisiana. It was a nice short (4 1/2 hrs) drive. Once in LA it got very lush and green. That was nice to see after about 3 days of desert.

So let me just say that I have this fear of driving over high bridges and over passes. Especially if the incline is steep and the side walls appear to be short. Like if I'm driving and all of a sudden the road leaves the earth and looks like it goes straight up, I start to panic. We drove over 4 or more bridges and over passes like that today and each time I had a mini panic attack. I could feel my heart start racing and my body tense up each time. I kept telling myself to breath, it would be fine. lol. I HATE them!

On the brighter side, I saw my first armadillo today. Of course it was dead on the side of the road but I saw one "in the wild" if you will. We drove over the Atchafalaya Basin. It's about 23 miles of marshy goodness. Jake saw a couple gators. Eeek! Hit a few sprinkles right before crossing the Mississippi river. I'm shocked that we have made it all the way to Baton Rouge LA and have yet to hit rain! Well, we're staying the night here in Baton Rouge. Just had some delicious dinner. I had my first fried green tomatoes. I'm in heaven!!! I may decide to live off of them all together. Also had some Cajun fried catfish and bay shrimp. Yummy! Now I'm enjoying a container of Neapolitan ice cream from the gas station. Deeeee-lish! We checked in with the driver from Bekins. He said he should be able to deliver our belongings on Tuesday so only one night in the house without furniture. That would rock! Tomorrow we head out of Louisiana, over Mississippi, Alabama, and on into Florida. I need a break from the driving! I love it but I pulled a muscle in my neck at the gym before we left and driving is not helping it at all. The animals however are doing great. They're in the routine and have no problems. Even the cats are chill. Almost there. Sigh...... :)

Day 2 & 3 of trip (Suck it Texas!)

How I'm not in jail or divorced at this point is a mystery. So our first evening was spent in Tucson AZ. I spent about an hour reconfiguring the back of the vehicle. Since Ella's retaining wall was NOT capable of retaining her, I tore it out and put it across the back of the front seats. Figured all the animals could fend for themselves. This proved to work much better! Ella stayed in the back. Satchmo the black cat is another story. He kept reappearing in the passenger seat and I kept launching him over my head, back into the back. He eventually got the hint.

Driving through the SE corner of Arizona and through most of New Mexico was gorgeous. Temps dropped from the 100s to about 88 which felt nice. That area is still desert but much more scenic. Lots of vegetation, canyons, etc. Was a nice drive. We stopped at a small gas station somewhere near the edge of AZ. I went inside to use the restroom and there was a biker dude in there. He smiled at me so I smiled back and then he said "I'm about to make your day darlin. (pause for effect) You're a beautiful woman. Now, don't you feel happy?" LOL. Uh, that depends Sir. What did you mean about making my day? Are you trying to say that no one in their right mind would compliment me so I'm sure to be overjoyed? lol. We also met a very sweet yet VERY "mountain folk" looking woman. She was probably only in her late 50's but very wrinkled and weathered......... and she only had 2 teeth. I'm not kidding! She was sweet though and wanted to see my Dachshund. Oh the joys of traveling. By the time we got near Fort Stockton, we were exhausted. I screwed up and forgot that from Tucson to Fort Stockton, we went through 2 time changes. We didn't get to the hotel until 7pm, and were tired and pissy. I won't go into details but lets just say both of us were pushing buttons and it was a rough night. I went way past my breaking point and eventually crawled under a sheet and cried my eyes out. I had been suppressing that for months with all the goodbyes, stress, and excitement. However, after a few minutes in our own corners, we settled all disputes and went to bed happy. Then I woke up at 4:30AM sick as all hell. Apparently my body is not amused by all the fast food. I'll spare you the details but I wanted to curl up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor and die. Bleh. I really contemplated staying another night at the hotel so I could get some sleep but I knew we were going to meet up with our Marine buddy Matt in Texas on Sunday morning and I didn't want to miss it so I did the Marine thing and forced myself up and into gear. About 2 hours into the drive, I was feeling better so I'm glad I forced myself. :)

Passed a cow farm and my city folk dogs were going nuts. All I could hear was snouts sniffing madly. lol. Haven't hit any rain yet. Surprising! We've seen it raining in the desert but haven't hit it. The drive from Fort Stockton TX to Houston TX was LONG! Some parts were scenic, some blah, just took forever! So we're in Houston and ready to crash. Can't wait to meet up with Matt for breakfast. We haven't seen him in years and I miss my brother. Then it's a relatively short drive into Baton Rouge LA where we'll be staying the night. Yeay! Almost to FL. I'm glad the animals are doing so well. They're all in the groove now and doing just fine! Thank God! lol. More to come soon. :)