What a week! Sunday Kevin and I hired a Mexican and emptied (most of) my apartment into a U-Haul and I left the building. AND the city. It was a rough day and I found myself at U-Haul watching them connect an 8x5 trailer to my soft-top Jeep Wrangler and found myself for the first time during all of this in total fear. I couldn't block out the voice in my head repeating, "Blood bath. Death trap." And here it is...





That said, once I started moving and got my confidence up I forgot this giant box was trailing me. It was easier than I expected and generally a pretty perfect drive down to Florida. I got out of NY late Sunday and vowed not to drive at night so stayed in S Jersey the first night, then Richmond VA and somewhere in Shit Carolina the nights after. The pets were amazing and seemed to love the adventure as much as I did.

My horribly un-PC note is about Shit Carolina. Granted, I was really tired when I got there so I was cranky and judgemental. But when I ran into 2 cars of ghetto-ass guys in the middle of nowhere at a gas station off the highway (which only once I arrived I noticed was across the street from a skanky strip club and scary motel) I was uncomfortable and pissed at Shit Carolina for serving this crap up to me. Then I drove like the devil as far as I could before dark and got a cheap motel, which was fine except there was only a Wendy's at a 'restaurant' having steak night. At this point my chest was tight and my back was sore and I wanted to chill out, have dinner, and have a strong drink. So I went to the steak night. I ordered one of the only things non-meat on the menu - catfish. "Ma'am, we are all AOUT of catfish darlin', saaarry." Then I ordered the salmon. All of out that too. She recommended the cod, I took it, it was clearly frozen for 10 years and more fried than freeze-dried fish. Plus french fries. A perfectly disgusting plate of brown food. AND... they didn't serve alcohol. Pissed as hell I went next door to Wendy's where I asked for a grilled cheese - basically a burger with no meat. The whole staff made fun of me and mocked me and I hated them, so I ordered a Frosty and only ate that. Then I went to my motel and opened a $70 bottle of wine that I was saving. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The following day I met the rents at Jekyll Island in S Georgia. Cute little hotel right on the beach. I brought Sadie out to see the ocean for the first time - yayy! Here's what she did...





(first step into the ocean, she peed. first dead horseshoe crab she found, she violently rubbed against it. classy girl)

From there I drove to my parent's house in N Florida, which is so quiet and surrounded by beautiful gardens, overlooking a lake. Unpacking and reorganizing is a bitch but not having to conform to a schedule or be anywhere makes it more than bearable. I've been dying for exercise and went 10 miles away to a state park today to hike where I discovered miles and miles of Jeep off-road trails. With the top down, the sunshine on my shoulders and my music cranked up I took on the trails and beat the shit out of them. My Jeep was tilted to the side at 45 degrees and bouncing over bumps that threw everything in the Jeep up a foot and it was the best feeling I've had in months. I went on to hike for an hour and then go back to my parents, where we hopped on the pontoon boat and boated to a bar and back. Today was a good day!!