the end of the story for now!

Dropped Jeri and Jacqueline off at the airport and Bailey and I drove back wondering why the heck we didn't do this before! Not get rid of Jeri and Jacqueline, but why I stayed in Helena so long! Timing, it's all in the timing. So the landlord, Mark, and his girlfriend, Dana, took their two fluffy dogs and I took Bailey and we went to Woofstock, which was way more fun than unpacking or thinking about being here ALONE (except for Bailey). He looked a bit ridiculous in the hat, but he liked it and i figured it was protecting his bug eyes! I have no furniture but two stools and now some furniture off the roof of the house (standard chiki furniture). A chiki is a little outdoor cabana type thing for enjoying the nice ocean breeze while drinking marguaritas. Anyway, I also have a blow up mattress (which will be for guests once I get a real bed!) Wanted to show Bailey's day as a hippy at Woofstock. Tomorrow is my first day of work...they are sending me to Key West for two nights/three days. I guess that's where the main county health department is. I get an office with a window here! Yahoo! Oh, and they went out of their way to find a pet friendly hotel because they knew I wouldn't want to leave Bailey. I'll be staying at Sugar Loaf Resort 15 minutes out of Key West as all the hotels in Key West are booked for spring break. I'm liking this job a lot so far!

Look what Lori has to hide from in the Keys!

The final day Jacqueline and I were in the Keys, we did some sight seeing down the islands. A giant lobster chased Lori out of a gift shop and back into her truck!

Lori's new home...

Lori's new house is on a canal.. so cool. Palm trees with coconuts and birds everywhere. The neighbors are quite nice and even had us over for coffee...

Day 5

Went downtown to Biker Week in Daytona Beach! What a sight to see. Jacqueline thought it was too tacky... had to agree, however, it was fun to visit. It was also nice to stay with Stephanie and have a real bed and food. We also hit the beach and let Bailey run until the beach patrol told us we couldn't have a dog on the beach. He zoomed quite a bit before being kicked off.
We left at 3 to make it to Lori's new home in the Keys and arrived at about 9:30 p.m. It was completely dark, so we couldn't see anything. We don't have internet service, so the pictures of Daytona may be coming later.
I am at the Key Largo libary right now updating the blog, devoted aren't I? Hopefully we will have service tonight and then we can update this at Lori's lovely apartment, which is set in a tropical paradise. There is a canal outback with a Chiki to sit under and apparently barracudas, crabs, small sharks and all kinds of fish come up the canal. We have tons of things to put away.
Have to relinquish the computer. Will update soon.

Day 4... Powered through to Florida!

Got up a little later, shook off any garbage and bugs from the hotel room and took off... but first ate at a IHOP, we hadn't had any food of substance since western Kentucky, at 2:00 yesterday in Owensboro. 2:00 p.m., hence we were so famished the IHOP was good. We continued on after mailing Lori's papers for dietician registration to Florida... sure hope she has her licensure by Monday when she starts work!
We zoomed through South Carolina, and Georgia, passing old plantation signs and battlefields. We have had sunshine, rain and wind, but the roads were great. Savannah looks very cool, I want to come back and spend some time on the islands around there. We came down from Savannah to Jacksonville, had another detour, but it was a good detour and went into St. Augustine. (Tim I took bunches of photos of the fort.) We went to the old town and wandered aroound and saw the oldest wooden school in the US. Being a teacher, I feel bad about missing that photo op. What a nice place to spend time! Next we drove down the coastal highway next to the Atlantic and ended up at Ormand Beach and Stephanie's house. The day went by super fast since we got to stop at 6:00 p.m. only 8 hours of driving behind us. And ... we are in Daytona Beach just in time for BIKERS WEEK! We will take photos to post for sure!
P.S. Lori has stopped seeing the purple mist... or haze.... hmmm

Day 3

Started on the West side of St. Louis. We kind of started out a bit later than we should have, 9:50. The Arch in St. Louis was much larger than I had expected and amazing!
1650 miles when we arrived in Illinois. 1755 miles to Indiana at 11:30 a.m. 1795 miles we arrive in Kentucky. We drove down the middle of Kentucky on the John Audubon highway. Lori and Jacqueline slept part of the way and missed the beautiful scenery! Rock hills that have been cut through to make room for the highway. On the north side of the road there were huge frozen waterfalls hanging down from the cliffs. We saw wild turkeys the size of small pterodactyls. Kentucky was absolutely beautiful with mountains, rolling fields and hardwood forests. I had a hardtime imagining our great grandparents leaving Kentucky to settle near Bowman's corner. Which was prairie and windswept, emphasis on the wind.
We ended up in London Kentucky to visit where Grandma was born. I was so impressed! Brick buildings and forests. I wish we could of spent a day or two there. We found the court house and took a photo. It is the same spot where our G-G Grandfather was photographed in the late 1800s, the Laurel County Courthouse. So cool, I had never had a reference to where my Grandma was born, I would like to visit London again and spend more time. Wasn't anything like the visions of hollars that I had imagined.
We left London (2052 miles from Helena) and headed towards Tennesee, North Carolina and South Carolina. We had to take a detour and head through the Appalachian mountains, went over the Eastern Continental Divide and ended up in Columbia, SC. We stopped at a room at the Quality Inn that was so disgusting (mud on the chair, dirt on the floor, carpet pulled up and stains on the bathroom door).... yes, we got our money back and headed down the road for another hour, checked into a Econolodge. At 3:00 a.m., I guess we were too delirious to look too close, but Lori and Jacqueline slept in their clothes. It was almost as disgusting as the previous hotel, but I just didn't care any more.. Lori was seeing purple mist on the highway and I am pretty sure there wasn't any.

Day 2

Just outside of St. Louis, Missouri.... yes, I am tired. The trip today was rather uneventful, just lots and lots of snow covered cornfields. Along the way in Iowa, I swear, there was 4 feet of snow. We could just barely see the top of the fence posts. The midwest has been hit hard.
Most excellent note, I got to see the corn palace! I expected more corn, but it was a fun trip. I will be uploading photos as soon as I get a chance.
Jacqueline and Lori have been sleeping a bunch in the truck. I swear Jacqueline is asleep more than she is awake. Bailey is doing well, a few panic attacks, but I believe he will be fine.

More to come later....

First Day on the Road

11:20 Bighorn Battlefield - 229 miles
12:00 p.m. - Entering Wyoming, Lori is smashed into the back of the cab, Jeri and Lori are practicing Spanish, Lori has to know this for her new job. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to catch up on the Spanish. Jacqueline is sleeping and we are finally in the sunshine in Sheridan, Wyoming.

1:18 - Detour into Buffalo, Wyoming. Buffalo is a lovely little town. We found are way back to I-90

3:45 - Arrive in South Dakota, 530 miles from Helena. Most exciting, we are almost to Deadwood.

4:11 - Sturgis, 578 miles from Helena. Not the prettiest place in the US.

4:57 - We finally are being tourists and heading to Mount Rushmore. It was starting to get dark, so we had to hurry before we couldn't see the presidents. I was impressed, I have been wanting to see Mount Rushmore since I was 8 years old. A bit too touristy leading up to the mountain, seems like everyone in South Dakota is trying to make money off of the attraction. Snake pit, bear world, Christmas land... etc. and everything was closed down!

12:00 mtn time... arrive at Oacoma, SD after driving for 3 hours in blowing foggy snow stuff. We are exhausted.

AND WE ARE OFF!!!!

6:15 a.m. and we are off.. had a minor cave in of luggage, so we are rearranging and then we will be on our way!

We leave tomorrow

Lori's truck is all packed and ready to go. She is hauling her mattress over to Troy strapped on top of the topper. She is going to look like the Beverly Hill Billies driving across town like that.
I just have one more load of laundry to do and Jacqueline and I will be ready to hit the road tomorrow morning. Bon Voyage!

2 more days.... until we hit the road

I just got back from Missoula and the Alternative Education Conference, I needed one more thing to get done this week. I stopped by Lori's apartment and she has made great headway in getting it cleaned out... she has it down to certain towers of boxes going to Thriftstores, some going to the storage and some will be in the back of the truck. Jacqueline and I are glad we are just packing one suitcase. Let the adventure begin!!! Well Saturday morning that is.

Has anyone seen my truck keys??

Have to take Jacqueline to school at 7:50. Have to take my truck for a tune up at 2. Still have not purged my apartment of the left over garage sale stuff...so make that over $3 million to charities... I will be so relieved when I get to the point of tossing it all in a dumpster and we hit the road! Aha! I found my keys...they were in the door...I should have known. That's where the gremlins usually put them when they are playing one of their nasty tricks on me!

Garage Sale Done

The garage sale is over and Lori is cleaning out her apartment readying herself for her new adventure in the Florida Keys. We will keep you posted on the next couple of weeks of adventurous fun as we trek across the US going approximately 3000 miles. Today is Monday the 22, we are leaving early ??? Saturday morning the 27th to start the adventure! Until then, chaos... trying to remember everything!