Moved in - sort of

Growling with the floor guys about living out of a garage seemed to have finally worked. Of course, after enough time passes, anything can be credited. Hard grass (bamboo) now covers all but my office - more on that later. So, Mark and I orchestrated the big MOVE. This has included much help and patience from dad and Sean, but we are finally sleeping in our bedroom (freshly painted I might add), with all but our ski clothes put in drawers.


As for the Floriday room/office - when looking for a replacement for the flimsy back door to the office, Mark noticed that real doors were 4" thick while our wall was only 3" thick. So, he will be initiating the grand construction of...thicker exterior walls for the office. Tear down has started, showing metal wall studs and Styrofoam insulation.


Meanwhile, I'll be working out of the quietest part of the house...the bathroom. Good internet connection, phone acoustics and a seat. What more could I ask for!


We are legitimate Florida drivers now. We had to give up the California licenses. Somehow, this made it all real, and official.

Why Can't We Just Have Dirt Floors!

We've begun the process of modified rehab on the Dunedin house. The bubbling Pergo - gone. The baseboards - gone. The black and white checkerboard floor tile - gone. The dog hair from probably 1000 dogs that lived in the house - gone. The patience to wait another week for the rest of the new bamboo flooring - gone.

The good parts?
In Dunedin: Short hop to the beach for sunset. Nice breeze on the back porch.
In Lakeland: Family running in and out of parental units' house. Crazy Brit visitors who order 'Bood' for beer. Mom's Sharffenberger Chocolate Cake and meatloaf!

See the small progress in photos. Photo at bottom shows Pergo floors and kitchen bar - now all gone. The floor guys, when they show up, want their photos taken by Mark. Not sure if they need proof they are working, or are just hams!

And the Winner Is.....................

Time to announce the winner of the mileage contest!

There were 9 official guesses...lots more that didnt get entered. But only those that were communicated electronically via email or blog were counted. The high guess was mom at 7000 miles, the low guess was 4223 miles by Micki. The actual mileage was..... 6222.5 miles. Georgie won at 5617 miles. Congratulations, Georgie!!!

I will start entries about the house rehab and our new life in Dunedin. Currently, we are spending time between Dunedin and Lakeland (parents' house) depending on the work being done. Quite a mess right now... us AND the house! Look for upcoming entries.

Florida, At Last!

The official trip ends in Lakeland. But our new home is in Dunedin. We have a bit of work to do on the house to move in and may end up making a bigger mess then we started with. But that is our way. (perhaps this process will become blog worthy)

The trip took almost a full month: 27 days. We saw unbelievable diversity in landscapes, cities, people, food and language. And to think – all the same country! I did realize that the more I saw, the more I realize I had yet to see. There are huge regions we didn’t even touch: Midwest, Northeast, East Coast, Southwest. We just scratched the surface.

Favorite spots: Mark’s most surprising experience was Carlsbad Caverns. He found the caves to be a completely different and unexpected experience. He also loved the wild animals found in the west and the bayous of Louisiana.

For me, each place had a remarkable quality that I found interesting or even surprising. I think the most impactful location was along the gulf coast, still recovering from Katrina. One of the most beautiful was the Grand Teton area…close tie with Crater Lake. Historically, Mesa Verde was very interesting and fun.

Favorite foods: Mark’s favorites were the bison steaks in Jackson Hole and the BBQ ribs in Austin. I was surprised by the great flavor of the shrimp and corn soup I ate in Houma. And the cheese grits at Emerile’s restaurant in Gulfport.

Favorite drives: Mark’s was the million-dollar road in Colorado where we drove through multiple hairpins at a time, and saw old mining equipment and the leaves changing colors for fall. My favorite drive was along the Columbia Gorge with scenic overlooks and beautiful waterfalls.

Favorite hikes: Mark’s favorite ‘stroll’ was the hike down and back from Bumpass Hell in Lassen Volcanic National Park. He didn’t even mind the cold wind blowing through? our ears. My favorite hike was around Jenny Lake at Teton National Park, and up to the waterfall. This is what the National Park Service calls an easy hike – but it kicked my butt by the end of the day.

Favorite grocery store: My fave is the Dekalb Farmer’s Market, perhaps for sentimental reasons, or maybe because of the cinnamon chocolate cookies they still sell. Mark’s favorite is City Market (competition to Whole Foods) that we visited in Ft. Worth area.

Favorite hotel: Mark’s favorite was the log cabin in Jackson Hole for $90. We slept like logs, so to speak. I think this is my favorite as well.

Favorite restaurant: Mark has 2 favorites. Lucy’s Mexican Restaurant in Carlsbad and Gun Barrel In Jackson Hole. My favorite was Rudy’s BBQ in Austin.

Biggest surprises: The elk bugling that we finally heard in Mesa Verde. The number of women controlling with traffic (flag ‘men’) in all the northwest road construction we ran into. The number of deserted towns and areas. The expanding girth of the locals as we traveled east. The amount of destruction still untouched along the gulf coast from the hurricanes. The number of Russian waiters we had in the western states, and their inability to do their jobs well. The number of Harley Davidson stores, seemingly in every town, and often with a Hooters nearby. The number of massage billboard ads in south Georgia on I-75.

Contest Update: Remember, guess the number of miles we covered from September 4, Redwood City, CA to September 30, Lakeland, FL and win a $25 gift certificate at Barnes and Noble. Guess by October 15. Look for the answer and winner, hopefully by October 16!!!

Florida – Within Spitting Distance

Driving from Atlanta to Florida isn’t too long of a drive, but it seems like a lot of changes along the way. Drivers started getting a little crazier and billboards became the main attraction. Near Tifton, GA, we started to see advertising for truckers…’Thumbs Up’ massages, Happy Spas, …hmmm. Then came the pecan (pee-can) billboards. Of course we had to go shopping for nuts and nut related paraphernalia. (notice that we skipped the massages) Mark practiced saying 'pee-can' for at least 60 miles. He’s almost got it down.

Note: no siting of the Jingle Jugs truck we saw in Texas, though according to their schedule, they are headed for Disney - go figure.

Next were the amusement park billboards alongside the retirement community billboards. Finally, we got off I-75 and the billboard jungle to relax to the scenery of mobile home parks, stately farms with cows and horses, and run-down gas stations. Ah, welcome to the old Florida.