Goodbye for now, internet

Our home internet is being shut off this mor---

Leaf-footed Memories

Today was extremely hard with all of the good-byes. We're going to go ahead and ignore that topic for now and focus on more positive things. I would bet that some of you are wondering about the logistics of our trip. We already introduced you to the Relocubes (that are now out of our possession). We own two cars (Kirby and Kit, both of whom could be considered compact cars..absolutely fantastic places to call home for 30 days), but we will be driving together on the trip. Robbie's friend and coworker Ashley will be taking her own road trip out west this summer in Kirby, and she will be bringing some of our weirdly-shaped items and anything that is alive (this includes our friend Mr. Plant). We will give you Ashley/Kirby/Mr. Plant updates along the way to let you know where they are and what types of things they are seeing. We will part ways with Kirby either tomorrow or Thursday, to be reunited on the west coast at a later time.

Mr. Plant

Cube #1..delicately packed with care


Cube #2..we are sick of packing, just throw the rest of the crap in

Goodbye worldly possessions..see you in a month or two!

We have been reminiscing about some of our more memorable Florida moments, and many that come to mind include large, prehistoric-looking bugs. I remember coming down to look at apartments before moving here in '07, and 99.9% of the apartments/townhouses we looked at contained either live or dead specimens of the largest bugs we had ever seen. I remember calling my cousin Katie (who lives in Gainesville), asking if this is a normal Florida thing and if we should go ahead and try to accept the bug issue and move on. You see...Florida is hot. Nothing ever dies. Bugs keep growing and growing for 8,000 years until they are approximately the size of small dogs. We finally found a place that was bug-free (and luckily it continues that way, with a few minor exceptions).

During our first year, we had an outdoor encounter with a particularly memorable bug. Robbie went out to grill something (we can't recall what..we have repressed the majority of this memory), and when he lifted the grill lid we came face to face with this lovely creature called a "leaf footed bug." It was large, greenish, fleshy, and evil looking. After a few of Robbie's patented "little girl screams", we tried several methods to remove this bug from our vicinity. We tried the humane method of spraying it with water with a garden sprayer, which promptly led the bug to laugh at us. We tried Raid, and I think it just flexed its muscles a little harder. Finally, we got a broom and tried the "sweep away" method, which knocked him to the ground. Robbie was on one side of the porch, and Jen was on the other..the leaf footed bug was in the middle, darting around and generally creeping us out. Robbie (little girl scream included) decided it would be a good idea to OPEN the screen door to our home as the creepy thing was running toward our house. Somehow, miraculously, his timing was perfect so as to not let the thing in, but to accidentally squish it under the little wheels of the screen door. We gingerly examined the carcass (perhaps rolling the door back and forth a few times..just to make sure), and after confirming that it was dead, we again used the "sweep away" method to push it into the grass. RIP you little misunderstood bug. We then ran immediately to the dumpster to throw away our broom, and Robbie is now a bit more cautious every time he opens the grill.

Creepy internet stock picture of the specimen:

Anyway, tomorrow is the day that we lose our home internet. We will be setting up our mobile broadband after that, and we will hopefully be updating every couple of days from here on out.

Packing...hate it

Today was another day full of packing and severe thunderstorms. We are tired, our backs hurt, our legs are bruised, and we are missing luxuries such as chairs and spoons. It will actually be a relief once these cubes are out of our driveway. Last night was rough..our friends let us borrow an air mattress (thanks guys), but we realized that all of our pillows and pillowcases were utilized in the TV-protecting fluffy ball. We had to resort to our tiny camping pillows (sans pillowcase), which was a rough transition. Jenny got really cold in the middle of the night, and had to use a bath towel as an additional blanket. Sometimes it's funny to pretend that you are rugged/cool and that you don't mind sleeping on the floor with a bath towel blanket, but in the morning you kind of look at each other and just shake your heads.

Tomorrow is Jenny's last day at work, followed by our last hanging-out session with our Tampa friends. Wednesday will be massive cleaning day (it's creepy how much dust can accumulate underneath your couch, bed, etc), and Thursday we will hit the road! Our first leg will take us up to Pensacola to stay with Austin and Rachel for night number one of the road trip.

Our internet will shut off on Wednesday, and internet withdrawal will begin soon after.

The cubes of doom

Robbie packing the cubes of doom

We are renting these Relocubes from a company called ABF. They drop them off, we pack & fill, and they pick up and deliver them to our new home (whenever we get one). We originally said we just wanted one cube (6'x7'x8'), thinking that we really don't have that much crap, and that we could "make it work". Clearly we are idiots. Luckily, ABF is kind enough to drop off an extra cube for idiots such as ourselves who realize about 15 minutes in that all of their worldly possessions will not fit into a space smaller than the average bathroom.

Last week was "packing week" and today is "loading day." Luckily, Florida is trying to be extra terrible today in order to further motivate us to leave. It's about 8,000 degrees in the shade, and it is currently thunderstorming. One cube is nearly full (including Mr. TV, who is secured more carefully than the hope diamond...), but we had to quickly run around and throw the rest of the crap into the second cube as it started to downpour. We are now waiting inside in our 82-degree house, laying on our bedroom floor, waiting for the storm to clear.

Robbie's tearful goodbye to the TV

Our amazing ball of fluffiness to keep our TV safe on the journey

Of course, we have some excellent fuel to keep us strong for heavy lifting. This week, we are in "clear the pantry" mode, so we have managed to have hot dogs and/or canned fruit and/or rice krispies for nearly every meal. It is both sad and fantastic. Our clothes are sitting in clear plastic bins in our bedroom (t-shirt bin..shorts bin..sock bin...etc). Entertainment options are limited at this point to travel Yahtzee, which we saved for the road trip,computer time, laundry, and coming up with new culinary creations with the items we have left in our cabinet (if you have any ideas, let us know. We have cream of chicken soup, granola bars, and one box of caribbean rice left).

Today marks our last week in Tampa. We are leaving in FOUR DAYS! Quick, PANIC!

Robbie's new sleeping arrangements:

Introduction

Welcome to our travel blog! We are getting ready to embark on a 30 day journey from the southeast to the northwest. We are rolling out of town July 1st and hope to arrive at our destination at the beginning of August. We have 30 days, one compact car, one tent, two sleeping bags, 10 boxes of snacks and shelf-stable juices from Sam's Club, and hopefully quite a bit of patience.

We thought it would be a good idea to visit some of the hottest places in the country (from the white sands of New Mexico to the red rocks of Moab, Utah) during the hottest month of the year. We will be visiting several national parks, state parks, and random little towns, posting our pictures and thoughts along the way. Thank goodness for free Wi-fi at McDonald's.

We'll be updating more frequently as our departure date draws near. So sit back, get excited, and enjoy the ride.