Miami or bust!

Nan and Scout and I are back at Monica and Vicky's home in Bentonville, Arkansas. Since we were here in late August to pick up Scout, we have spent time in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and Grand Junction, Colorado.

It wasn't until the Wednesday after Gene and Debbie's September 14 wedding that I learned which job I would be offered in Miami. We packed up the car the following Monday, thanked my parents for their generous hospitality, and drove west to arrange for the big move. Along the way, we secured an apartment in Coconut Grove, between my new workplace and Biscayne Bay. It's a one bedroom/one bath unit, without much closet space, so we are leaving almost half of our stuff in storage in Grand Junction for now.

Our friends and neighbors, Rich and Diane, hosted us while we were in the old neighborhood. It was hard to believe we had been gone almost six months. Scout went crazy when he realized where we were and quickly renewed his friendship with their schnauzer Kola. The two of them promptly ran up to our old patch of lawn for a celebratory pee.

We spent our week in Grand Junction finalizing the job offer, putting up our old house for sale, reserving a U-Haul and trailer, figuring out what to take and getting it packed, and socializing with old friends. By this past Wednesday evening, we were ready to go, with all of our stuff loaded into the truck, our SUV loaded onto the trailer, and our bikes secured to a rack on the back. With the three of us squeezed into the truck's cab, we probably looked like the Beverly Hillbillies as we drove away on Thursday morning.

We are taking a break from driving today after fighting the wind across Kansas yesterday, ahead of the storm that dumped snow across the mountains and Midwest. We awoke early this morning to thunderstorms, and it has continued to rain steadily all morning. Starting tomorrow, we will continue east but stay north of Tropical Storm Karen's landfall before dropping south through Atlanta, Lake City, and Orlando on our way to Miami. Given our U-Haul rig's limited speed, it will take us three full days of driving to get there. More from the road...