Welcome to Florida!

So it doesn't have the same tune as Taylor Swift, but I like it so far! Getting down here was an adventure. How I fit everything into that small Honda Civic Hybrid, I have no idea, but after unpacking it, it took up 3/4 of my living room.

Leaving was probably the hardest part of this whole trip. Saying goodbye to my Mom, I started crying. She's been my rock for 25 years, and when I left, she pretty much kicked me in the butt and told me to go and do great things!

  

Before we left, I had heard on the news that 75 South was shutdown through Cincinnati due to an overpass collapsing, so we had to find our way around by going on 275, which wasn't a huge issue, but I was worried it would be a forecast of how the rest of the day would go. LUCKILY, we didn't hit any traffic. It was honestly a very easy drive. Once we hit Kentucky, I was starving so we stopped off at McDonalds to grab some food and get Kugel out so he could go to the bathroom, and there we ran into our first delay. While I was inside, some guy decided he was going to park literally less than a foot from my car...to the point of me not being able to even squeeze into it. Thanks jerk! Luckily though the weather was nice and we got to eat outside and sit there and wait for this guy to come out.

Finally we got in the car and we were off again! Next stop, Tennessee. When we hit the Welcome Center, I needed to get out. With my back and knees, I had to make a lot of stops unfortunately, but this stop meant we got to check out the skyline of mountains. I love Tennessee. It is so pretty and driving through the mountains, though it can be stressful with the curvy roads, is awesome. When we stopped, I decided to take Kugel for a short walk and we met a friendly couple that was driving from Michigan to NC for their grandson's Navy graduation. They ended up telling us about the overlook at the top of the rest stop, so Kugel and I took a short hike.

After our short stop, we were at it again. Next stop Asheville, NC? Now, I never thought I'd find myself in this city again...but this time, it was much more, I don't even know the right word for it relaxing? What seems like yesterday, we were here for Mom. On our way back from Myrtle Beach from vacation when she had her worst episode to date. We were in Asheville for a week while Mom was in the hospital. That was when we found out she needed a transplant. That was possibly one of the scariest and worst weeks of my life. And here I was, stopping in this city to fill up my gas tank and smiling. Smiling because the doctors and nurses there took such great care of my mom, smiling because that road, while it was very short (just 6 months long) was now behind us. Mom's been doing great with her recovery since her transplant and now I can look back at Asheville and say "Thank You."

"Are we there yet, Mom?"

When we hit South Carolina, that was the longest part of the drive. We had to drive all the way through the state, and it took forever. I think I talked to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Travis AND Jacob during this state because I was so bored. And Kugel was getting bored too. At this point, the medicine I had given him (via the vet's recommendation) was wearing off and we were both just ready to get out of the car, and I was starting to get hungry. The fun part was, we were stuck on the highway for over an hour with nowhere to stop except gas stations, and we wanted to get out of the car for longer than 5 minutes. Finally we found an exit that had an Arby's and a Sonic, right next to each other. So we drove through the Arby's drive through and grabbed dinner and then we went to Sonic to get out of the car. I ordered a milkshake because I didn't want to get yelled at for taking up a spot at their drive in and the staff was very friendly. They even brought Kugel out a few treats! Spoiled little mutt. When we got back in the car, Kugel decided he was tired of the basket and made himself comfortable, I don't really know how?, on top of his water bowl, a sweatshirt, and the door panel. At this point, it was starting to get dark and here's this thing about dark in the South, it gets really dark. There is no "in between" where the sun has set but it is still light...no, when it's dark, it's dark. And I was starting to get really tired. I was even considering calling Melanie to tell her I was just going to drive all the way through so I could pull over at a rest stop and sleep for a little bit, but I decided a bed sounded a lot better than my cramped car, so I kept pushing forward.

FINALLY we got into Georgia and then finally hit the Florida boarder and then we got to Melanie and Nick's house in Jacksonville about 12:30 am. I made a few phone calls to let everyone know I made it to my first destination safely and we weren't there long before Kugel and I were passed out. They were both so nice opening their home to Kugel and I, and we are so grateful to have friends like them :) I guess a few good things came from USNA afterall!

In the morning with only 4 hours standing between us and Sarasota, and Kugel on his new "perch" as I was calling it, we were at it again! I decided to take the "scenic" route through Daytona for old times sake and it also meant we got to drive through Orlando! Now, I didn't get to see Daytona Beach or Disney World, but I did see lots signs! Haha And after what seemed like forever, Kugel and I finally made it to our final destination! With a whiny puppy next to a basket, an extremely sore back, and a smiling boyfriend waiting for us, we pulled into the parking lot of our new home.

Hey there downtown Orlando!

We're here! Finally!

Our new home!

I've included a few pictures of the apartment for your viewing pleasure, but please excuse the mess...I had just unpacked my car! But so far, we love it. The apartment is great, and the weather so far is perfect. And I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us!

The tour: entry way, guest bathroom, guest bedroom, kitchen, living room/dining room, porch, master bedroom.

Hopefully I will be posting more, now that I will actually have some stuff to write about and I know everyone back home will actually read it! ;) but for now, I'm going to continue to unpack and the plan is to make it up to Tampa to find my job today. So for now, see ya next time!