Home Sweet Hotel...

Today I sat in our hotel room while Terri was at work.  I watched some really sh!tty movies.  I also threw Jonny’s tennis ball over the fence, accidentally.  That was my day.

No, this is not what one of the dogs did (ie: Frankie on right), this was what Jer did today…

Ah the life of a stay-at-home-dad.  Father of dogs, that is.

Terri was off to work today, but not before the 4 of us went out in search of breakfast.  McD’s and a couple of Sausage & Egg McMuffins set us up nicely for the day (not necessarily nutritiously, though… but alas, we are ‘on the road’) 

There is a large and beautiful park right beside our hotel.  We thought; ‘what a perfect place to let the dogs run around in, especially after being cooped up in a car for 4 days’.  Unfortunately, we discovered that no pets are allowed in this park, which is pretty lame, if you ask us.

Ah well, we took them on a jaunt around the community and had them tired out by the time we returned.  A little exercise (and 30C heat) does us all good!  And Frankie’s first encounter with a gecko… she attempted to run after it, but we informed her that she would never catch one.   She agreed, but ran after another one anyway…because that’s what dogs do.

While Terri was at work, Jer set up water and hydro accounts for our new place, which we will get possession of on Monday.  Unfortunately, we have to wait for our moving truck to get here at some point between Oct 1-13 and the bed we bought in Miami is on back order for a few days.  So, we will stay in this hotel for just a little while longer. 

Terri finished work at around 9:30pm and came ‘home’ with some groceries from Target, so we can avoid ordering any more pizzas for the time being!  Instead it will be Mac N’ Cheese, salsa and chips, and canned soup!  Meals of champions!

Terri is looking forward to getting into the new place so she can start making nutritious meals again.  She’d love for me to learn to cook while I am not working… jury’s still out on that idea!  We’ll see what happens…

Day 4 - Bienvenido a Miami...

Frankie enjoys a Florida rest stop.

TGIF!!

You might read that as 'Thank God It's Friday' but we're changing it (because we can do that..) to 'Thank Goodness It's Florida'!!  We're here - and officially arrived in Miami mid-Friday afternoon.  We were planning to be here earlier but after such a long day Thursday (we had dinner at 11pm), we decided we would sleep in until 8am and leave for Miami at 9am.

It all went off without a hitch, though when the alarm went off, Terri and I both said to each other "I don't wanna get up..."  Thankfully, we have two wonderful pups who refused to let us sleep any longer...Did you sense the sarcasm there?  Can you guess who's writing this yet?

If you said 'yes' and 'Jeremy all the way' - you are correct!!

This last drive took us down the coast of Florida.  When we looked at the drive on a map, we were expecting lush greenery on one side and clear, blue ocean on the other.  Instead, there was lush greenery on the one side and lush greenery on the other.  Apparently, one inch DOES = 10mi – and we could not see the ocean from the highway.  Speaking of the highway, more four lane interstate again – and because we left a little later today, it was wide open and smooth driving….Until just outside Ft. Lauderdale…then things slowed to a crawl for a bit.

I wish I had more excitement to tell you about from the drive, but it was pretty straightforward today.  Oh wait, we DID see a truck that had this on the side of it: Capt. Chips Artistic Taxidermy & Lawn Care.

Ok, does this mean this company will provide you with formerly LIVE lawn ornaments?  If so, creepy!  “No, don’t trim that hedge into a dog, just stuff my dog!!”  

Ya, that IS very creepy.

Once we got to Miami, Terri took over and navigated us to the hotel.  Having been here so many times, she knew exactly where we were headed as soon as we got onto the Palmetto Expressway.  I was like ‘Let’s get out the Garmin!!’ as I was oblivious, despite having been here myself a few weeks ago and having driven up and down the Palmetto.  I have some studying to do!!  If I know where I’m going, I’m totally confident driving…if I don’t, I’m VERY nervous….hence my pal Garmin.

We’re now staying at the ‘Candlewood Inn & Suites’ and when Terri looked up a description of the room this morning, it said ‘studio suites’, which had her intrigued.  I was skeptical for a number of reasons.  Let me explain:

Day 1 – Quality Inn & Suites (in Council Bluffs, IA) – A mediocre suite at best with a horrifying bathroom but unbelievable fast wireless….like, unreal fast!!  I downloaded three TV shows overnight – and anyone who downloads TV shows knows that’s pretty awesome!  That bathroom though – ugh!

The tub at the Quality Inn

Day 2 – Drury Inn (in Paducah, KY) – We found this one as a 2^nd choice after the Comfort Inn we were booked into wouldn’t allow pets.  It was decent with a better bathroom and mediocre wireless.

Day 3 – Howard Johnson (in Jacksonville, FL) – What a DUMP.  I didn’t realize there was that much menthol spray left in the world.  WOW – that room was MINTY.  If I took that aroma, bottled it, swished it in my mouth and spit it out, when I breathed on you, I’d freeze your face.  It was seriously stinky!  And the bathroom – whoa.  I’ll take a good bathroom in a crappy room any day of the week versus the opposite.  A poor bathroom is a sign of a poor hotel, in my opinion.  And the wireless – it was out more than it was in.  I even called the front desk to inquire if there was a wireless issue; “No Sir there is not, but I’ll reset it for you ok?”  Now, imagine that in a monotone, I-hate-my-job southern drawl and you can likely read between the lines like I did (Sir, go p!ss up a flagpole).  HoJo, you used to be a decent hotel at a reasonable price, ‘wha happen?’

So, Terri goes in and grabs a cart for all of our crap (travelling with dogs IS like travelling with kids!) and comes out with an amazed look on her face. 

“This room is unreal, just wait,” she says.

“Uh huh.”

My darling wife was right – as usual.  This room is amazing.  It has a kitchenette, a huge flat-screen HDTV, a full-size fridge and a CLEAN, awesome bathroom!  That’s not even the best part….they have complimentary guest laundry and a mini grocery store that is based on the honor system.  Everything has a price on it.  You take something, you mark it off on a little slip along with your room #, drop it into the slot and they put it onto your bill!  It’s very cool.  The hotel also has a huge park next door for the pups.  Save the best for last!!  If we have to stay here for a week or two until we get our stuff/utilities set-up, not going to be a problem!

Our new mini grocery store - until we hit up Target.

Groceries on the honor system!  Amazing!

One last thing about the pups.  Going into this trip, we were VERY leery about what might lie ahead.  Frankie with her barfing, Jonny with his growling and then the heat.  We were really worried about them spending three full days in the car, but they have been amazing!  Yes, they were drugged most days but they slept and got up when we stopped to let them stretch their legs.  They endured – and as I said to Terri, as miserable as they might be, they have their Masters with them so it makes it less miserable.  As stupid as this will sound, I actually think the time has allowed us to bond a bit more with them – especially Jonny (the new kid).  He is truly Mr. Cuddles and loved laying on the lap of whomever was in the passenger seat.  Frankie was happy to have the back seat to herself.  Neither of them barfed…Until we got into the hotel room here…and it was Jonny, not Frankie!!

Frankie & Jonny sleeping - how is that comfy Jonny?

We’re now settled in but Terri got a migraine aura within 15-minutes of being here.  She took a wafer and is now resting comfortably.  She has some studying to do for work tomorrow so hopefully the wafer will kick-in allowing her to do some reading.  The dogs are sleeping and I’m doing laundry.

Our new life begins…

Oh, podcasts…Here’s what we listened to (and liked) today and yesterday.  As an aside, I would recommend each of these podcasts.  They are fantastic!

The Nerdist – interviews with Ana Gasteyer, Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Michael Emerson.

Here’s The Thing (by Alec Baldwin) – interviews with Michael Douglas, Lorne Michaels, David Letterman.

Jay & Dan Podcast – TSN.  Even if you don’t watch ‘Sportscentre’, this pod is hilarious!  Oh did Terri and I laugh!

Rich Eisen (NFL Network) – interviews with Kyle Chandler, Erin Andrews, Adam Carolla, Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, Larry David.

Day 3 - Georgia (and KY, and TN, and FL) On My Mind

Today started bright and early in rainy, stormy Paducah, Kentucky.

A doozy of a storm rolled through last night but it was nothing compared to what we were in for as we headed back onto the road towards Nashville.  The rain came down in sheets, it was so heavy, we were forced to follow the vehicle in front of us whose driver was kind enough to have his hazards on.  Jeremy was driving and did a fine job of keeping us on the road!

Crawling through the rain was but a minor delay and we were back on schedule in no time.  That is until we caught up to the back of a construction delay lineup that spanned about 2 miles… and we were crawling once again!  The construction delay led us to a detour that took us out into the Kentucky countryside for a ways.  We discovered a new road sign we had never seen before:

Once we were back on our scheduled route again, we soon left Kentucky and entered Tennessee.  We can see why some refer to this state as ‘God’s country’.  Quite literally, as indicated by the sheer number of Baptist churches we passed.

But the mountain range we drove through was absolutely breathtaking… and gripping!  Lots of ups and downs and curves... very thankful the pups were sedated and sleeping in the backseat, or there certainly would have been doggie up-chuck everywhere!

After Tennessee came Georgia… the land of peaches (or from our vantage point, billboards with pictures of peaches on them!)

And the land of wonderful rest areas.  They’re like spacious parks, perfect for throwing the ball around.

From there is was off to Atlanta…where, for the 2^nd time on this trip, we took a wrong turn and faced ‘the long way ‘round’.  But, Terri got us turned around and back on path in mere minutes – no Garmin required!!  One thing we’ll say about Atlanta: they have narrow highways and LOTS of trucks.  We didn’t see any of the city proper, but we certainly encountered TONS of traffic!!

Once we got out of Atlanta, the highway to Florida was simply magnificent!  Four lanes, brand new-ish and smooth – and a speed of 70mph (120km/h)!  The sweet highways continued as we entered Florida…

And after a quick rest stop for the pups, we made it to Jacksonville just before 9pm.  A LONG day of travel, our longest yet, but the best in terms of scenery and comfort of travel.  We weren’t crazy about giving up the Equinox, but the way the Mazda has handled the trip has us thinking maybe we should look at a newer one of those!  We’ll see – Terri still has her sights set on a convertible of some sort….it is Florida after all!!

One half day to go and then we’ll be in Miami!!  What a week….

Day 2 - Missouri Doesn't Love Company - They LOVE Fireworks!

Terri ALMOST got a picture of the 'Welcome To Iowa' sign....Almost.

Well, another 1,000 or so km in the books and we are happy to say we are now over halfway to Miami.  Unlike Tuesday, we managed to get away on time and made good time throughout the day.

We waved farewell to Iowa and welcomed Missouri... or shall we say Missouri welcomed us, according to the sign.

Not much time was spent in this state as we drove straight through... but here's what we learned about Missouri -- they love their fireworks superstores, their adult 'emporiums' and they care not for their rest areas and their highways.  In fact, it was an immediate change as we crossed the state line, much like when the I-29 turns into Hwy 75 when you drive back into Manitoba - smooth sailing on one side... riding a horse on the other.

We made our first wrong turn today!  We hit St. Louis and went 'right' instead of 'left' (south rather than north)... but all was fine because we were on the city's version of 'The Perimeter', so we still made it to our destination, just took us a little longer than it should have.  But I'm pretty sure fate had a part in this, because if we would have gone the correct path, we wouldn't have seen THIS!

Can you see it??  We barely did, as the photo suggests.  It's the face of St. Louis - The Gateway Arch.

Oh, another thing about Missouri, people enjoy changing lanes.  Without signaling.  And when you are still occupying the lane beside them.  We've been on our toes because this was a regular occurrence today!

Illinois was next and WOW, what a beautiful landscape.  Rolling hills, lush trees, lakes, fields.  Check out this rest stop on Rend Lake (I know, the highlights of our drive... but when you have pups... and Terri... they are important!)  It was like a campground, complete with a lakeshore.  Jonny's obsession with playing fetch nearly landed him in the water as Jeremy casually tossed stones out into the lake.  He definitely wanted to go find them.  Thankfully he was leashed.



Tonight, we are in Paducah, Kentucky... where I seem to be asking people to repeat themselves as I'm having a hard time understanding them!  I almost need subtitles... kind of like that ridiculous excuse for a television show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on TLC.

"We get our own bed tonight!  Yay!"  (but we'll still sleep with Mum & Dad)

After getting a delicious meal from Panera Bread next door, we settled in and flipped through the channels on the TV in our hotel room... watched the season premiere of Modern Family, the end of Rocky IV and then about 3 minutes of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on TLC before realizing what a ridiculous excuse for a television show it was.

Favorite podcasts listened to today:

1) Rich Eisen from the NFL Network interviewing Olivia Munn, former sports journalist and current actress on the new HBO show 'The Newsroom'.  She is a straight shooter if there ever was one and she loves NFL/College football.  She is also single....Steve Fehr, we're lookin' at you!!

2) The Nerdist - interview with Michael Dorn (or Worf for you non-Trekkies!).  He signed the podcast off AS Worf and it was awesome!!

3) Alec Baldwin's 'Here's The Thing' - interview with Kristin Wiig.  Fantastic!!  She is such an intelligent, strong lady with just a little self-doubt mixed in to keep her modest.  We love her!!

Tomorrow, zipping past Nashville & Atlanta before crossing into Florida for one last 'road night' in Jacksonville.

Thanks for reading and for all the good wishes!!

J&T with F&J

Day 1 - Good-Bye Steinbach, Hello Iowa!!

We took our last glimpse at 72 Clearwater Avenue (formerly Street - apparently it was re-named last week) Tuesday morning just after 7am.  Sleeping in an empty house was a little strange last night - certainly getting up at 4am, 5am and 6:15am didn't help.  The 4am wake-up was to feed the 'kids', 5am was to give them drugs and then 6:15 was for us.

We hit the road a little later than planned but breezed through the border.  Here we had all our paperwork ready to go for the expected grilling - but then had to remind the border guard we had to go inside to import our car.  So, we did that and then it was off we go!  It took about 15mins and we were both shocked at how easy it was.  No search of our vehicle, contents or verification of our papers....we were good with that!

'We're ready to go!'

Then it was off to Grand Forks and the great phone search.  That took us the better part of an hour - longer than expected.  The best offer was a FREE iPhone4 with unlimited minutes and texting for $130 month (shared between the two of us).  But because we don't have Social Security Numbers yet, we needed to put down a $500 deposit.  Ya, we bought a $25 burner instead...and it includes texting to Canada!

From there, off to Omaha, NE!  To say the dogs were brilliant would be an understatement!  Man, those drugs REALLY worked...They were sleeping most of the time, but woke up and ran around the times we did stop for pee breaks, food, etc.

I will say this, the Americans have this whole Interstate Highway thing perfected.  Holy heck the highways are awesome - smooth and dual lanes.  There was some construction delays in South Dakota but nothing major.

It was literally a straight drive south

They US also has the Rest Stop perfected.  We stopped at one mid-afternoon and the place was amazing!  Dog exercise area, picnic tables (covered - in case it rains), CLEAN bathrooms, vending machines, water and wi-fi.  We had some lunch there and let the kids run around for a bit.

Just as the day started to turn into night, we got into Iowa and arrived at our hotel.  Once settled, we took the kids for a walk - and apparently we are in a sketchy area of town....as evidenced by the shirtless gentleman staring us down as he bbq'd in his backyard.  His truck also had its hood up for no apparent reason...He did not look very friendly.  A further trot down the street had Terri a bit terrified and we quickly high-tailed it back to the comfort of the Quality Inn & Suites - where an order of chinese food awaited us.  We are planning to take it easy before another early day tomorrow...more driving and drugs...

There are more pics and some video below!

Jonny got some rest on Jeremy's lap.

A gorgeous day for a rest stop!

Rolling around in the grass.  I also chased my ball around!

As an aside - road trip time has given us the chance to listen to some podcasts.  If you are a fan of humor and sports, I HIGHLY recommend the Jay & Dan Podcast from TSN.  Terri and I were in stitches due to the two of them.  It's somewhat juvenile at times but funny.  More podcasts will be downloaded for the trip tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!!  An update from Paducah, KY should be up Wednesday evening!

The Journey Begins

Myles gives a thumbs up prior to spilling booze everywhere.  Nick (center) and JoJo (right) discuss quantum physics.

Our journey of 3500km hasn't quite begun yet - but we got much closer on September 19th with an informal 'We outta here' par-tay.  A number of our close friends, colleagues and former co-workers popped in throughout the evening to help us empty our liquor cabinet....and can I just say that you never truly know how deep your liquor cabinet is until you have to empty it.  Man, we had accumulated a lot of booze!

Thankfully, we have friends who like to drink and we polished off about half of what was there.  The rest of it will have to be finished off at a later date courtesy of Ashton Friesen - who is the recipient of a box of half/three-quarter empty bottles of booze.  Though, she does get some nice tequila, martini mix, Malibu run and my favorite - Grand Marnier....mmmm.

Some of the hilites of the evening:
-Corny's comparison of buying our first home from Elroy (in Winnipeg) to losing one's virginity.  Count on Corny to take it there - count on me to set him up perfectly.  Elroy had a good laugh...
-Myles spilling booze all over the place, with a healthy assist from Brett.
-Terri spilling club soda everywhere - she was cut-off after that.
-Everyone eating the McCain pizzas and NO ONE eating the homemade meatballs and farmer's sausage (more for me folks, more for me!!).
-Theresa bringing presents...she wouldn't have it any other way!
-NO PS3 games being played!!

Full credit to Myles and the Unger's for shutting it down - right til the bitter end!!  Loved it!!  As we were cleaning up just after 12am, we were both re-living our favorite moments and lamenting how we wish we could just take everyone with us.  We have made such wonderful friends in our short time here - we will miss each and every one (and the ones who couldn't make it).

Thanks to Ashton for helping us set-up and for providing her superb drink-mixing skills (After Eight anyone?) and a superb impromptu toast.

If anyone wants to come by for a drink, Terri is in Miami but I am here all weekend!!  ALL are welcome to pop over.

Some more pics are below!!

Jason, Irene and Peter chatting - Anthony with the photo-bomb.  BOOM!!

Kevin shares a laugh with Erin.

Adi and Theresa sharing a laugh - and some Ruffles.

Steve showing the Steinbach gang sign between the two Andrews.

Chitter, chatter...and booze.

Brett with his pseudo 'Blue Steel'.  

Our girl Frankie eyeing up Brett.  The bitches love Brett.

Brett and Jordan (off camera) pressuring Jesse to get drinking...I second that!

Jesse succumbed to the peer pressure and shares a drink with Myles.

"60 days of 'Insanity' getting flushed tonight baby!" ~ Steve.  

Nicole and Becky.  Did you guys have a pic like this in high school?