Fort Smith, AR to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM: Day 4-6

Our drive to Fort Smith, AR on Day 4 was uneventful but long. I didn't take any pictures and we only stayed there overnight. Day 5 was another very long day and drive. Again, no pictures but I have to report that Cricket and Penelope were not fans of Oklahoma or Texas. Dry and dusty and nary a blade of grass to empty their bladders on. Total failure until we found some low growing green plants right before we left Texas that Cricket deigned to pee on and Penelope luckily followed suit. Phew!

We didn't spend much time in Old Town Albuquerque so this is the best I got:

On our way to Santa Fe on Day 6 we hit the 2,000 mile mark!

 

And here is an impression of our visit to Santa Fe and the Pecos National Historical Park.

 

The weather was perfect for a little stroll through the National Park. Cricket and Penelope didn't agree. This wasn't the last time they showed us exactly how displeased they were with the heat and *all* the walking we made them do.

One last night in Albuquerque and it was off to Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon...

The Journey Begins: Day 1-3

Bright and early on Friday, August 5, Jake, the dogs, and I left Enterprise, AL without a backward glance. Jake would have liked to leave at 4 a.m. but we ended up leaving at a much more reasonable time. 6:30 a.m. Still plenty early to make it to Atlanta to drop off my Volvo for shipping and drive up to Gatlinburg, TN.

As most of you know, our good friend Derrek is currently deployed to Iraq. He happened to join us on our cross-country trip! He's been complaining about the lack of space in the backseat...

Instead of meeting Jake's parents in Durham, NC we met them for a weekend away at a cabin in the woods. The cabin we picked was perfect (no picture!) except for the fact that it was up a windy mountain road... Joe had to drive extra careful so I wouldn't be sick all over the new Highlander!

Here's a collage of pictures taken during our stay at Gatlinburg, TN. This is "Find Waldo" kind of picture. See if you can spot Derrek!

By now I think most of you have heard the story about the black bear. For those of you who haven't: On our first (Jake swears it was the second) morning in Gatlinburg, we were (all of us!) startled awake by loud banging. Jake, still half asleep, thought his dad had gone out to the car for some reason and was slamming doors. I thought Joe and DeLane were getting up and had stumbled over something. It was 5 a.m. I decided to check on the car, which was right outside our window, and opened the blinds. I got the biggest shock in my 30 years. There was a black bear right outside our window! He was trying to get into the (locked!) garbage container, which happened to be next to our window. Can you imagine how fast my heart started beating? After about 10 minutes of trying his hardest to get at our garbage, he walked off in the direction of our neighbors. Jake and I noticed earlier that day that their garbage was NOT locked but assumed they'd lock it up before bed. Nope! The bear got his prize. He chowed down on their garbage and while he was doing that Jake decided to go out on the deck and shine a flashlight in his direction. Just to see a little better. Apparently, the bear saw him. You should have seen Jake race back inside! Haha! That should teach him not to shine a flashlight on a bear!

So that was the bear story. I didn't think I'd be seeing any bears quite so soon. This doesn't bode well for Alaska...

Alabama: The End

So here is the first update. Super late, but I'm sure you all expected that.

It starts on July 28.

After agonizing over what to wear to Jake's graduation ball I decided to go with my long black dress that I had bought for a previous ball. It didn't quite fit like it had two years ago but I thought I should probably go with the long, more formal gown, despite the fact that I should have lost about 5 lbs before squeezing into it. Turns out I felt overdressed for what turned out to be more formal dinner than ball. I could have been comfortable in my "little black dress" instead of feeling super uncomfortable and self conscious in the one I chose. Oh well!

Here's the best of the pictures. I don't like it but I thought I'd share it anyway.

August 1 + 2

And then it was time for the movers! Packers and movers to be exact. They were late on both days but got everything done. I wasn't as impressed with the packing skills as I was in Germany so we'll see how much the Army gets to replace this time around.

Day 1

Day 2

It was super hot on the second day and the two guys loading up the crates had sweat pouring off of them after only a few minutes. I felt so sorry for them! The couch ended up wrapped up but not in a crate because it's too long. I'm hoping it got lost and we get to buy a new one...

After Day 2 I sat around in an empty house with the pups while Jake finished outprocessing. Friday couldn't come fast enough!

My Three Loves

The pups are tuckered out from playing with their friends at the kennel all day and Jake...well, he's tuckered out from watching the movers pack and haul stuff around in 95 degree heat all day! He's passed out beside me right now. On the floor.